Transfer of the sovereignty of Macau
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The transfer of the sovereignty of Macau from the Portuguese Republic to the People's Republic of China (PRC) occurred on December 20, 1999.
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[edit] Background
The Portuguese merchants began to settle in Macau as early as during the Ming Dynasty. In 1583, the Portuguese residents established its own assembly to enforce autonomous rule without the permission of the Chinese government. However, Portugal still obliged to pay the Ming Dynasty (later the Qing Dynasty) 25 kilograms of silver as the token of annual lease. Because of the Portuguese settlers and the activities of Japanese Wokou, the Ming Dynasty tightened its control over Macau between 1608 to 1614. On 1623, the Portuguese Government appointed D. Francisco Mascarenhas as the Governor of Macau. At first, it was only responsible for the defense of Macau, and Fortaleza do Monte was constructed. In 1749, the Qing Government of China issued the complete guideline and carved the Portuguese version on a stela in the Edifício do Leal Senado. However, the Governor of Macau, the representative of Portugal, gradually took over the power of the Senado.
When the Treaty of Nanking was signed in 1842 between Britain and China, the Portuguese Government requested the Qing Government to exempt them from the ground rent. The Qing authorities refused the request, but remained the preferentials that was already given to Portugal. However, on November 20, 1845, Maria II of Portugal unilaterally declared Macau as a free port, in which they refused to pay ground rent and allowed merchant vessels of other countries to interact freely in Macau. After the new Governor of Macau Joao Ferreira do Amaral arrived in 1846, a series of colonial policies were enforced in Macau. On May 1846, Amaral demanded that all Chinese residents in Macau to pay ground rent, poll tax and property tax, which broaden the Portuguese rule in Macau over to the Chinese residents. The Qing authorities in Macau immediately protested against Amaral's action and attempted to negotiate. However, beginning from 1849, Amaral expelled all Qing officials out of Macau, destroyed the Qing Custom and stopped paying the ground rent to the Qing Government. Amaral's action enraged the Chinese residents furthermore, and was assassincated in August 22.
In 1862, the Portuguese and the Qing Government signed the draft of Sino-Portuguese Peaceful Trade Pact. However, the Portuguese had the intention of annexing Macau with this pact.[citation needed] The intention was discovered and the negotiation was stopped. The topic was not brought up again until 1886, when the Portuguese representative along with the British representative negotiated with the Qing Government once again. Promising that they will cooperate on the anti-smuggling of opium, the Qing Government signed the Sino-Portuguese Lisbon Agreement and the Sino-Portuguese Peaceful Trade Relation Pact. These treaties stated that "Agreed by China, Portugal will remain in Macau and administer its land the same way Portugal administer other places"[citation needed]. However, to avoid the total loss of sovereignty, the Qing Government reserved the right to prevent Portugal from transferring Macau to another country. If Portugal is going to transfer Macau to another country, they will require the permission of the Chinese Government.
When the Government of People's Republic of China obtained their seat in the United Nations as a result of the UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 in 1971, they began to act diplomatically on the sovereignty issues of Hong Kong and Macau. The Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai was especially concerned with the issues, and the Chinese UN representative Huang Hua mailed the United Nations De-colonization Committee to state the standpoint of the Chinese Government: "Hong Kong and Macau were Chinese territories captured by Britain and Portugal, and the act to solve the issues of Hong Kong and Macau is within the range of Chinese sovereignty. These issues are about China as a sovereign state on restoring its sovereignty in the territories that was captured, and is different than the regular issues within the range of colonization, and is definitely not about granting independence."[citation needed] The same year on November 8, the United Nations General Assembly passed the resolution on removing Hong Kong and Macau from the official list of colonies. This created the conditions for the Chinese Government to solve the sovereignty issues of Hong Kong and Macau peacefully.
In April 25, 1974, a group of low-ranked Portuguese officers organized a coup d'état overthrawing the right-wing ruling government that was in power for 42 years. The new government began the democratization process. The new Portuguese Government carried out de-colonization policies, and recognize Macau as a Chinese territory instead of a Portuguese colony.
On December 31, 1975, the Portuguese Government withdrew its remaining troops in Macau. President António Ramalho Eanes attended the General Assembly of the United Nations a year later, and discussed with the Chinese representative Huang Hua about the establishment of diplomatic relations between Portugal and China, and issues of Macau. After two years of discussions, the Portuguese Government decided to break off diplomatic relations with the Republic of China on February 8, 1979, and established diplomatic relations with People's Republic of China the next day. Both Portugal and People's Republic of China recognized Macau as the territory of China, and the exact time for its return and other details will be discussed later by the two sides.
After Portugal and the People's Republic of China formally established diplomatic relations, the officials between the two countries began to visit each other. On March 1980, the Governor of Macau Nuno Viriato Tavares de Melo Eqídio accepted the invitation from Beijing and visited China. As the relationship between Portugal and China developed, their head of state began to visit each other also. On November 1984, the President of the People's Republic of China Li Xiannian made an visit to Portugal and met the President of Portugal António Ramalho Eanes to exchange opinions on the issues of Macau. On May 1985, Eanes returned the favor by visiting China and met the de facto leader of China Deng Xiaoping, and expressed his desire on solving the issues of Macau friendily.
Britain and China met various common consensus on the sovereignty question of Hong Kong, which was more complex in its nature. The consensus included the draft of Sino-British Joint Declaration. Sino-Portuguese relations developed steadily also in contrast, and solving the question of Macau through negotiation was gradually made possible.
[edit] The talk
On May 20, 1986, the People's Republic of China along with Portugal officially announced that the talk on Macau affairs will begin on June 30 in Beijing. The Portuguese delegation arrived Beijing in June, and was welcomed by the Chinese delegation led by Zhou Nan. In the welcoming speech, it was stated that the "Negotiation between China and Portugal on Macau affairs is going to be a talk between two partners, not two opponents." The negotiation between China and Portugal on Macau officially began.
All the four sessions were held in the Chinese capital Beijing, and were held separately in:
- The first conference: June 30 - July 1, 1986
- The second conference: September 9 - 10
- The third conference: October 21 - 22
- The fourth conference: March 18 - 23, 1988
On April 13, 1987, the "Declaration on the Question of Macao by the Governments of the People's Republic of China and the Republic of Portugal" was formally signed by the Prime Ministers of both governments in Beijing. In the same year, the joint declaration was ratified in both sides.
[edit] The transition
The twelve years between the signing of "Sino-Portuguese Declaration" on April 13, 1987 to the transfer of sovereignty on December 20, 1999 was known as "the Transition".
On January 15, 1988, the Chinese Foreign Affairs Department announced the Chinese members of the groups that will be begain the talk on the issues of Macau during the transition. On April 13, the Draft of the Basic Law of Macau Special Administrative Region Committee was established during the seventh National People's Congress , and on October 25, the committee convenned the first conference, in which they passed the general outline of the draft and the steps, and decided to organize the "Draft of the Basic Law of Macau Special Administrative Region Information Committee". On March 31, 1993, the National People's Congress passed the resolution on The Basic Law of the Macau Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, which symbolized the beginning of the latter part of the Transition.
[edit] The transfer
In the afternoon of December 19, 1999, the 127th Portuguese Governor of Macau Vasco Rocha Vieira lowered the flags in Macau, which sets for the prelude of the ceremony. The official transfer of sovereignty was held in the midnight that day at the Cultural Center of Macau Garden. The ceremony began in the evening and was ended in the dawn of December 20 in the ceremony for the establishment of Macau Special Administrative Region.
The evening of December 19 began with dragon and lion dance. The slideshow of the historical events in Macau was then displayed, which included the mixture of the religion and race between the East and the West, and society of the unique native Portuguese born in Macau. The last performance led the audience to Macau in the modern era. At last, 422 children that represents the 422 years of Portuguese history in Macau was presented along with several international stars to perform "Praise for Peace".
[edit] Influence
The transfer of the sovereignty of Macau was a significant historical event of Macau, as it symbolized the return of Macau to the People's Republic of China. Because of the transfer and the One country, two systems was considered to be successful, the Macau Special Administrative Region, Legislative Assembly and the Judiciary were all put into practice accordingly under the regulation of the Basic Law.
The steady growth of the Macau Special Administrative Region benefited from the support of the Government of China. Since the establishment of the region, the public security have been improved, and the central government even designated Macau as the city to expand gambling-related tourism. The introduction of Individual Visit Scheme policy made it easier for Chinese inland residents to travel back and forth; in 2005 alone, there were more than 10 million of Chinese tourists, which made up 60% of the total number of tourists in Macau; the income of the gambling houses in Macau reached up to 5.6 billion USD.[1] On July 15, 2005, the Historic Centre of Macau was listed in the World Cultural Heritage. The increasing development of tourism became a major factor on the rapid development of the economy of Macau.
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