MACAO ANNEXED BY CHINA.

Kumara Times, Issue 1159, 16 June 1880, Page 2

MACAO ANNEXED BY CHINA.

It was staked a few weeks ago in the Pall Mall Gazette that the- Chinese were laying claim to the Portuguese settlement of Macao, and, according to the Standard correspondent, at Lisbon, the strange news proclticecl .no. little sensation in the. city.'; We now" learn: the formality of annexation has been daiiiecl out ''in'true Chinese fashion.' K

'appears that the Viceroy of the " Two Kuangs" made his sr.ppcaraucc at Macao 'quite unexpectedly in great state, and was leceived with befitting honours. JT«, laid stress upon the fact that the Portuguese had held inwith China longer than any European nation, yet there was no treaty between the two Powers. There would, however, eo he was pleased to say, be Ho difficulty whatever in settling a treaty which would settle the Portuguese on the same footing as other nations, " not forgetting that acquired rights should be respected." In fact, he was niost pleasant in his assurances, thanked the Governor for his most courteous reception, and departed as he had come, after a stay of three hours. It was anew rendering of the famous saying, " I came ; I saw 5 I conquered." Having returned home, lie at once communicated with the Pekin Government the fact that in pursuance of instructions he had visited Macao, had been received by the Governor with all humility, that Portugal had promised to pay tribute, and that, in fact, Macao had returned to Chinese possession. The Portuguese official, equally charmed, informed his Government that nothing but advantage could accrue to his country from so friendiy a Visit. As a matter of fact, however. China does claim Macao, and the Portuguese are likely to have some trouble in resisting the claim, as they are not secured by treaty rights. This roundabout assertion of the po-dtion of China at this particular time looks very much like a deliberately conceived plan for the recovery of all possessions taken from her during the last few hundred years.