Native name | 澳門回歸 Transferência de Macau |
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Date | 20 December 1999 |
Time | 00:00 (MST, UTC+08:00) |
Location | Macau |
Participants | China Portugal |
Handover of Macau | |||||||||||
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Chinese name | |||||||||||
Traditional Chinese | 澳門回歸 | ||||||||||
Simplified Chinese | 澳门回归 | ||||||||||
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Portuguese name | |||||||||||
Portuguese | Transferência de Macau |
History of the People's Republic of China |
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Chinaportal |
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]
After the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, and the transfer of China's seat to the People's Republic of China at the United Nations in 1971, then Foreign Minister Huang Hua appealed to the UN Special Committee on Decolonization to remove Macau (and Hong Kong) from its list of colonies, preferring bilateral negotiations ending in a return of the territory, rather than the independence of the territory 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 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 Portuguese overseas colonialism.
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:
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]
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]
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 high and covering an area of 6000 square metres. [10] [11] The ceremony began in the evening and ended at dawn of 20 December. [12] At the same time, an all-night official celebration gala was held at Beijing's Tiananmen Square to mark this occasion. [13]
Like the stage and chairs and podia of the Hong Kong handover ceremony two years ago, 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. 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. [14]
Representatives at the handover ceremony included: [15]
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Other representatives at the ceremony included:
and representatives from more than 50 other countries and dozens of international organisations.
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. [26] 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. [27]
Unchanged after 20 December 1999 | Changed after 20 December 1999 |
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Macau or Macao is a special administrative region of the People's Republic of China. With a population of about 710,000 people and a land area of 32.9 km2 (12.7 sq mi), it is the most densely populated region in the world.
Macau is a special administrative region (SAR) of the People's Republic of China. It was leased to Portugal in 1557 as a trading post in exchange for a symbolic annual rent of 500 tael. Despite remaining under Chinese sovereignty and authority, the Portuguese came to consider and administer Macau as a de facto colony. Following the signing of the Treaty of Nanking between China and Britain in 1842, and the signing of treaties between China and foreign powers during the 1860s, establishing the benefit of "the most favoured nation" for them, the Portuguese attempted to conclude a similar treaty in 1862, but the Chinese refused, owing to a misunderstanding over the sovereignty of Macau. In 1887 the Portuguese finally managed to secure an agreement from China that Macau was Portuguese territory. In 1999 it was handed over to China. Macau was the last extant European territory in continental Asia.
The Regional Flag of the Macau Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China is light green with a lotus flower above the stylised Governador Nobre de Carvalho Bridge and water in white, beneath a circular arc of five golden five-pointed stars: one large star in the center of the arc with two smaller stars on each side of the large star, each with a point angled directly outward from the center of the common circle on which they lie.
Air Macau is the flag carrier of Macau. It operates services to 24 destinations in Mainland China, Indonesia, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam, from the airline's home base at Macau International Airport. In 2014, Air Macau carried 2.12 million passengers with an average load factor of 68.20% and carried 15,900 tonnes of cargo and mail.
The Basic Law of the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China is the organic law that establishes the Macau Special Administrative Region, replacing the Estatuto Orgânico de Macau. It was adopted on 31 March 1993 by China's National People's Congress and promulgated by President Jiang Zemin; it came into effect on 20 December 1999, following the handover of Macau from Portugal to China.
The handover of Hong Kong from the United Kingdom to the People's Republic of China was at midnight on 1 July 1997. This event ended 156 years of British rule in the former colony, which began in 1841.
The time in China follows a single standard time offset of UTC+08:00, where Beijing is located, even though the country spans five geographical time zones. It is the largest sovereign nation in the world that officially observes only one time zone.
Under the Basic Law, Macau's diplomatic relations and defence are the responsibility of the central government of China. Except diplomatic relations and defence, nonetheless, Macau has retained considerable autonomy in all aspects, including economic and commercial relations, customs control.
The Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of Chinapassport is a passport issued to Chinese citizens who are permanent residents of the Chinese Special Administrative Region of Macau.
The Government of the Macau Special Administrative Region, commonly known as the Macau Government, is the executive authorities of Macau. Formed on 20 December 1999 in accordance with the Sino-Portuguese Joint Declaration, it is headed by secretariats or commissioners and report directly to the chief executive. The affairs of the government are decided by secretaries, who are appointed by the chief executive and endorsed by the State Council of the Central People's Government in Beijing. As a special administrative region of China, Macau has a high degree of autonomy, in light of the "One Country, Two Systems" policy. The Macau Government, financially independent from the Central People's Government, oversees the affairs of Macau.
Islam in Macau is a minority religion in the region. According to the Islamic Union of Hong Kong, together with all of the foreign Muslim workers combined, there are around 10,000 Muslims in Macau. Only around 400 are local Macanese people, and they are collective known as The Macau Islamic Society.
The Taiwan Entry Permit (入臺證), formally the Exit & Entry Permit Taiwan Republic of China, is an entry permit issued by the National Immigration Agency in Taiwan for Chinese citizens from mainland, Hong Kong, and Macau to enter and exit the Taiwan Area.
As of May 2024, there are 70 diplomatic missions in Hong Kong, of which 62 are consulates-general and 8 are officially recognised bodies in Hong Kong. As Hong Kong has the status of a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, some consuls-general in Hong Kong report directly to their respective foreign ministries, rather than to their Embassies in Beijing.
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 the Portuguese Republic and the Government of the People's Republic of China on the question of Macau. Signed on 26 March 1987, the Declaration established the process and conditions of the transfer of the territory from Portuguese rule to the People's Republic of China. The Joint Declaration served also as the main source of fundamental rights that were implemented in the Basic Law of the Macau Special Administrative Region. The process was otherwise similar to the handover of Hong Kong to Chinese sovereignty by the United Kingdom in 1997.
The 12-3 incident was a series of political demonstrations and riots against Portuguese colonial rule in Macau which occurred on December 3, 1966. The incident, inspired by the Cultural Revolution in the People's Republic of China, occurred as a direct response to a violent police crackdown by colonial authorities against local Chinese protesters demonstrating against corruption and colonialism in Macau.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Macau:
The Sino-Portuguese Treaty of Peking was a trade unequal treaty between the Kingdom of Portugal and the Qing dynasty of China, signed on 1 December 1887. It is counted by the Chinese as among the unequal treaties in the aftermath of the Second Opium War. The treaty gave Portugal perpetual colonial rights to Macau on the condition that Portugal would cooperate in efforts to end the smuggling of opium.
There are 15 consular missions in Macau, of which three are consulates-general, two are a consular office and ten are honorary consuls.
A de facto embassy is an office or organisation that serves de facto as an embassy in the absence of normal or official diplomatic relations among countries, usually to represent nations which lack full diplomatic recognition, regions or dependencies of countries, or territories over which sovereignty is disputed. In some cases, diplomatic immunity and extraterritoriality may be granted.
The Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Macao Special Administrative Region is the representative office of the State Council of the People's Republic of China in Macau.
4月13日,中國國務院總理 趙紫陽、葡萄牙總理 席爾瓦分別代表兩國政府在北京正式簽署《中華人民共和國政府和葡萄牙共和國政府關於澳門問題的聯合聲明》,確認中華人民共和國政府將於1999年12月20日對澳門恢復行使主權。
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.