從一九八七年四月十二日中共和葡萄牙簽署關於澳門的「聯合聲明」後，澳門便進入過渡時期。雖然距離一九九九年十二月二十日中共正式收回澳門已剩下不到兩年的時間，但是過渡期內的種種問題仍未能解決，例如「三化(中文官語化、公務員本地化、法律本地化)J問題，都未能解決。而「三化」問題之所以未能解決，其主要 障礙是「土生葡人」問題未能解決。因為「土生葡人」在過去、現在和未來都會扮演著一種重要的角色。「土生葡人」問題如果不能解決，I三化」問題根本無法落實。因此， I土生葡人」問題是澳門 「回歸」的一個非先解決不可的問題。本文以下將就從「土生葡人」的界定、社會狀況、困惑、解決之策等方面來探討，藉以在「九九」來臨前提供國人對澳門問題的一些認識。

Macao has entered a transitonal period since the PRC and Portugal signed a joint statement on Macao on April 12， 1987. The PRC takeover of Macao on December 20， 1999 is less than two years away， but three important problems during the transitional period， i. e， making Chinese the official language， localization of laws， and localization of public servants， have remained unresolved. The main obstacle to these problems' solution is the issue of locally-born Portuguese， because they have played a major role in the past and will also have a major role to play in the future. Ifthe issue remains unsettled， the above problems will never be truly resolved. In this article， the author discusses the definition oflocally-born Portuguese， their social status， their predicaments， and possible solutions so as to faciliate a better understanding of Macao affairs.