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106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 825

To set forth the policy of the United States with respect to Macau, and

for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 24, 1999

Mr. BEREUTER (for himself, Mr. LANTOS, Mr. ROYCE, Mr. BERMAN, Mr.

MANZULLO, and Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA) introduced the following bill;

which was referred to the Committee on International Relations

A BILL

To set forth the policy of the United States with respect

to Macau, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘United States-Macau

5 Policy Act of 1999’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND DECLARATIONS.

7 The Congress makes the following findings and dec8 larations:

9 (1) The Congress recognizes that under the

10 April 13, 1987, Joint Declaration of the Government
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1 of the People’s Republic of China and the Govern2 ment of the Republic of Portugal on the Question of

3 Macau—

4 (A) the People’s Republic of China and the

5 Republic of Portugal have agreed that the Peo6 ple’s Republic of China will resume the exercise

7 of sovereignty over Macau on December 20,

8 1999, and until that time, Portugal will be re9 sponsible for the administration of Macau;

10 (B) the Macau Special Administrative Re11 gion of the People’s Republic of China, begin12 ning on December 20, 1999, will continue to

13 enjoy a high degree of autonomy on all matters

14 other than defense and foreign affairs;

15 (C) there is provision for implementation

16 of a ‘‘one country, two systems’’ policy, under

17 which Macau will retain its current lifestyle and

18 legal, social, and economic systems until at

19 least the year 2049;

20 (D) the legislature of the Macau Special

21 Administrative Region has been constituted by

22 elections; and

23 (E) provision is made for the continuation

24 in force of agreements implemented as of De25 cember 20, 1999, and for the ability of the
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1 Macau Special Administrative Region to con2 clude new agreements.

3 (2) The Congress declares its wish to see full

4 implementation of the provisions of the Joint Dec5 laration.

6 (3) The Congress supports the policies and de7 cisions reflected in the Joint Declaration.

8 (4) It is the sense of the Congress that—

9 (A) Macau’s continued economic prosperity

10 furthers United States interests in the People’s

11 Republic of China and Asia;

12 (B) support for democratization is a fun13 damental principle of United States foreign pol14 icy, and as such, that principle naturally applies

15 to United States policy toward Macau, now and

16 after December 19, 1999; and

17 (C)(i) the human rights of the people of

18 Macau are of great importance to the United

19 States and are directly relevant to United

20 States interests in Macau;

21 (ii) a fully successful transition in the exer22 cise of sovereignty over Macau must safeguard

23 human rights in and of themselves; and

24 (iii) human rights also serve as a basis for

25 Macau’s continued economic prosperity.
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1 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

2 For purposes of this Act—

3 (1) the term ‘‘Macau’’ means, prior to Decem4 ber 20, 1999, the Portuguese Dependent Territory

5 of Macau, and on and after December 20, 1999, the

6 Macau Special Administrative Region of the People’s

7 Republic of China;

8 (2) the term ‘‘Joint Declaration’’ means the

9 Joint Declaration of the Government of the People’s

10 Republic of China and the Government of the Re11 public of Portugal on the Question of Macau, of

12 April 13, 1987; and

13 (3) the term ‘‘laws of the United States’’ means

14 provisions of law enacted by the Congress.

15 TITLE I—POLICY

16 SEC. 101. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

17 It is the sense of the Congress that—

18 (1) the United States should play an active role

19 before, on, and after December 20, 1999, in main20 taining Macau’s confidence and prosperity, Macau’s

21 unique cultural heritage, and the mutually beneficial

22 ties between the people of the United States and the

23 people of Macau; and

24 (2) through its policies, the United States

25 should contribute to Macau’s ability to maintain a

26 high degree of autonomy in matters other than de-
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1 fense and foreign affairs as promised by the People’s

2 Republic of China and the Republic of Portugal in

3 the Joint Declaration, particularly with respect to

4 such matters as trade, commerce, law enforcement,

5 finance, monetary policy, aviation, shipping, commu6 nications, tourism, cultural affairs, sports, and par7 ticipation in international organizations, consistent

8 with the national security and other interests of the

9 United States.

10 TITLE II—THE STATUS OF

11 MACAU IN UNITED STATES LAW

12 SEC. 201. CONTINUED APPLICATION OF UNITED STATES

13 LAW.

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any change in

15 the exercise of sovereignty over Macau, and subject to sub16 sections (b) and (c), the laws of the United States shall

17 continue to apply with respect to Macau, on and after De18 cember 20, 1999, in the same manner as the laws of the

19 United States were applied with respect to Macau before

20 such date unless otherwise expressly provided by law or

21 by Executive order under section 202.

22 (b) INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS.—For all pur23 poses, including actions in any court of the United States,

24 the Congress approves of the continuation in force on and

25 after December 20, 1999, of all treaties and other inter-
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1 national agreements, including multilateral conventions,

2 entered into before such date between the United States

3 and Macau, or entered into force before such date between

4 the United States and the Republic of Portugal and ap5 plied to Macau, unless or until terminated in accordance

6 with law. If, in carrying out this title, the President deter7 mines that Macau is not legally competent to carry out

8 its obligations under any such treaty or other international

9 agreement, or that the continuation of Macau’s obligations

10 or rights under any such treaty or other international

11 agreement is not appropriate under the circumstances, the

12 President shall promptly notify the Committee on Inter13 national Relations of the House of Representatives and

14 the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate con15 cerning such determination, and shall take appropriate ac16 tion to modify or terminate such treaty or other inter17 national agreement.

18 (c) EXPORT CONTROLS.—Notwithstanding sub19 section (a) or any other provision of law, the President

20 shall establish with respect to Macau, within 90 days after

21 the date of the enactment of this Act, such export control

22 policies and regulations as he determines to be advisable

23 in the national security interests of the United States.
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1 SEC. 202. PRESIDENTIAL ORDER.

2 (a) PRESIDENTIAL DETERMINATION.—On or after

3 December 20, 1999, whenever the President determines

4 that Macau is not sufficiently autonomous to justify treat5 ment under a particular law of the United States, or any

6 provision thereof, different from that accorded the Peo7 ple’s Republic of China, the President may issue an Exec8 utive order suspending the application of section 201(a)

9 to such law or provision of law. The President shall

10 promptly notify the Committee on International Relations

11 of the House of Representatives and the Committee on

12 Foreign Relations of the Senate concerning any such de13 termination.

14 (b) FACTOR FOR CONSIDERATION.—In making a de15 termination under subsection (a) with respect to the appli16 cation of a law of the United States, or any provision

17 thereof, to Macau, the President should consider the

18 terms, obligations, and expectations expressed in the Joint

19 Declaration with respect to Macau.

20 (c) PUBLICATION IN FEDERAL REGISTER.—Any Ex21 ecutive order issued under subsection (a) shall be pub22 lished in the Federal Register and shall specify the law

23 or provision of law affected by the order.

24 (d) TERMINATION OF SUSPENSION.—An Executive

25 order issued under subsection (a) may be terminated by

26 the President with respect to a particular law or provision
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1 of law whenever the President determines that Macau has

2 regained sufficient autonomy to justify treatment under

3 the law or provision of law in question. Notice of any such

4 termination shall be published in the Federal Register.

5 SEC. 203. RULES AND REGULATIONS.

6 The President is authorized to prescribe such rules

7 and regulations as the President considers appropriate to

8 carry out this Act.

9 SEC. 204. CONSULTATION WITH CONGRESS.

10 In carrying out this title, the President shall consult

11 appropriately with the Congress.

12 TITLE III—REPORTING

13 PROVISIONS

14 SEC. 301. REPORTING REQUIREMENT.

15 Not later than 90 days after the date of the enact16 ment of this Act, and not later than March 31 of each

17 of the years 2000, 2001, and 2002, the Secretary of State

18 shall transmit to the Committee on International Rela19 tions of the House of Representatives and the Committee

20 on Foreign Relations of the Senate a report on conditions

21 in Macau of interest to the United States. This report

22 shall cover (in the case of the initial report) the period

23 since the date of the enactment of this Act or (in the case

24 of subsequent reports) the period since the most recent

25 report pursuant to this section, and shall describe—
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1 (1) significant developments in United States

2 relations with Macau;

3 (2) significant developments related to the

4 change in the exercise of sovereignty over Macau af5 fecting United States interests in Macau or United

6 States relations with Macau and the People’s Repub7 lic of China;

8 (3) steps taken by the United States to imple9 ment section 201(c) (relating to export controls with

10 respect to Macau), including any significant prob11 lems or other developments arising with respect to

12 the application of United States export controls to

13 Macau;

14 (4) the laws of the United States with respect

15 to which the application of section 201(a) (relating

16 to the application of United States laws to Macau)

17 has been suspended pursuant to section 202(a) or

18 with respect to which such a suspension has been

19 terminated pursuant to section 202(d), and the rea20 sons for the suspension or termination, as the case

21 may be;

22 (5) the treaties and other international agree23 ments with respect to which the President has made

24 a determination described in the last sentence of sec25 tion 201(b) (relating to the application of treaties
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1 and other international agreements to Macau), the

2 reasons for each such determination, and the steps

3 taken as a result of such determination;

4 (6) the development of democratic institutions

5 in Macau;

6 (7) compliance by the Government of the Peo7 ple’s Republic of China and the Government of the

8 Republic of Portugal with their obligations under the

9 Joint Declaration; and

10 (8) the nature and extent of Macau’s participa11 tion in multilateral forums.

12 SEC. 302. SEPARATE PART OF COUNTRY REPORTS.

13 Whenever a report is transmitted to the Congress on

14 a country-by-country basis, there shall be included in such

15 report, where applicable, a separate subreport on Macau

16 under the heading of the state that exercises sovereignty

17 over Macau.

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