The handover of Macau from the Portuguese Republic to the People's Republic of China was at midnight on 20 December 1999. This event ended 442 years of Portuguese rule in the former settlement, which began in 1557.
Macau was settled by Portuguese merchants in 1557, during the Ming dynasty and was subsequently under various degrees of Portuguese rule until 1999. Portugal's involvement in the region was formally recognised by the Qing dynasty in 1749. The Portuguese governor João Maria Ferreira do Amaral, emboldened by the First Opium War and the Treaty of Nanking, attempted to annex the territory, expelling Qing authorities in 1846, but was assassinated.[1] After the Second Opium War, the Portuguese government, along with a British representative, signed the 1887 Sino-Portuguese Treaty of Peking that gave Portugal perpetual colonial rights to Macau on the condition that Portugal would cooperate in efforts to end the smuggling of opium.[1]
On 25 April 1974, a group of left-wing Portuguese officers organized a coup d'état in Lisbon, overthrowing the right-wing dictatorship that had controlled Portugal for 48 years. The new government began to transition Portugal to a democratic system and was committed to decolonization. The government carried out decolonization policies, and proposed Macau's handover to China in 1978.[2] The Chinese government rejected this proposal, believing that an early handover of Macau would impact relations with Hong Kong.[2][page needed]
On 31 December 1975, the Portuguese government withdrew its remaining troops from Macau. On 8 February 1979, the Portuguese government decided to break off diplomatic relations with the Republic of China, and established diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China the next day. Both Portugal and the People's Republic of China recognized Macau as Chinese territory. The colony remained under Portuguese rule until 20 December 1999, when its handover to China took place and became the Macau Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China. This marked the end of nearly 600 years of the European colonial era.
Negotiations
On 20 May 1986, the People's Republic of China, along with Portugal, officially announced that talks on Macanese affairs would take place in Beijing on 30 June 1986. The Portuguese delegation arrived in Beijing in June, and was welcomed by the Chinese delegation led by Zhou Nan.[3][4]
The talks consisted of four sessions, all held in Beijing:
The first conference: 30 June – 1 July 1986
The second conference: 9–10 September 1986
The third conference: 21–22 October 1986
The fourth conference: 18–23 March 1987
During the negotiations, Portuguese representatives offered to return Macau in 1987, but Chinese representatives rejected that year (as well rejecting previous requests for 1967, 1975, and 1977). China requested 1997, the same year as Hong Kong, but Portugal refused. 2004 was suggested by Portugal, as well as 2007 as that year would mark the 450th anniversary of Portugal renting Macau. However, China insisted for a year before 2000 as the Sino-British Joint Liaison Group in Hong Kong would be dissolved in 2000 as envisioned in 1986 (the Joint Liaison Group would ultimately be dissolved in 1999).[5] Eventually the year 1999 was agreed upon.[6]
On 13 April 1987, the Sino-Portuguese Joint Declaration by the governments of the People's Republic of China and the Portuguese Republic was formally signed by the Prime Ministers of both governments in Beijing.[7]
Transition period (1987–1999)
The twelve years between the signing of the "Sino-Portuguese Declaration" on 13 April 1987 and the handover on 20 December 1999 were known as "the transition".
On 15 January 1988, the Chinese Foreign Affairs Department announced the Chinese members of the groups that would begin the talk on the issues of Macau during the transition. On 13 April, the "Draft of the Basic Law of the Macau Special Administrative Region Committee" was established during the seventh National People's Congress, and on 25 October, the committee convened the first conference, in which they passed the general outline of the draft and the steps, and decided to organise the "Draft of the Basic Law of Macau Special Administrative Region Information Committee".[8] On 31 March 1993, the National People's Congress passed the resolution on the Basic Law of Macau, which marked the beginning of the latter part of the transition.[9]
In the afternoon of 19 December 1999, the 127th Portuguese Governor of Macau Vasco Joaquim Rocha Vieira lowered the flags in Macau, which was the prelude of the ceremony for the establishment of the Macau Special Administrative Region.[10] The official handover was held at midnight on that day at the Cultural Centre of Macau Garden. The ceremony began in the evening and ended at dawn of 20 December.
The evening of 19 December began with dragon and lion dances. These were followed by a slideshow of historical events and features of Macau, which included a mixture of the religions and races of the East and the West, and the unique society of native Portuguese born in Macau. In the final performance, 442 children who represented the 442 years of Portuguese history in Macau were presented along with several international stars to perform the song "Praise for Peace".
Aftermath
After the handover of Macau to China, the Macau Special Administrative Region, the Legislative Assembly and the Judiciary were all put into practice accordingly under the regulation of the Basic Law.
The introduction of the Individual Visit Scheme policy made it easier for Chinese mainland residents to travel back and forth. In 2005 alone, there were more than 10 million tourists from mainland China, which made up 60% of the total number of tourists in Macau. The income from the gambling houses in Macau reached almost US$5.6 billion.[11] On 15 July 2005, the Historic Centre of Macau was listed as a World Cultural Heritage site. The increasing development of tourism became a major factor in the rapid development of the economy of Macau.
For Portugal, the handover of Macau to China marked the end of the Portuguese Empire and its decolonisation process and also the end of European imperialism in China and Asia.[12]
The border with the mainland, while now known as the boundary, continues to be patrolled as before, with separate immigration and customs controls.[18]
Macau citizens are still required to apply for a Mainland Travel Permit, in order to visit mainland China.[19]
Citizens of mainland China still do not have the right of abode in Macau, except if they were born in Macau (before or after the establishment of the SAR).[20] Instead, they had to apply for a permit to visit or settle in Macau from the PRC government.[21]
Macau continues to operate as a separate customs territory from mainland China.[22]
Macau remains an individual member of various international organizations, such as APEC and WTO.[23]
Macau continues to negotiate and maintain its own aviation bilateral treaties with foreign countries and territories.[24] These include flights to Taiwan.[25]
Macau citizens continue to have easier access to many countries, including those in Europe and North America, with Macau SAR passport holders having visa-free access to 117 other countries and territories.[28]
Foreign nationals, including Portuguese citizens, are allowed to hold high-level positions in the administration, except the office of Chief Executive; those who will apply for Chief Executive position will have to be naturalized as Chinese.[29] This was in contrast to Hong Kong, where such positions were restricted to citizens of the SAR.[30]
Members of the existing Legislative Assembly, who had been elected in 1996, remained in office until 2001, although those who had been appointed by the Governor were replaced by those appointed by the incoming Chief Executive.[31]
Foreign nationals, including Portuguese citizens, are still allowed to stand for directly elected seats in the Legislative Assembly.[32] This is in contrast to Hong Kong, where foreign nationals can only stand for indirectly elected seats in the Legislative Council.[33]
Macau continues to have more freedom of the press than mainland China despite the growing influence of Beijing and Hong Kong journalists being refused entry.[36]
Macau continues to drive on the left unlike mainland China, all of which has driven on the right since 1946, or Portugal and most other Portuguese colonies, which switched to the right in 1928.[41]Vehicle registration plates continued to follow the old Portuguese format, with white characters on a black plate.[42] This had been discontinued in Portugal in 1992.[43]
Portuguese-influenced place names remain unchanged, although their unrelated Chinese equivalents are already in use; for example, Avenida Almeida Ribeiro is known as San Ma Lou or "new road".[54]
Portuguese monuments remain, although the statue of former Governor João Maria Ferreira do Amaral was taken down in 1992.[55] The statue is now located at the Bairro da Encarnação, Lisbon, Portugal, where it was placed in December 1999.[56]
The floor on the ground level continues to be officially referred to by the Portuguese abbreviation R/C (rés-do-chão).[57]
Portugal was now represented in Macau by the Portuguese Consulate-General, also accredited to Hong Kong.[74] This had responsibility for matters relating to Portuguese nationals. However, residents of Macau born after 3 October 1981 were no longer entitled to Portuguese nationality.[75][76]
The words "República Portuguesa" no longer appear on postage stamps, which now display the words "Macau, China".[79] The Portuguese coat of arms had already been removed from Macanese pataca banknotes and coins issued since 1988.[80]
The University of Macau was relocated to a new campus on Hengqin Island in 2009.[88] This was under the jurisdiction of the Macau SAR government, which had leased a plot of land for M$1.2 billion until 2049.[89]
^"João Ferreira do Amaral". Sítio da Câmara Municipal de Lisboa. Lisbon City Hall. Archived from the original on 16 August 2017. Retrieved 1 October 2017. A mudança da administração do território macaense implicou a transferência da estátua para Lisboa, que foi inaugurada no Bairro da Encarnação, em Dezembro de 1999.
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