WWII | Declassified documents reveal Portugal’s concern with city’s fate

The American National Security Agency (NSA) has declassified documents that show that Portugal was concerned with the fate of the Asian territories it administrated during World War II, when the Japanese were occupying all the territories surrounding Macau.
“We want you to ask the Japanese government what will definitely happen in the Pacific, especially in what is related to the Macau and East Timor situation,” stated a message from the Minister of Portuguese Foreign Affairs to the Ambassador in Tokyo, which was intercepted by the U.S. secret service.
The message is an excerpt from one of several which are now disclosed in the documents that the American secret agency declassified in November 2014. The documents contain messages between Portuguese government and diplomats, Portuguese newspaper Diário de Notícias (DN) reported.
One of the messages also states that Portugal had suffered great losses in East Timor when the Japanese intervened (unlike Macau, the territory was invaded) and that even if they displayed a friendlier attitude, the Portuguese government still would not agree to discuss the subject.
“The Japanese had a spy network in Portugal, during World War II, which was focused on this issue of East-Timor,” said José António Barreiros to DN, adding that Japanese television station NHK was in Portugal to complete a report on the Japanese espionage cell in Lisbon, which was operating with the support of the embassy.