Request to change names of Hong Kong, Macau consulates ‘common sense’, China’s foreign ministry says

Spokesman for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs says move to use just the name of the main base in missions’ formal titles will not affect their ability to discharge their duties

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The note from China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs referred to articles in the Vienna Convention, an international treaty to which China is a party. Photo: Handout

Published: 9:15pm, 3 Aug 2018Updated: 12:48am, 4 Aug 2018

China has described its call for foreign diplomatic missions in Hong Kong and Macau to remove the name of the city that is not their main operating base from their official title as “common sense”.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs also said the request “does not affect” the ability of any consulate in either special administrative region from “discharging its duties” under international agreements.

The intervention by Beijing comes as it emerged that the ministry’s request – contained in a note delivered to all diplomatic missions in both cities – referred to articles in the Vienna Convention, an international treaty to which China is a party and which governs diplomatic relations between nation states.

It has also prompted experts to speculate that the move could form part of a strategy by China to boost the diplomatic profile of Macau, which Beijing considers a key bridge linking it to the Portuguese-speaking world, an important nexus to developing nations in which China exerts a growing influence.

Responding to questions from the South China Morning Post, a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said: “In line with international conventions and agreements on consular services, a consular organisation should be named after its resident city.

It could be that Beijing wants to clearly define consular roles and conduct more of its activity actually in Macau

Wilson Chan, lecturer

“This does not affect the consular organisation from discharging its duties in its consular district according to those agreements. The name and the consular district of a consular organisations are two separate matters, this is a matter of common sense. It’s obligatory on every consular organisation to abide by the agreements.”