Later that year, the Portuguese established a walled village there. Ground rent payments began in 1573. China retained sovereignty and Chinese residents were subject to Chinese law, but the territory was under Portuguese administration. In 1582 a land lease was signed, and annual rent was paid to Xiangshan County. The Portuguese continued to pay an annual tribute up to 1863 in order to stay in Macau.
The Portuguese often married Tanka
is a genre of classical Japanese poetry and one of the major genres of Japanese literature.
Etymology
Originally, in the time of the ''Man'yōshū'' (latter half of the eighth century AD), the term ''tanka'' was used to distinguish "short poem ...
women since Han Chinese women would not have relations with them. Some of the Tanka's descendants became Macanese people
The Macanese people ( pt, Macaense) are an East Asian ethnic group that originated in Macau in the 16th century, consisting of people of predominantly mixed Cantonese and Portuguese as well as Malay, Japanese, English, Sinhalese, and Indian anc ...
. Some Tanka children were enslaved by Portuguese raiders. The Chinese poet Wu Li
Wu Li, SJ (); ca. 1632-1718 was a Chinese landscape painter, poet, calligrapher and Jesuit from Jiangsu who lived during the Qing Dynasty (1644–1912).
Wu was born in Changzhou in the Jiangsu province of China. His style name was 'Yu Shan' ...
wrote a poem, which included a line about the Portuguese in Macau being supplied with fish by the Tanka.
Macau's golden age
After the Portuguese were allowed to permanently settle in Macau, both Chinese and Portuguese merchants flocked to Macau, although the Portuguese were never numerous (numbering just 900 in 1583 and 1200 out of 26,000 in 1640). It quickly became an important node in the development of Portugal's trade along three major routes: Macau–Malacca–Goa–Lisbon, Guangzhou–Macau–Nagasaki and Macau–Manila–Mexico. The Guangzhou–Macau–Nagasaki route was particularly profitable because the Portuguese acted as middlemen, shipping Chinese silks to Japan and Japanese silver to China, pocketing huge markups in the process. This already lucrative trade became even more so when Chinese officials handed Macau's Portuguese traders a monopoly by banning direct trade with Japan in 1547, due to piracy by Chinese and Japanese nationals.
Macau's golden age coincided with the union
Union commonly refers to:
* Trade union, an organization of workers
* Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets
Union may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
Music
* Union (band), an American rock group
** ''Un ...
of the Spanish and Portuguese crowns, between 1580 and 1640. King Philip II of Spain
Philip II) in Spain, while in Portugal and his Italian kingdoms he ruled as Philip I ( pt, Filipe I). (21 May 152713 September 1598), also known as Philip the Prudent ( es, Felipe el Prudente), was King of Spain from 1556, King of Portugal from ...
was encouraged to not harm the status quo, to allow trade to continue between Portuguese Macau and Spanish Manila, and to not interfere with Portuguese trade with China. In 1587, Philip promoted Macau from "Settlement or Port of the Name of God" to "City of the Name of God" (Cidade do Nome de Deus de Macau).
The alliance of Portugal with Spain meant that Portuguese colonies became targets for the Netherlands, which was embroiled at the time in a lengthy struggle for its independence from Spain, the Eighty Years' War
The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt ( nl, Nederlandse Opstand) ( c.1566/1568–1648) was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and the Spanish government. The causes of the war included the Refo ...
. After the Dutch East India Company
The United East India Company ( nl, Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, the VOC) was a chartered company established on the 20th March 1602 by the States General of the Netherlands amalgamating existing companies into the first joint-stock ...
was founded in 1602, the Dutch unsuccessfully attacked Macau several times, culminating in a full-scale invasion attempt in 1622, when 800 attackers were successfully repelled by 150 Macanese and Portuguese defenders and a large number of African slaves. One of the first actions of Macau's next governor, who arrived the following year, was to strengthen the city's defences, which included the construction of the
Guia Fortress
The Guia Fortress ( pt, Fortaleza da Guia; ) is a 17th-century colonial military fort, chapel, and lighthouse complex in São Lázaro, Macau. The complex is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Historic Centre of Macau.
The view of the fortre ...
.
Religious activity
As well as being an important trading post, Macau was a centre of activity for Catholic missionaries, as it was seen as a gateway for the conversion of the vast populations of China and Japan.
Jesuit
, image = Ihs-logo.svg
, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders ...
s had first arrived in the 1560s and were followed by
Dominicans in the 1580s. Both orders soon set about constructing churches and schools, the most notable of which were the Jesuit
Cathedral of Saint Paul and the
St. Dominic's Church built by the Dominicans. In 1576, Macau was established as an
episcopal see
An episcopal see is, in a practical use of the phrase, the area of a bishop's ecclesiastical jurisdiction.
Phrases concerning actions occurring within or outside an episcopal see are indicative of the geographical significance of the term, mak ...
by
Pope Gregory XIII
Pope Gregory XIII ( la, Gregorius XIII; it, Gregorio XIII; 7 January 1502 – 10 April 1585), born Ugo Boncompagni, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 May 1572 to his death in April 1585. He is best known for ...
with
Melchior Carneiro
Belchior Carneiro Leitão, often known as Melchior Carneiro (1516 – 19 August 1583) was a Portuguese Jesuit missionary bishop. He was one of the first Jesuit bishops.
Life
He entered the Society of Jesus on 25 April 1543 and was appointed ...
appointed as the first bishop.
1637–1844: Decline
In 1637, increasing suspicion of the intentions of Spanish and Portuguese Catholic missionaries in Japan finally led the ''
shōgun
, officially , was the title of the military dictators of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, though during part of the Kamakur ...
'' to seal Japan off from foreign influence. Later named the
sakoku
was the Isolationism, isolationist Foreign policy of Japan, foreign policy of the Japanese Tokugawa shogunate under which, for a period of 265 years during the Edo period (from 1603 to 1868), relations and trade between Japan and other countri ...
period, this meant that no Japanese were allowed to leave the country (or return if they were living abroad), and no foreign ship was allowed to dock in a Japanese port. An exception was made for the Protestant Dutch, who were allowed to continue to trade with Japan from the confines of a small man-made island in Nagasaki,
Deshima
, in the 17th century also called Tsukishima ( 築島, "built island"), was an artificial island off Nagasaki, Japan that served as a trading post for the Portuguese (1570–1639) and subsequently the Dutch (1641–1854). For 220 years, it ...
. Macau's most profitable trade route, that between Japan and China, had been severed. The crisis was compounded two years later by the loss of Malacca to the Dutch in 1641, damaging the link with Goa.
The news that the Portuguese
House of Braganza
The Most Serene House of Braganza ( pt, Sereníssima Casa de Bragança), also known as the Brigantine Dynasty (''Dinastia Brigantina''), is a dynasty of emperors, kings, princes, and dukes of Portuguese origin which reigned in Europe and the Ame ...
had regained control of the Crown from the
Spanish Habsburgs
Habsburg Spain is a contemporary historiographical term referring to the huge extent of territories (including modern-day Spain, a piece of south-east France, eventually Portugal, and many other lands outside of the Iberian Peninsula) ruled be ...
took two years to reach Macau, arriving in 1642. A ten-week celebration ensued, and despite its new-found poverty, Macau sent gifts to the new King
João IV
John IV ( pt, João, ; 19 March 1604 – 6 November 1656), nicknamed John the Restorer ( pt, João, o Restaurador), was the King of Portugal whose reign, lasting from 1640 until his death, began the Portuguese restoration of independence from H ...
along with expressions of loyalty. In return, the King rewarded Macau with the addition of the words "There is none more Loyal" to its existing title. Macau was now "City of the Name of God in China, There is none more loyal". ("Não há outra mais Leal"
">/nowiki>/nowiki>).
In 1685, the privileged position of the Portuguese in trade with China ended, following a decision by the Kangxi Emperor
The Kangxi Emperor (4 May 1654– 20 December 1722), also known by his temple name Emperor Shengzu of Qing, born Xuanye, was the third emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the second Qing emperor to rule over China proper, reigning from 1661 to 1 ...
of China to allow trade with all foreign countries. Over the next century, Britain, the Dutch Republic, France, Denmark, Sweden, the United States and Russia moved in, establishing factories and offices in Guangzhou
Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...
and Macau. British trading dominance in the 1790s was unsuccessfully challenged by a combined French and Spanish naval squadron at the Macau Incident of 27 January 1799.
Until 20 April 1844 Macau was under the jurisdiction of Portugal's Indian colonies, the so-called "Estado português da India" (Portuguese State of India
The State of India ( pt, Estado da Índia), also referred as the Portuguese State of India (''Estado Português da Índia'', EPI) or simply Portuguese India (), was a state of the Portuguese Empire founded six years after the discovery of a se ...
), but after this date, it, along with East Timor
East Timor (), also known as Timor-Leste (), officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is an island country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the exclave of Oecusse on the island's north-weste ...
, was accorded recognition by Lisbon (but not by Beijing) as an overseas province of Portugal. The Treaty of Peace, Amity, and Commerce between China and the United States was signed in a temple in Macau on 3 July 1844. The temple was used by a Chinese judicial administrator, who also oversaw matters concerning foreigners, and was located in the village of Mong Há. The Templo de Kun Iam was the site where, on 3 July 1844, the treaty of Wangxia (named after the village of Mong Ha where the temple was located) was signed by representatives of the United States and China. This marked the official beginning of Sino-US relations.
1844–1938: The Hong Kong effect
After China ceded Hong Kong to the British in 1842, Macau's position as a major regional trading centre declined further still because larger ships were drawn to the deep water port of Victoria Harbour
Victoria Harbour is a natural landform harbour in Hong Kong separating Hong Kong Island in the south from the Kowloon Peninsula to the north. The harbour's deep, sheltered waters and strategic location on South China Sea were instrumental i ...
. In an attempt to reverse the decline, Portugal declared Macau a free port
Free economic zones (FEZ), free economic territories (FETs) or free zones (FZ) are a class of special economic zone (SEZ) designated by the trade and commerce administrations of various countries. The term is used to designate areas in which com ...
, expelled Chinese officials and soldiers, and thereafter levied taxes on Chinese residents. In 1846, there was a revolt of the boatmen that was put down.
Portugal continued to pay rent to China until 1849, when the Portuguese abolished the Chinese customs house and declared Macau's "independence", a year which also saw Chinese retaliation and finally the assassination of Gov. Ferreira do Amaral during the so-called Baishaling Incident. Portugal gained control of the island of Wanzai ( Lapa by the Portuguese and now as Wanzaizhen), to the northwest of Macau and which now is under the jurisdiction of Zhuhai
Zhuhai (, ; Yale: ''Jyūhói''), also known as Chuhai is a prefecture-level city located on the west bank of Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern Guangdong province, People's Republic of China, on the southeastern edge of Pearl ...
( Xiangzhou District), in 1849 but relinquished it in 1887. Control over Taipa
Taipa ( zh, t=氹仔, ; pt, Taipa, ) was a former island in Macau, presently united with the island of Coloane by reclaimed land known as Cotai. Administratively, the boundaries of the traditional civil parish Freguesia de Nossa Senhora do Ca ...
and Coloane
Coloane (Cantonese: Lou Wan) is a former island in Macau that is united with the island of Taipa by an area of reclaimed land known as Cotai. It is located at the southern part of Macau. Administratively, the boundaries of the traditional civil pa ...
, two islands south of Macau, was obtained between 1851 and 1864. Macau and East Timor were again combined as an overseas province of Portugal under control of Goa in 1883. The Protocol Respecting the Relations Between the Two Countries (signed in Lisbon 26 March 1887) and the Beijing Treaty (signed in Beijing on 1 December 1887) confirmed "perpetual occupation and government" of Macau by Portugal (with Portugal's promise "never to alienate Macau and dependencies without agreement with China" in the treaty). Taipa and Coloane were also ceded to Portugal, but the border with the mainland was not delimited. Ilha Verde () was incorporated into Macau's territory in 1890, and, once a kilometre offshore, by 1923 it had been absorbed into peninsula Macau through land reclamation
Land reclamation, usually known as reclamation, and also known as land fill (not to be confused with a waste landfill), is the process of creating new land from oceans, seas, riverbeds or lake beds. The land reclaimed is known as reclamati ...
.
In 1871, the Hospital Kiang Wu
Kiang Wu Hospital (KWH; ) is a privately owned hospital located in Santo António, Macau. It is one of the three hospitals in Macau. Founded in 1871, the hospital is run by the Kiang Wu Charitable Association and offered Chinese medical services. R ...
was founded as a traditional Chinese medical hospital. It was in 1892 that doctor Sun Yat-sen
Sun Yat-sen (; also known by several other names; 12 November 1866 – 12 March 1925)Singtao daily. Saturday edition. 23 October 2010. section A18. Sun Yat-sen Xinhai revolution 100th anniversary edition . was a Chinese politician who serve ...
brought Western medicine services to the hospital.[As published on IACM Macau government publication "Footprints of Painter Gao Jianhu"]
In the 1930s, Macau's traditional income streams related to illegal opium sales dried up, as the Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
's Eastern Fleet
Eastern may refer to:
Transportation
*China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai
* Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways
*Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991
*Eastern Air L ...
suppressed piracy and smuggling in support of Hong Kong's growing commercial status. Traditional local industries of fishing, firecrackers and incense, as well as tea and tobacco processing, were all small scale, while Macau Government income from 'Fan-Tan
Fan-Tan, or fantan () is a gambling game long played in China. It is a game of pure chance which has similarities to roulette.
The game is played by placing two handfuls of small objects on a board and guessing the remaining count when divided b ...
' gambling was only around US$5000 (about US$100,000 in modern money) per day. So the financially pressed Portuguese government urged the colony's administrators to develop greater economic self-sufficiency. One channel that bore fruit was as a transit point for the new trans-Pacific passenger and postal flights, for competing airlines from the US and Japan – which was at the time engaged in conflict with China. In 1935, Pan-Am
Pan American World Airways, originally founded as Pan American Airways and commonly known as Pan Am, was an American airline that was the principal and largest international air carrier and unofficial overseas flag carrier of the United States ...
secured sea-landing rights in Macau and immediately set about building related communications infrastructure in the enclave, allowing a service from San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
to begin in November that year.[Did Japan really offer Portugal US$100 million for Macau in 1935?]
SCMP by Paul French, 8 February 2020
Intertwined with this economic progress was an alleged and much discussed offer (never officially confirmed) in 1935 by Japan to buy Macau from Portugal, for US$100 million. Concerns were raised by the British, and others. In May, the Portuguese government twice denied that it would accept any such offer, and the matter was closed.[
]
1848–1870s: Slave trade
From 1848 to about the early 1870s, Macau was the infamous transit port of a trade of coolies
A coolie (also spelled koelie, kuli, khuli, khulie, cooli, cooly, or quli) is a term for a low-wage labourer, typically of South Asian or East Asian descent.
The word ''coolie'' was first popularized in the 16th century by European traders acros ...
(or slave labourers) from southern China. Most of them were kidnapped from the Guangdong
Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...
province and were shipped off in packed vessels to Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
, Peru, or other South American ports to work on plantations or in mines. Many died on the way there due to malnutrition, disease, or other mistreatment. The ''Dea del Mar'' which had set sail to Callao
Callao () is a Peruvian seaside city and Regions of Peru, region on the Pacific Ocean in the Lima metropolitan area. Callao is Peru's chief seaport and home to its main airport, Jorge Chávez International Airport. Callao municipality consists o ...
from Macau in 1865 with 550 Chinese on board, arrived in Tahiti
Tahiti (; Tahitian ; ; previously also known as Otaheite) is the largest island of the Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia. It is located in the central part of the Pacific Ocean and the nearest major landmass is Austr ...
with only 162 of them still alive.
1938–1949: World War II
Macau became a refugee centre during World War II, causing its population to climb from about 200,000 to about 700,000 people within a few years. Refugee operations were organized through the Santa Casa da Misericordia.
Unlike in the case of Portuguese Timor
Portuguese Timor ( pt, Timor Português) was a colonial possession of Portugal that existed between 1702 and 1975. During most of this period, Portugal shared the island of Timor with the Dutch East Indies.
The first Europeans to arrive in the ...
, which was occupied by the Japanese in 1942 along with Dutch Timor, the Japanese respected Portuguese neutrality in Macau, but only up to a point.[ As such, Macau enjoyed a brief period of economic prosperity, being the only neutral port in South China, after the Japanese had occupied Guangzhou (Canton) and ]Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
. In August 1943, Japanese troops seized the British steamer ''Sian'' in Macau and killed about 20 guards. The next month, they demanded the installation of Japanese "advisors" under the alternative of military occupation. The result was that a virtual Japanese protectorate
A protectorate, in the context of international relations, is a State (polity), state that is under protection by another state for defence against aggression and other violations of law. It is a dependent territory that enjoys autonomy over m ...
was created over Macau.
When it was discovered that neutral Macau was planning to sell aviation fuel to Japan, aircraft from the '' USS Enterprise'' bombed and strafed the hangar of the Naval Aviation Centre on 16 January 1945 to destroy the fuel. American air raids on targets in Macau were also made on 25 February and 11 June 1945. Following Portuguese government protest in 1950, the United States paid US$20,255,952 compensation to the government of Portugal.
1949–1999: Macau and communist China
When the Chinese communists
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Civil ...
came to power in 1949, they declared the Protocol of Lisbon to be invalid as an "unequal treaty
Unequal treaty is the name given by the Chinese to a series of treaties signed during the 19th and early 20th centuries, between China (mostly referring to the Qing dynasty) and various Western powers (specifically the British Empire, France, the ...
" imposed by foreigners on China. However, Beijing was not ready to settle the treaty question, leaving the maintenance of "the status quo" until a more appropriate time. Beijing took a similar position on treaties relating to the Hong Kong territories of the United Kingdom.
In 1951, the Salazar regime declared Macau, as well as other Portuguese colonies, an "Overseas Province
Overseas province ( pt, província ultramarina) was a designation used by Portugal for its overseas possessions, located outside Europe.
History
In the early the 19th century, Portuguese overseas territories were referred to as "overseas domini ...
" of Portugal.
During the 1950s and 1960s Macau's border crossing to China Portas do Cerco
The Portas do Cerco is an area in Nossa Senhora de Fátima, Macau, China. Located on the northern tip of the Macau Peninsula, it is known by the Barrier Gate separating Macau from mainland China. The Portuguese built the gate in 1849 to replace a ...
was also referred to as ''Far Eastern Checkpoint Charlie'' with a major border incident happening in 1952 with Portuguese African Troops exchanging fire with Chinese Communist border guards. According to reports, the exchange lasted for one-and-three-quarter hours, leaving one dead and several dozens injured on the Macau side and more than 100 casualties claimed on the Communist Chinese side.
In 1954, the Macau Grand Prix
The Macau Grand Prix ( pt, Grande Prémio de Macau; ) is a motorsport road race for automobiles and motorcycles held annually in Macau. It is the only street circuit racing event in which both cars and motorcycles participate, and one of onl ...
was established, first as a treasure hunt throughout the city, and in later years as a formal car racing event.
In 1962, the gambling industry of Macau saw a major breakthrough when the government granted the ''Sociedade de Turismo e Diversões de Macau
The Sociedade de Turismo e Diversões de Macau, SA; abbreviated as STDM, (, English: "Tourism and Entertainment Company of Macau Limited") is a company in Macau owned by Stanley Ho and his family. Historically, it held a monopoly to Macau's ga ...
'' (STDM), a syndicate jointly formed by Hong Kong and Macau businessmen, the monopoly rights to all forms of gambling. The STDM introduced western-style games and modernised the marine transport between Macau and Hong Kong, bringing millions of gamblers from Hong Kong every year.
Riots broke out in 1966 during the communist Cultural Revolution, when local Chinese and the Macau authority clashed, the most serious one being the so-called 12-3 incident. This was sparked by the overreaction of some Portuguese officials to what was a regular minor dispute concerning building permits. The riots caused 8 deaths and the end was a total climbdown by the Portuguese Government.
On 29 January 1967, the Portuguese Governor, José Manuel de Sousa e Faro Nobre de Carvalho, with the endorsement of Portuguese Prime Minister Salazar, signed a statement of apology at the Chinese Chamber of Commerce, under a portrait of Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong pronounced ; also romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the founder of the People's Republic of China (PRC) ...
, with Ho Yin
Ho Yin (; 1 December 1908 – 6 December 1983) was a businessman, politician and senior leader of the Chinese community in Macau.
Biography
Ho Yin was born in Panyu, in the Pearl River Delta region, north of Macau on 1 December 1908, when ...
, the Chamber's president, presiding.[''Naked Tropics: Essays on Empire and Other Rogues''](_blank)
, Kenneth Maxwell, Psychology Press, 2003, page 279
Two agreements were signed, one with Macau's Chinese community, and the other with mainland China. The latter committed the Government to compensate local Chinese community leaders with as much as 2 million Macau Pataca
The Macanese pataca or Macau pataca (; pt, pataca de Macau; sign: $; abbreviation: P; ISO code: MOP) is the currency of the Macau Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China. It is subdivided into 100 ''avos'' (; ''sin' ...
s and to prohibit all Kuomintang
The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...
activities in Macau. This move ended the conflict, and relations between the government and the leftist organisations remained largely peaceful.
This success in Macau encouraged leftists in Hong Kong to "do the same", leading to riots by leftists in Hong Kong in 1967.
A Portuguese proposal to return the province to China was declined by China.
Also in 1966, the Church of our Lady of Sorrows on Coloane opened up.[
In 1968, the Taipa-Coloane Causeway linking Taipa island and Coloane island was opened up.][
In 1974, following the anti-colonialist ]Carnation Revolution
The Carnation Revolution ( pt, Revolução dos Cravos), also known as the 25 April ( pt, 25 de Abril, links=no), was a military coup by left-leaning military officers that overthrew the authoritarian Estado Novo regime on 25 April 1974 in Lisbo ...
, Portugal relinquished all claims over Macau and proposed to return Macau back to Chinese sovereignty.
In 1990, the Academy of Public Security Forces was founded in Coloane.[
In 1994, the Bridge of Friendship was completed, the second bridge connecting Macau and Taipa.][
In November 1995, the ]Macau International Airport
Macau International Airport ( zh, 澳門國際機場; pt, Aeroporto Internacional de Macau) is an international airport in the special administrative region of Macau, situated at the eastern end of Taipa island and neighbouring waters whic ...
was inaugurated.[ Before then the territory only had 2 temporary airports for small aeroplanes, in addition to several permanent heliports.
In 1997, the ]Macau Stadium
Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a popu ...
was completed in Taipa.[
]
1999: Handover to the People's Republic of China
Portugal and the People's Republic of China established diplomatic relations on 8 February 1979, and Beijing acknowledged Macau as "Chinese territory under Portuguese administration." A year later, Gen. Melo Egidio became the first governor of Macau to pay an official visit to Beijing.
The visit underscored both parties' interest in finding a mutually agreeable solution to Macau's status. A joint communique signed 20 May 1986 called for negotiations on the Macau question, and four rounds of talks followed between 30 June 1986 and 26 March 1987. The Joint Declaration on the Question of Macau
The Joint Declaration on the Question of Macau, or Sino-Portuguese Joint Declaration, was a treaty between Portugal and the People's Republic of China over the status of Macau. The full name of the treaty is Joint Declaration of the Government of ...
was signed in Beijing on 13 April 1987, setting the stage for the return of Macau to full Chinese sovereignty as a Special Administrative Region on 20 December 1999.
After four rounds of talks, "the Joint Declaration of the Government of the People's Republic of China and the Government of the Republic of Portugal on the Question of Macau" was officially signed in April 1987. The two sides exchanged instruments of ratification
Ratification is a principal's approval of an act of its agent that lacked the authority to bind the principal legally. Ratification defines the international act in which a state indicates its consent to be bound to a treaty if the parties inten ...
on 15 January 1988 and the Joint Declaration entered into force. During the transitional period, between the date of the entry into force of the Joint Declaration and 19 December 1999, the Portuguese government was responsible for the administration of Macau.
The Basic Law of the Macau Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, was adopted by the National People's Congress
The National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China (NPC; ), or simply the National People's Congress, is constitutionally the supreme state authority and the national legislature of the People's Republic of China.
With 2, ...
(NPC) on 31 March 1993 as the constitutional law for Macau, taking effect on 20 December 1999.
The PRC has promised that, under its "one country, two systems
"One country, two systems" is a constitutional principle of the People's Republic of China (PRC) describing the governance of the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau.
The constitutional principle was formulated in the early ...
" formula, China's socialist economic system will not be practised in Macau and that Macau will enjoy a high degree of autonomy in all matters except foreign and defence affairs until, at least, 2049, fifty years after the handover.
Although offered control of Macau as early as the 1960s, the Chinese deemed the time "not yet ripe" and preferred to wait until December 1999 – the very end of the millennium
A millennium (plural millennia or millenniums) is a period of one thousand years, sometimes called a kiloannum (ka), or kiloyear (ky). Normally, the word is used specifically for periods of a thousand years that begin at the starting point (ini ...
, two years after the Hong Kong handover
Sovereignty of Hong Kong was transferred from the United Kingdom to the China, People's Republic of China (PRC) at midnight on 1 July 1997. This event ended 156 years of British rule in the British Hong Kong, former colony. Hong Kong was establ ...
—to close this chapter of history.
Upon the handover of Macau European colonization of Asia ended.
Recent history of Macau (1999–present)
1999–2007: The rise of Macau as the Las Vegas of Asia
In 2002, the Macau government ended the gambling monopoly system and 3 (later 6) casino operating concessions (and subconcessions) were granted to Sociedade de Jogos de Macau (SJM, an 80% owned subsidiary of STDM), Wynn Resorts
Wynn or wyn (; also spelled wen, ƿynn, and ƿen) is a letter of the Old English alphabet, where it is used to represent the sound .
History The letter "W"
While the earliest Old English texts represent this phoneme with the digraph , ...
, Las Vegas Sands
Las Vegas Sands Corporation is an American casino and resort company with corporate headquarters in Paradise, Nevada, United States. Its corporate mission is to create "Integrated Resorts" which feature a combination of gambling, accommodation, ...
, Galaxy Entertainment Group
Galaxy Entertainment Group ("GEG") ( is a company that owns and operates hotels and casinos in Macau through its subsidiary, Galaxy Casino S.A.
History
The company, known formerly as K. Wah Construction Materials, disposed of its construction ma ...
, the partnership of MGM Mirage
MGM Resorts International is an American global hospitality and entertainment company operating destination resorts in Las Vegas, Massachusetts, Detroit, Mississippi, Maryland, and New Jersey, including Bellagio, Mandalay Bay, MGM Grand, and Par ...
and Pansy Ho Chiu-king
Pansy Catalina Ho Chiu-king (; born 26 August 1962) is a Hong Kong-Canadian billionaire businesswoman who is the daughter of Macau-based businessman Stanley Ho, and the managing director of various companies he founded, including Shun Tak Holdi ...
, and the partnership of Melco and PBL, thus marking the begin of the rise of Macau as the new gambling hub in Asia.
As one of the measures to develop the gambling industry, the Cotai reclaimation was completed after the handover to China, with construction of the hotel and casino industry starting in 2004. In 2007, the first of many resorts opened, The Venetian Macao
The Venetian Macao () is a hotel and casino resort in Macau owned by the American Las Vegas Sands company. The 39-story structure on Macau's Cotai Strip has of floor space, and is modeled on its sister casino resort The Venetian Las Vegas. It ...
. Many other resorts followed, both in Cotai and on Macau island, providing for a major tax income stream to Macau government and a drop in overall unemployment over the years down to a mere 2% in 2013.
In 2004, the Sai Van Bridge
Sai Van Bridge is a cable-stayed bridge in Macau, China, inaugurated on December 19, 2004. The bridge measures long and is the third one to cross the Praia Grande Bay connecting Taipa Island and Macau Peninsula. It features a double-deck design, ...
was completed, the third bridge between Macau island and Taipa island.[
In 2005, the ]Macau East Asian Games Dome
, fullname = Macau East Asian Games Dome
, former_names =
, image = Nave Desportiva Dos Jogos Da Ásia Oriental De Macau.JPG
, image_size = 250px
, location = Cotai, Macau, China
, coordinates =
, broke_ground =
, opened =
, owner =
, ...
, the principal venue for the 4th East Asian Games, was inaugurated.[As displayed on the official timeline of Macau at the Museum of History in Taipa]
Also in 2005, Macau government started a wave of social housing construction (lasting until 2013 at least), constructing over 8000 apartment units in the process.
2007–2008: The Financial Crisis hits Macau
Similar to other economies in the world, the financial crisis of 2007–08
Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fina ...
hit Macau, leading to a stall in construction of major construction works (Sands Cotai Central
The Londoner Macao () is a casino resort on the Cotai Strip, Macau. On 5 August 2011, Sands China announced that the $4 billion property, long referred to as parcels five and six, would be officially named Sands Cotai Central (). The first port ...
) and a spike in unemployment.
2008–2013: Expansion into Hengqin and further Casino boom
With residential and development space being sparse, Macau government officially announced on 27 June 2009 that the University of Macau
The University of Macau (UM; Portuguese: ''Universidade de Macau'', Chinese: 澳門大學) is an internationalised public comprehensive university in Macau. The UM campus is located in the east of Hengqin Island, Guangdong province in Mainland ...
will build its new campus on Hengqin
Hengqin (, pt, Ilha da Montanha) is an island in Zhuhai, a prefecture-level city and Special economic zones of China, special economic zone in Guangdong, Guangdong Province of the China, People's Republic of China. It has a population of about ...
island, in a stretch directly facing the Cotai
Cotai (; pt, Zona do Aterro de Cotai) is a piece of newly reclaimed land on top of Seac Pai Bay between Taipa and Coloane islands in Macau, that has made two independent islands become one island, since 2005. The word (a portmanteau of Coloan ...
area, south of the current border post. Along with this development, several other residential and business development projects on Hengqin are in the planning.
In 2011 to 2013, further major construction on several planned mega-resorts in Cotai
Cotai (; pt, Zona do Aterro de Cotai) is a piece of newly reclaimed land on top of Seac Pai Bay between Taipa and Coloane islands in Macau, that has made two independent islands become one island, since 2005. The word (a portmanteau of Coloan ...
commenced.
2014–present: Slowing down of the gambling industry and diversification of economy
2014 marked the first time that the gambling revenues in Macau declined on a year-to-year basis. Starting in June 2014, gambling revenues declined for the second half of the year on a month-to-month basis (compared with 2013) causing the Macau Daily Times to announce that the "Decade of gambling expansion end d. Some reasons for the slowdown are China's anti-corruption drive reaching Macau, China's economy slowing down and changes of Mainland Chinese tourists' preference of visiting other countries as a travel destination.
This led the Macau government to attempt to reconstruct the economy, to depend less on gambling revenues and focus on building world-class non-gambling tourism and leisure centres, as well as developing itself as a platform for economic and trade cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking countries
The Community of Portuguese Language Countries (Portuguese: ''Comunidade dos Países de Língua Portuguesa''; abbreviated as the CPLP), also known as the Lusophone Commonwealth (''Comunidade Lusófona''), is an international organization and poli ...
.
In 2015, the borders of Macau were redrawn by the state council, shifting the land border north to the Canal dos Patos and expanding the maritime border significantly. The changes increased the size of Macau's maritime territory by 85 square kilometers.
Typhoon Hato
Typhoon Hato, known in the Philippines as Severe Tropical Storm Isang, was a strong tropical cyclone that struck South China in August 2017. Developing as the thirteenth named storm and the fourth typhoon of the Pacific typhoon season, Hato fo ...
hit Southern China in August 2017, causing widespread damage to Macau, never before experienced – major flooding and property damages, with citywide power and water outages lasting for at least 24 hours after the passage of the storm. Overall, 10 deaths and at least 200 injuries were reported. This caused widespread anger against the Macau government, accused of being unprepared for the typhoon as well as the delay of raising the No. 10 tropical cyclone signal; this caused the head of the Macao Meteorological and Geophysical Bureau
The Meteorological and Geophysical Bureau (SMG, ; pt, Direcção dos Serviços Meteorológicos e Geofisicos) is a department of the Macao Government. It provides weather forecasts and issues warnings on weather-related hazards. It also provides ...
to resign. At the request of the Macau government, the Chinese People's Liberation Army Macau Garrison (for the first time in Macau's history) deployed around 1,000 troops to assist in disaster relief and cleaning up.
On 12 December 2019, Macau officially opened its first rail transit system: the Macau Light Rapid Transit
, image = Metro Ligeiro de Macau logo.svg
, imagesize = 234px
, locale = Macau
, transit_type = Automated guideway transit
, lines = 1
, stations = 11
, ridership =
, website =
, began_operation = 10 December 2019 (Taipa Line)
, operati ...
.
See also
* Anders Ljungstedt
Anders Ljungstedt (; 23 March 1759 – 10 November 1835) was a Swedish merchant and historian.
Early career
Ljungstedt was born to a poor family in Linköping and attended Uppsala University for a time, but was forced to withdraw for lack of fun ...
* Culture of Macau Macau is an autonomous territory within China. A Portuguese colony until 1999, Macau has a diverse culture firmly rooted in Cantonese culture, with a mix of influences from East Asia and Western Europe. Macau is known for being the largest gambling ...
* Gambling in Macau
Gambling in Macau has been legal since the 1850s when the Portuguese government legalised the activity in the autonomous colony. Since then, Macau has become known worldwide as the "Gambling capital of the world" or "Monte Carlo of the East".
...
* Lisbon-Macau Raid
* Military of Macau under Portuguese rule
Macau was under Portuguese rule from 1557 until 1999. During the final period of colonial administration prior to the handover to China, Portugal retained only limited numbers of military personnel in Macau for liaison and support purposes; the l ...
* Jorge Álvares
Jorge Álvares (died 8 July 1521) was a Portuguese explorer. He is credited as the first European to have reached China by sea during the Age of Discovery. His starting of settlements on an island in what is now Hong Kong is still considered a sign ...
* Names of Macau
The Macau Special Administrative Region (; pt, Região Administrativa Especial de Macau; abbreviated_as:_''RAEM''.html" ;"title="/nowiki>abbreviated as: ''RAEM''">/nowiki>abbreviated as: ''RAEM''/nowiki>), commonly known as Macau or Macao (, or ...
* Religion in Macau
Religion in Macau is represented predominantly by Buddhism and Chinese folk religions. During the period in which the city was under Portuguese rule (1557–1999) the Catholic Church became one of the dominant faiths, but nowadays it has gre ...
* History of Hong Kong
The region of Hong Kong has been inhabited since the Old Stone Age, later becoming part of the Chinese Empire with its loose incorporation into the Qin dynasty (221–206 BC). Starting out as a farming fishing village and salt production site, ...
References
Further reading
* Collis, Maurice. "Macao: The City of the Name of God." ''History Today'' (Apr 1951) 1#4 pp 42–49 online.
* Gunn, Geoffrey C. ''Encountering Macau, A Portuguese City-State on the Periphery of China, 1557–1999'' (Boulder: Westview Press, 1996) In Portuguese (1998) ''Ao Encontro de Macau: Uma cidade-estado portuguesa a periferia da China, 1557-1999'' (Macau: Fundação Macau]. In Chinese (2009) ''澳门史:1557~1999'' (中央编译出版社).
* Gunn, Geoffrey C. (ed.) '' Wartime Macau: Under the Japanese Shadow'' (Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2016).
*Porter, Jonathan. "'The Past Is Present': The Construction of Macau's Historical Legacy," ''History and Memory'' Volume 21, Number 1, Spring/Summer 2009 pp. 63–100
*Porter, Jonathan. '' Macau: The Imaginary City, Culture and Society, 1557 to the Present'' (Boulder: Westview Press, 1996)
*
* Souza, George Bryan. ''The Survival of Empire: Portuguese Trade and Society in China and the South China Sea, 1630–1754'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986)
* Coates, Austin: ''A Macao Narrative''
* Shipp, Steve: ''Macau, China: A Political History of the Portuguese Colony's Transition to Chinese Rule''
*
External links
Macau handover: Asia's last colony
*http://multimedia.scmp.com/macau/
How Did Portugal Get Macau?
{{DEFAULTSORT:History Of Macau
European colonisation in Asia