Handover of Macau

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The handover of Macau from the Portuguese Republic to the People's Republic of China (PRC) officially occurred 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 that year during the Ming dynasty era 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 British actions in the First Opium War and the Treaty of Nanking, attempted to annex the territory by expelling Qing authorities in 1846, but was assassinated in 1849. 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.

Handover of Macau
Part of the decolonisation of Asia
Sino-Portuguese Lisbon Agreement, which was signed in 1887
Native name 澳門回歸 (Chinese)
Transferência de Macau (Portuguese)
Date20 December 1999; 25 years ago (1999-12-20)
Time00:00 (MST, UTC+08:00)
LocationMacau
Participants People's Republic of China
Portuguese Republic
Handover of Macau
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese澳門回歸
Simplified Chinese澳门回归
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinÀomén Huíguī
Yue: Cantonese
Jyutpingou3 mun4*2 wui4 gwai1
Portuguese name
PortugueseTransferência de Macau

After the Proclamation of the People's Republic of China in 1949 and the transfer of China's seat from the Republic of China (ROC) to the PRC at the United Nations (UN) in 1971, then Chinese foreign Minister Huang Hua appealed to the UN Special Committee on Decolonization to remove Macau and Hong Kong from its list of colonies, preferring to engage in direct bilateral negotiations in getting the territories returned rather than the independence of the territories as was implied by its inclusion on the list.

On 25 April 1974, a group of left-wing Portuguese officers organized a coup d'état in Lisbon, overthrowing the right-wing Estado Novo regime that had controlled Portugal for 48 years. The new government began to transition Portugal into a liberal democracy that was committed to decolonization. The new government carried out such policies, and initially proposed Macau's handover to China at once. However, the Chinese government rejected proposals for an early handover, believing that it would impact relations with Hong Kong.

Nevertheless, on 31 December 1975, the Portuguese government had already withdrawn its remaining troops from Macau. In 1976, Both Portugal and the PRC recognized Macau as a "Chinese territory under Portuguese supervision". On 8 February 1979, the Portuguese government decided to break off diplomatic relations with the Republic of China (ROC, Taiwan), and established diplomatic relations with the PRC the next day. The colony remained under de jure Portuguese rule until 20 December 1999, when its handover to China took place and became the Macau Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the PRC. The handover marked the end of almost six centuries of the Portuguese Empire since 1415.

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.

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 again offered to return Macau in 1987, but Chinese representatives rejected that year (as well rejecting previous requests in 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). Eventually the year 1999 was agreed upon.

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.

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". 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.

Handover events

The flags of Portugal and China, countries that were participants in the ceremony.

The official handover was held at midnight on that day at the Macao Cultural Centre Garden purpose-built Temporary Pavilion. It was designed by Vicente Bravo Ferreira and constructed with a cost of MOP$60 million, measuring 20 metres (66 ft) high and covering an area of 6,000 square metres (65,000 sq ft). The ceremony began in the evening and ended at dawn of 20 December. At the same time, an all-night official celebration gala was held at Beijing's Tiananmen Square to mark this occasion.

Stage design

Like the stage and chairs and podia of the Hong Kong handover ceremony two years before, the big green stage and chairs and podia in the pavilion were designed by renowned American professional stage designer, Donato Moreno. The left podium was attached with the National Emblem of the People's Republic of China, while the right podium was attached with the lesser Coat of arms of Portugal (Without the laurel, like the one on the Portuguese national flag). Both podia were located at stage centre in front of the chairs of the main representatives (5 for each country) and beside the flagpoles (2 for each country, taller ones for the sovereign state and the shorter ones for the territorial flag of Macau, correspond to the sovereign state it is under at the time during the ceremony). Unlike Hong Kong, Macau did not have a colonial flag, so the flag of the Municipality of Macau was used to represent Portuguese Macau at the ceremony. This flag was also used to represent Macau at international sporting events prior to the handover.

Representatives

Representatives at the handover ceremony included:

Other representatives at the ceremony included:

and representatives from more than 50 other countries and dozens of international organisations.

Sunday, 19 December 1999

Monday, 20 December 1999

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. 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.

Before and after handover

Unchanged after 20 December 1999 Changed after 20 December 1999
  1. Portuguese remains an official language. Public signs are bilingual in Portuguese and Traditional Chinese, although signs may also include English. However, many schools teach in Cantonese in parallel with Mandarin and Portuguese.
  2. The legal system remains separate from that of mainland China, broadly based on the Portuguese civil system, with some Portuguese judges continuing to serve.
  3. Macau retained the pataca as its currency, which remained the responsibility of the Monetary Authority of Macau, and pegged to the Hong Kong dollar. However, the Bank of China began issuing banknotes in 1995.
  4. The border with the mainland, while now known as the boundary, continues to be patrolled as before, with separate immigration and customs controls.
  5. Macau citizens are still required to apply for a Mainland Travel Permit, in order to visit mainland China.
  6. 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). Instead, they had to apply for a permit to visit or settle in Macau from the PRC government.
  7. Macau continues to operate as a separate customs territory from mainland China.
  8. Macau remains an individual member of various international organizations, such as APEC and WTO.
  9. Macau continues to negotiate and maintain its own aviation bilateral treaties with foreign countries and territories. These include flights to Taiwan.
  10. Macau remains an individual member of sporting organizations such as FIFA. However, the Sports and Olympic Committee of Macau, China, while a member of the Olympic Council of Asia, is not a member of the International Olympic Committee.
  11. 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.
  12. 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. This was in contrast to Hong Kong, where such positions were restricted to citizens of the SAR.
  13. 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.
  14. Foreign nationals, including Portuguese citizens, are still allowed to stand for directly elected seats in the Legislative Assembly. This is in contrast to Hong Kong, where foreign nationals can only stand for indirectly elected seats in the Legislative Council.
  15. Macau continues to have more political freedoms than mainland China, with the holding of demonstrations and annual memorials to commemorate the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 in Senado Square. However, pro-democracy politicians and academics from Hong Kong were refused entry.
  16. 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.
  17. Macau continues to have its own civic groups participating in the political system. These are separate from the Communist-led United Front on the mainland.
  18. Macau also continues to have more religious freedoms, with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Macau remaining under the jurisdiction of the Holy See, instead of the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association on the mainland. However, the Falun Gong spiritual practice has faced restrictions.
  19. 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. Vehicle registration plates continued to follow the old Portuguese format, with white characters on a black plate. This had been discontinued in Portugal in 1992.
  20. Macau-registered vehicles can travel to and from mainland China, but require special cross-border plates, similar to those of Guangdong.
  21. Macau retains a separate international dialling code (853) and telephone numbering plan from that of the mainland. Calls between Macau and the mainland still require international dialling.
  22. Macau retains different technical standards from mainland China, such as British-style electrical plugs. However, Macau would later adopt the digital TV standard devised in mainland China, instead of DVB-T, replacing PAL-I for TV transmissions.
  23. Macau retains a separate ISO 3166 code, MO. It also retains a top-level domain, .mo. However, the Chinese code CN-92 was also used.
  24. Macau retains its own separate postal services, with Correios de Macau operating separately from China Post. Macau was not made part of the Chinese postcode system, nor did it introduce a postcode system of its own.
  25. 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".
  26. Portuguese monuments remain, although the statue of former Governor João Maria Ferreira do Amaral was taken down in 1992. The statue is now located at the Bairro da Encarnação, Lisbon, Portugal, where it was placed in December 1999.
  27. The former Portuguese military drill, marching and words of command in Portuguese remain in service among disciplinary forces, in contrast to Hong Kong where Chinese foot drills were adopted in 2022.
  28. The floor on the ground level continues to be officially referred to by the Portuguese abbreviation R/C (rés-do-chão).
  29. Macau retained its own flag carrier airline Air Macau.
  1. The Chief Executive of Macau became the head of government, elected by a selection committee with 300 members, who mainly are elected from among professional sectors and business leaders in Macau. The Governor was appointed by Portugal.
  2. The former Governor's Palace is now known as the Government Headquarters.
  3. The Court of Final Appeal became the highest court of appeal in Macau. This replaced the Superior Court of Justice, established in April 1993. Appeals to the Court of Appeal of the Judiciary District of Lisbon ceased in 1999.
  4. All public offices now fly the flags of the PRC and the Macau SAR. The Flag of Portugal now flies only outside the Portuguese Consulate-General and other Portuguese premises.
  5. The People's Liberation Army established a garrison in Macau, the first military presence there since the Portuguese military garrison had been withdrawn following the Carnation Revolution in 1974.
  6. The Central People's Government is now formally represented in Macau by a Liaison Office. This has been established in 1987 as a branch of Xinhua News Agency, when Macau was under Portuguese administration. Before 1987, it was informally represented by the Nanguang trading company.
  7. The Macau SAR Government is now formally represented in Beijing by the Office of the Government of the Macau Special Administrative Region.
  8. Elsewhere, the Macau SAR Government is now represented by Macau Economic and Trade Offices in Lisbon (Portugal), Brussels (European Union), Geneva (World Trade Organization) and Taipei (Taiwan).
  9. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China is represented in Macau by a Commissioner.
  10. The Municipalities of Macau and the Ilhas, which had been retained provisionally following the handover, were abolished and replaced by the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau with effect from 1 January 2002.
  11. Portugal was now represented in Macau by the Portuguese Consulate-General, also accredited to Hong Kong. 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.
  12. The Taipei Trade and Tourism Office, the de facto mission of Taiwan, was renamed the Taipei Trade and Cultural Office, and was allowed to issue visas in 2002. It was later renamed the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Macau in 2011.
  13. The words "República Portuguesa" no longer appear on postage stamps, which now display the words "Macau, China". The Portuguese coat of arms had already been removed from Macanese pataca banknotes and coins issued since 1988.
  14. The Macau Police badge now displays the Macau SAR emblem.
  15. The Portuguese honours system was replaced by a local system, with the Grand Medal of Lotus Flower as the highest award.
  16. Public holidays changed, with Macau SAR Establishment Day being introduced and Portuguese-inspired occasions, such as Republic Day and Freedom Day, being abolished. PRC National Day had been made a public holiday in 1981.
  17. Macau's aircraft registration prefix changed from Portugal's CS to B, as used by mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong.
  18. The Portuguese national anthem A Portuguesa, is no longer played after closedown on television stations. The Chinese national anthem, March of the Volunteers, is now played instead.
  19. A giant golden statue of a lotus, erected in a public space outside the Macau Forum named Lotus Square, was presented by the State Council of the People's Republic of China to commemorate the return of Macau to Chinese sovereignty.
  20. The University of Macau was relocated to a new campus on Hengqin Island in 2009. This was under the jurisdiction of the Macau SAR government, which had leased a plot of land for MOP$1.2 billion until 2049.

See also

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