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MacauWorld

Your Ultimate Guide To Everything Macau

1 Macau History

Macau History

Macau is now a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of The People's Republic Of China. It was under the administration of Portugal for more than 440 years, first as a trading port, and later as a Portuguese territory. Macau was the last European territory in Asia until it reverted back to Chinese control in December, 1999.

Evidence of human culture dating back 5 to 6 thousand years has been found on the Macau Peninsula and the Coloane Island. As early as the Qin Dynasty of China (221-206 BC), the region now called Macau was already under the jurisdiction of the Nanhai Prefecture of the Guangdong Province. Since the 5th century, many merchant ships travelling between various parts of Southeast Asia and the city of Guangzhou, China often stopped over at Macau for food, fresh water and minor repairs of their ships. The first inhabitants of this region were some 50,000 Chinese people seeking refuge from invading Mongols near the end of the Sung Dynasty (960 - 1279 AD). Macau did not develop as a major settlement under the Portuguese arrived in the 16th Century.

Around 1550, diplomatic relations were gradually developed between China and Portugal. In 1557 (during the Ming Dynasty), China finally gave consent to Portugal to establish a permanent and official Portuguese trading base in Macau, at an annual rent of 500 taels of silver. China retained sovereignty and Chinese residents were subject to Chinese Law, but the region was put under Portuguese administration. Soon after, both Chinese and Portuguese merchants travelled to this region, and Macau became an important port along Portugal's 3 major trade routes: Macau-Malacca-Goa-Lisbon, Macau-Manila-Mexico, and Guangzhou-Macau-Nagasaki.

When Spain and Portugal became jointly ruled by King Philip II of Spain between 1580 and 1640, Macau's role as a trade center continued to flourish. In 1587, King Philip named Macau as the "City of the Name of God in China" (Cidade do Nome de Deus de Macau). In 1685, the Emperor of China decided to allow trade with all foreign countries including England, Holland, France, Denmark, Sweden, Russia and the United States, thus ending Portugual's unique trading priviledges with China. Consequently, many foreign offices and factories were gradually established in Guangzhou and Macau.

In 1849, the Portuguese declared Macau's "independence" from China and in 1862 The Treaty of Tianjin was signed recognizing Macau as a Portuguese colony. The Protocol Respecting The Two Countries (signed in Lisbon in March,1887) and The Beijing Treaty (signed in Beijing in December 1887) confirming "perpetual occupation and government of Macau by Portugal.

When the Communist Government came to power in China in 1949, they declared the Protocol of Lisbon to be invalid as an "unequal treaty" imposed by foreign governments on China; however, Beijing preferred to maintain a status quo position until a more appropriate time at their choosing. In 1979, Portugal and The People's Republic Of China established official diplomatic relations, and Beijing acknowledged Macau as Chinese territory under Portuguese administration. "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 of 1987, after 4 rounds of talks during the previous 9 months. The Basic Law of the Macau Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, was adopted by the National People's Congress in March 1993 as the constitutional law for Macau, taking effect on December 20, 1999. Thus, on December 20, 1999, nearly two and a half years after Hong Kong has reverted back to Chinese rule, Macau became a Special Administrative Region of The People's Republic Of China. Under the principle of One Country, Two Systems, China's communist system will not be practiced in Macau and the Macau SAR government will have a high degree of autonomy in all matters except foreign affairs and defense until at least 2049, fifty years after the handover.

Photograph of Macau, 1870

St.Paul's Cathedral, 19th century