HELLO CHINA

UNDERSTAND CHINA · MODERN HISTORY

Macao

Macao does not fit Hong Kong’s colonial template. Portuguese merchants resided and traded there from the mid-sixteenth century, while Ming and Qing governments long retained sovereignty and jurisdiction over the Chinese population. Portugal unilaterally expanded control in the nineteenth century, and the 1887 treaty further damaged Chinese sovereignty without an explicit cession like the Treaty of Nanjing. China and Portugal recognised Macao in 1979 as Chinese territory under Portuguese administration, and China resumed the exercise of sovereignty in 1999.

City timeline

  • 1849—1887 · Unilateral expansion of Portuguese control — Ending rent payments, excluding Qing institutions and occupying Taipa and Coloane forcibly changed Macao’s political boundaries.
  • 1887—1888 · Perpetual-administration clause — The treaty strengthened Portuguese administration without an explicit cession of sovereignty, leaving Macao’s status complex.
  • 1937—1945 · A wartime refuge without formal occupation — Invading Japanese forces did not formally occupy Macao, but blockade imposed by the Japanese imperial government and military, together with refugee influx and food scarcity, made residents endure the war’s disasters.
  • 1966—1967 · The 12-3 Incident and a turn in governance — Police-civilian conflict and protest forced an official apology and rearranged relations between Chinese associations and the administration.
  • 1974—1979 · Portuguese decolonisation and clarified status — After the Carnation Revolution, Portugal changed colonial policy; diplomatic relations confirmed Macao as Chinese territory under Portuguese administration.
  • 1987—1999 · Joint Declaration and handover — The two governments set the 1999 resumption of sovereignty and arranged legal, administrative and social transition.
  • 1999—present · Macao Special Administrative Region — “One country, two systems”, gaming liberalisation, reclamation and regional cooperation opened a new urban period.

Begin with these places

  • Macao Museum and Mount Fortress — Read maritime trade, military defence, Portuguese administration and Chinese society in one urban landscape.
  • Senado Square, Municipal Affairs Bureau Building and Rua dos Ervanários — Walk from the administrative square into Chinese commercial streets to compare rule-making with everyday city-making.
  • Handover Gifts Museum of Macao — Use the 1999 handover to read backward through the 1887 treaty, the 1979 clarification and the 1987 Joint Declaration.