China was accused last night of deliberately destabilising Macau.
Beijing was not doing enough to help crack down on organised crime, a former senior Portuguese official claimed.
Writing in the influential Lisbon newspaper Diario de Noticias, Portugal's ex-secretary for foreign affairs and political adviser to former president Mario Soares, claimed China's efforts to ensure a smooth and relatively crime-free transition in Hong Kong contrasted sharply with its current handling of Macau.
In the article headed 'One Crime, Two Systems', Victor Cunha Rego claimed Portugal's tough stance in 1995 against the extradition of criminal suspects who faced the death penalty on the mainland, and Lisbon's strict adherence to Western human rights principles, led China to pull back from full co-operation in the battle against crime.
The move, described by senior officials in Lisbon and Macau as 'a different attitude towards China' looks set to provoke a diplomatic storm and upset what has so far been a harmonious transition process.
Officials also confirmed that media reports in Portugal, claiming the President and Prime Minister believed China was 'taking advantage of the final months of transition to make a judgment on the Portuguese presence', reflected Lisbon's stance.
The attack has been provoked by fears that China could use the deteriorating security situation to argue for a replacement of the liberal Portuguese system of justice after the 1999 handover.
