Portugal Gives Macau To China In Today's Memory, December 20, 1999

The portrait of Macau, which was once controlled by Portugal and handed over to China on December 20, 1999. (Wikimedia Commons)

JAKARTA Memories of today, 24 years ago, December 20, 1999, the Portuguese government handed over Macau sovereignty to the People's Republic of China. The handover was perpetuated due to changes to Portugal's foreign policy. The country wants to end their colonialization footprint.

Previously, Portugal obtained permission from the Chinese Empire to build settlements in Macau. The permit was granted because the presence of Portugal made China's cash fat.

Portuguese people (names of the Portuguese state) are often attracted to build trade posts in Asia. This wish was perpetuated because the spice trade in Asia was able to bring profits in the months. This desire is sometimes realized with a forced strategy: war.

He fought all kinds of ethnic groups. However, the recitation was not used when the Portuguese wanted Macau to become a trading post. Leonel de Sousa, who later became the Second Captain-Mayor of Macau, chose to make peace with China. The Portuguese also perpetuated a peace agreement with Guangzhou officials.

The results were satisfactory. The Portuguese were granted permission to build a trading post in Macau in 1553 and began to settle in 1557. Even though the Portuguese had to pay their monthly tribute to China. Trade life in Macau made the Portuguese a big profit.

Various ethnic groups in the world are starting to arrive in Macau. They come to find work and trade. The composition of the population comes from the most Portuguese and Chinese. China also greeted him with great fanfare.

The ruler of the Bamboo Curtain country can collect taxes from Portuguese residents who live in Macau. Portuguese profits over Macau became increasingly complete in 1887. At that time the Portuguese began to secure permanent colony rights from China.

The narrative was stated in the China-Portugis Contract in Peking. Andil Macau as a colony increasingly benefits the Portuguese. Macau was able to contribute economic growth to the Portuguese.

Since then, Macau has become the starting point for Portuguese shipping to Japan. It must be admitted that the Portuguese did not conquer the island of Macau, but obtained the right to settle there through approval with Chinese officials.

In other words, Macau is not completely under Portugal's rule; it's a kind of private colony. Macau residents mostly consist of Portuguese and Chinese. The island actually belongs to the Chinese emperor who inaugurated his officials there to collect taxes from Portuguese settlers, "explained the historian Leonard de Blusse in the book About Formosa (2020).

Macau's existence became a field of advantage for the Portuguese for a long time. In fact, no one expected the Portuguese country to leave Macau. Everything just changed when the Portuguese government regime changed which took place in 1974.

The regime's change made Portugal's foreign policy direction change. Everything that smelled of colonialization began to be abandoned by Portugal. The country has even begun to negotiate the handover of Macau's sovereignty to China. Negotiations were perpetuated from year to year. As a result, Portugal only handed over Macau's sovereignty, which incidentally its colony to China on December 20, 1999.

Five years ago, when Portugal handed Macau over to China, most people thought that Portuguese would disappear in the blink of an eye. Portugal cannot do much to promote their language here, since their traders first landed around 1553.

As they left, only about two percent of the 450 thousand Macau population spoke Portuguese, and 98 percent spoke Canton and other languages. But surprisingly, registration for the private Portuguese class tripled, to 1,000, since 2002," James Brooke said in his article on The New York Times website entitled China Sees Advances in Macao's Portuguese Past (2004).