Reports In Macao Of Chinese Moves

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31238, 9 December 1966, Page 17

Reports In Macao Of Chinese Moves

(N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) MACAO, December 8. China is planning to intervene for the first time in the political crisis in the neighbouring Portuguese colony of Macao after last week-end’s riots, reports reaching Macao said today, according to United Press International.

So far, Peking has adopted a “hands-off” policy towards Macao. This thriving enclave on the southern Chinese mainland has been an important centre of foreign trade and exchange for Peking. But after three days of clashes between Portuguese police and pro-Peking Chinese residents, there have been fears of possible Chinese intervention or take-over. News reports from Hong Kong, 40 miles north-east of Macao, said a Chinese delegation was coming to Macao for talks with local Chinese leaders. A newspaper said Peking has set up a special headquarters in the nearby mainland city of Shekki to “direct Communist activities in Macao.” Neither report could be confirmed by Portuguese officials in Macao, but more than 11,000 persons have fled the six-square-mile territory since Sunday’s riots, in which eight Chinese were killed and at least 70 injured. The Government has gradually relaxed a tight curfew over the colony, and an outward calm prevailed, but all schools, cinemas, and places of entertainment were closed,

and officials warned people not to travel in groups. All but a few thousand of Macao’s 200,000 residents are Chinese. Left-wing Chinese leaders, meanwhile, today called for a mass funeral for the victims of the week-end rioting. Officials, however, were hesitant to grant the request, fearing a mass gathering would lead to new bloodshed.

The New China News Agency painted a picture of “white terrorism” in Macao over the last few days, with large numbers of armed soldiers and police shooting at random and carrying out arrests. It claimed that seven Chinese were killed and 100 wounded during the “bloody December 3 and 4 savagery.”