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BOOK REVIEWS

Macau in Dates

by  Eric Sautedé /
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1553 Portuguese sailors caught in a storm are allowed to unload their merchandise in Macau.
1557 The Portuguese are allowed by Guangdong authorities to put up their first building. This is the year generally considered to be the date of Portuguese settlement in Macau.
1560-1640 Macau is at the heart of the sea routes which make Portugal’s fortune (Canton-Macau-Nagasaki, Macau-Malacca-Goa-Lisbon, and Canton-Macau-Manila-Mexico).
1571 Manila falls into the hands of the Spanish. Nagasaki becomes the exclusive final destination of European trading ships with Japan.
1594 Establishment of the College of Saint Paul in Macau.
1622 June 24th. The Dutch are defeated beneath the walls of the Monte fortress. It is after this defeat that the Dutch retreat to the Pescadores and finally establish themselves in Taiwan in 1624. This date is still a holiday in Macau, although many people do not know what the date represents.
1623 Arrival of the first permanent Governor, Dom Francisco Mascarenhas.
1685 The Emperor Kangxi authorises the opening of four ports, including Canton, to trade with foreigners.
1719 The Emperor Kangxi proposes to the Portuguese that foreign trade pass exclusively through Macau. From this date on, most European trading vessels do indeed put into Macau.
1757 Foreigners are allowed to settle in Macau.
1759 The Emperor Qianlong proclaims the closing of the ports open to trade, except for Canton.
1762 Expulsion of the Jesuits from Macau (where they had been established since 1565) after the banning of their order in Europe.
1842 August 29th. Treaty of Nanking, among the provisions of which Hong Kong is ceded in perpetuity to the United Kingdom. Kowloon is then ceded by the Treaty of 1860, and the lease of the New Territories is signed in 1898.
1844 April 20th. Macau, until then under the control of the Portuguese States of India (Goa), accedes, in association with Timor and Solor, to the status of an Overseas Province.
1845 First imposition of licences on Chinese gaming houses. On November 25th Macau is unilaterally made a free port by royal decree in Lisbon.
1849 August 22nd. Assassination of Governor Ferreira do Amaral, probably on the orders of Chinese officials, for having taken numerous measures to reinforce Portuguese sovereignty over Macau.
1851 Beginning of Macau’s involvement in the coolie trade with the United States, set up by two Frenchmen.
1887 December 1st. Treaty of Tientsin under which China confirms “the permanent occupation and administration of Macau and its adjacent islands by the government of Portugal”.
1920 Sino-Portuguese crisis over questions of land reclamation between Macau and Ilha Verde.
1934 For the first time, the government of Macau cedes the franchise for the gambling monopoly to a private syndicate (Tai Xing).
1937-1945 Because of Portugal’s neutrality, Macau remains the only territory not occupied by the Japanese during the war. The enclave’s population reaches 500,000, mainly immigrants from China and Hong Kong.
1949 In the wake of the communist victory on the mainland and the foundation of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), some of the Nationalists retreat to Macau. Even though the majority of them take refuge in Taiwan, some remain in the Portuguese territory until the 1960s and constitute the front line of the Kuomintang’s anti-communist propaganda.
1952 July. Border incidents between African troops sent by Portugal and the People’s Liberation Army.
1966-1967 Serious political disturbances linked to the Cultural Revolution in China, which culminate in the riots of December 3rd 1966, lead Portugal to abdicate its sovereign authority over Macau (January 29th 1967) and to rid the territory of any Kuomintang presence. China declines, however, the return of the territory.
1972 Macau and Hong Kong are excluded from the United Nations Special Committee on Decolonisation.
1974 April 25th. Carnations Revolution in Portugal. Lisbon relinquishes its colonies. China again refuses to take back Macau.
1976 February 17th. The Portuguese Parliament passes the Organic Statute of Macau (revised in 1990, it remains in force until December 19th 1999), conferring wide autonomy on the territory. This law confirms the notion that Macau is merely a “territory under Portuguese administration”.
1976 First “free” parliamentary elections.
1979 February 8th. Establishment of diplomatic relations between the PRC and Portugal. On the occasion of agreements signed in Paris, the two nations affirm their obligation to act on “the principle of mutual respect of the sovereignty and integrity of the territory”, and recognise that Macau is “a Chinese territory under Portuguese administration”.
1984 Signature of the Sino-British Joint Declaration on Hong Kong, which announces the return of the peninsula to China in 1997 and the establishment of a Special Administrative Region (SAR) for 50 years.
1985 May. The Portuguese President Ramalho Eanes makes an official visit to China. His private meetings with Zhao Ziyang include the question of Macau.
1987 April 13th. Sino-Portuguese Joint Declaration on the Question of Macau provides that Macau will become a SAR.
1990 The National People’s Congress of the PRC passes the Basic Law of the Hong Kong SAR.
1991 Setting up of the High Commission against Corruption and Maladministration, equivalent to the ICAC (Independent Commission Against Corruption) in Hong Kong, but with no prerogative regarding the private sector.
1993 March 31st. The National People’s Congress of the PRC passes the Organic Statute of Macau.
1995 December. Official opening of Macau’s international airport.
1999 December 20th. Macau becomes the PRC’s second SAR.

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