Category Archives: Macau

Taiwan has allowed from Thursday onward that international travellers including those from Hong Kong and Macao can transit through the island.

Entry bans on some students and non-tourist visitors will also be lifted.

From Thursday on, travellers including those from Hong Kong and Macao were allowed to transit through the Taoyuan International Airport in Taipei, as long as they do not enter the island, according to its Central Epidemic Command Centre.

Travellers are allowed to stay at the airport for no more than eight hours and must take connecting flights from the same airlines to their destinations.

Transit passengers would be required to stay within a designated part of the airport and avoid contact with other travellers but they are able to access duty-free shopping and food in the waiting area.

Travellers will undergo temperature checks before and after they arrived, and anyone found to be over 37.5 degrees Celsius will not be allowed to board another flight. Anyone with a fever would be seen by a doctor at the airport to assess whether they need to go into quarantine in Taiwan.

However, travellers from mainland China are still barred from transiting through Taiwan.

Meanwhile, Taiwan announced on Thursday that it will gradually adjust regulations concerning foreign nationals entry into the island.

These adjustments are being made to accelerate Taiwans economic momentum and restore normal living conditions.

From 29 June 2020, foreign nationals who wish to travel to Taiwan for reasons other than tourism and regular social visits may apply for a special entry permit with a Taiwanese overseas mission by submitting relevant documents and forms.

Upon entering Taiwan, all foreign nationals must present an English-language certificate showing they are negative from COVID-19, taken within three days of boarding the flight to Taiwan and must have undergone a 14-day home quarantine period.

Visitors of the following categories can be exempted from negative COVID-19 test:

(SCMP/MOFA/Macau News)PHOTO Taiwan Scene

Link:

Taiwan allow international travellers to transit through the island - Macau News

Italy sent riot police as reinforcements Friday to a council estate in the south where a cluster of coronavirus cases among Bulgarian farm workers has sparked tensions with locals.

About 700 people placed in lockdown this week in the complex of five blocks of flats in Mondragone a town north of Naples would remain isolated for another 15 days, the Campania regions head Vincenzo De Luca said Thursday.

Local health authorities said 43 positive cases had been identified and tests were being carried out on all the residents.

Four of the high-rises house Bulgarian workers and their families while Italian squatters occupy the fifth, De Luca said.

The estate is one of the thousands of ghettos in Italy, where we amass more or less undocumented foreigners to make them live in more or less heinous conditions, said Corriere della Seras editorialist Goffredo Buccini.

The Bulgarians work without contracts under an illegal but well-established system known as caporalato, which sees them do long hours in the fields for wages well below the national minimum, Italian newspapers said.

The men earn around four euros an hour, while women earn less and minors pocket just 75 cents an hour, according to Huffington Post Italia.

It said the families were forced to pay rent under the table to the caporali, the intermediaries who organise the daily recruitment and transport to the fields of workers, who also run the squats.

The army sent 50 soldiers in on Thursday to help secure the zone after clashes between frustrated Bulgarians who wanted to return to work to earn money for food and angry locals who blamed them for spreading the virus.

Hundreds of Bulgarians who came out to demonstrate Thursday were persuaded by police to return inside, but locals who learned they had left the Palazzi Cirio estate then turned up to hurl stones and trash cars, local media reported.

A resident at the estate was photographed throwing a chair off his balcony towards the crowd in retaliation.

The breaking of the lockdown was unacceptable, because respect for the rules is even more imperative when theres a health risk, deputy interior minister Matteo Mauri told Radio 24.

Coronavirus tests were being offered to residents living near the estate and if 100 cases surfaced, the whole seaside town of 28,000 people would be locked down, De Luca said.

He said a few people with the virus had since slipped through the net and disappeared, but insisted surveillance of the estate would be 24 hours non stop from now on.

Italys far-right was set to try to capitalise on the drama.

League leader Matteo Salvini said he would visit next week, while Giorgia Meloni, head of the increasingly popular Brothers of Italy, lashed out at De Luca, who belongs to the centre-left Democratic Party, for failing to control the migrants.

The Bulgarian workers are part of the endless labour force working in the southern countryside without rights, often without contracts, without any security, organised crime expert Roberto Saviano wrote in the Repubblica daily.

Its easy in this case to say that those spreading the disease are the foreigners, the invaders, the immigrants, the families of Bulgarian workers accused of going out to continue working, he said.

But it would have happened the same if it had been Italian workers living in those working conditions, with those wages.

The estate was built decades ago as part of a project to transform Mondragone into the world Mozzarella capital, he said.

Furious locals seem to forget that those workers are essential to the regions agricultural production, he added.

Clusters of new cases have also emerged in Bologna and other parts of Italy, which lifted its lockdown at the start of June after three months of a pandemic which has officially killed over 34,600 people.

by Ella IDE

Continued here:

Tensions flare over virus-hit 'ghetto' in southern Italy - Macau Business

Ludmila Yudina, a retired speech therapist and supporter of President Vladimir Putin, has been butting heads recently with her grandchildren.

The 81-year-old is backing constitutional reforms the longtime Russian leader proposed earlier this year, which Russians are voting on in a nationwide ballot that will end on Wednesday.

The reforms, the first major changes to Russias basic law since 1993, will reset presidential term limits, potentially allowing Putin to serve two more terms.

They will also enshrine conservative values in the constitution, including an effective ban on gay marriage and a mention of the countrys faith in God moves that sociologists say are exposing a growing gap between the values of older and younger Russians.

For Yudina, these changes are needed to protect traditional Russian values, under threat from Western influences.

For some reason, young people are more oriented towards the West, she says after a family lunch on the patio of the familys summer home outside Moscow.

Russia is a completely different country, we have a different mentality, we have spiritual values in relation to family and marriage, between a man and a woman I would like to keep these traditions.

Sitting in the shade of a gazebo and sharing tea, her two grandsons 19-year-old Ilya Bagdasrov and 20-year-old Ivan Loznitsa disagree.

Ivan, an aviation student, says the reforms will help make Russia a conservative, totalitarian state, pointing out that it is younger Russians who will be living with the new constitution for the next five or 50 years.

Ilya, a science student, says the appeal to conservative values is a cover to convince older Russians to back the reforms.

All of this is a contrivance, he says. Its obvious that the crucial amendment is the reset of (presidential) terms.

Polls show that younger voters many of whom cannot remember life before Putin came to power in 2000 overwhelmingly oppose the reforms.

A recent survey by independent pollster Levada showed only 33 percent supporting the reforms and 45 percent against. Voters aged over 65 were 71 percent in favour.

The new generation prefers individual freedoms over traditional values, and does not appreciate this unchanging power, says sociologist Alexei Levinson.

Several prominent young Russians have slammed the reforms, including internet star Yury Dud a 33-year-old whose online documentary videos rack up millions of views who called the vote a shameful attempt to extend Putins rule.

Svetlana Khokhlova, 50, a former conservative lawmaker in the Istra district near Moscow, believes the countrys youth have become victims of anti-Russian propaganda.

She has taken to social media to try to convince young people who often do not follow state-run journalism of the importance of supporting the reforms.

People who are against Putins constitution today did not know the USSR as a superpower, and they did not know the disaster of the first post-Soviet years, she says.

I have three grandchildren and I dont want my great-grandchildren to become people without gender, nationality or a country.

It is unlikely the youth vote will be enough to block the reforms from passing with a large majority.

Voters are expected to overwhelmingly back the proposed constitution, which has already been on sale in Moscow bookshops since mid-June.

by Marina LAPENKOVA

See the original post:

Putin reform referendum reveals Russian generation gap - Macau Business

Unrest in central Mali, plagued by jihadist attacks and inter-community violence, has killed 580 civilians so far this year, the United Nations said Friday.

Michelle Bachelet, the UNs high commissioner for human rights, said security was deteriorating and widespread impunity in the west African nation was undermining attempts to protect civilians.

The former Chilean president urged the authorities to launch thorough, impartial and independent investigations into all alleged rights abuses.

The vicious cycle of retaliatory attacks between Dogon and Peulh militias, coupled with the violations and abuses committed by Malian defence and security forces and armed groups, has created a situation of chronic insecurity for the civilian population, who are not able to count on the protection of the Malian forces, said Bachelet.

This needs to stop. People need justice, redress and reparations, she said.

Clashes between the Peulh, also called Fulani, and Dogon communities have increased in recent months, with community-based militias initially formed for defence launching attacks, said Bachelets OHCHR office.

From January 1 to June 21, the Human Rights and Protection Division of the Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali documented 83 incidents of violence across communal lines in central Mali.

Community-based militias from the Peulh group, who are primarily herders, were responsible for at least 71 of these incidents, leading to the deaths of 210 people, said OCHCR.

Those from the Dogon community mainly farmers and hunters carried out 12 attacks, leaving at least 82 people dead.

People have also been abducted, displaced or forced to join militias.

Bachelets office said the unrest had been fuelled and instrumentalised by groups such as Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (IS-GS).

These armed groups are increasing their presence and were behind 67 killings in central Mali.

Meanwhile some 230 extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions have been attributed to the Malian security forces deployed to the region.

See the rest here:

580 civilians killed this year in central Mail: UN - Macau Business

A six-year-old boy caught in crossfire was among five people killed in Indian Kashmir on Friday, officials said, as security forces step up a clampdown in the disputed Himalayan region.

New Delhi has bolstered counter-insurgency efforts in the restive territory, with at least 33 separatist militants killed this month.

The child was in a car that drove into a gun battle between suspected rebels and paramilitaries near the town of Bijbehara, a police officer told AFP.

The boy and a soldier were injured during the exchange of fire and both later died in hospital, said the officer, who asked not to be named.

Three rebels were killed in a separate firefight at Chewa, near the regions main city Srinagar, in a battle that lasted 20 hours, army spokesman Colonel Rajesh Kalia said.

Armed clashes are frequent in Indian Kashmir but have increased in recent weeks.

Kashmir is claimed by both India and Pakistan and has been divided between the two nuclear-armed rivals since 1947.

Rebel groups have fought for decades for Kashmirs independence or its merger with Pakistan.

An insurgency launched three decades ago has claimed tens of thousands of lives.

India has 500,000 soldiers stationed in its section of Kashmir and accuses Pakistan of arming militant groups there.

Tensions have mounted again in Kashmir since August last year when India revoked the regions semi-autonomous status, detained local political leaders and imposed a months-long internet and mobile phone blackout.

Read more here:

6-year-old boy dies in Indian Kashmir crossfire - Macau Business

I once met a guy who used to work as a lifeguard in an idyllic beach site. Although you would expect him to just sing the praises of such a dream position, the truth, according to him, is that the fact that he was confined to about a 50 meters area from his lifeguard seat for hours was enough to drive him crazy.

So, no matter how pleasant and comfortable the location, if you are not allowed the freedom to leave, it doesnt feel that idyllic after all.

We had some minor developments in our dear city on policies that could allow some people to leave Macau, but still far from enough to make us feel like were not left stranded in this small rock in the Pearl River Delta.

Last week health authorities noted that Macau residents could apply for a possible exemption to a 14-day medical observation in Zhuhai for business reasons, political affairs, or special reasons, with little information about what special would represent.

Prior to this new exemption system, Macau residents who live in Zhuhai but work in Macau who hold a Zhuhai residence permit, local students and teachers who live in Zhuhai, and non-resident workers holding a Zhuhai ID card or residence permit could already be exempt from quarantine.

Demand was so high that, in a few days, almost 5,500 requests were submitted in the governments online platform. However, it seems that for most residents crossing the border to eat some spicy noodles or stroll around in Qinglu Road, is special enough to warrant an application?

I cant say I blame them. However, Zhuhai authorities dont seem to share the same view.

Still, applications have to be submitted five days prior to the intended travel date, with the Macau government evaluating applications on a case-by-case basis, and then forward their recommendations to the Zhuhai authorities for consideration.

If approved, then the applicant still needs to test negative in a COVID-19 nucleic acid test, a result only valid for seven days.

At this point, local residents must feel they had to jump through so many hoops, they might as well be a circus animal.

At least a special ferry service between Taipa Ferry Terminal and Hong Kong International Airport, operating between June 17th and July 16th, was also announced, giving people stranded in the city or outside for months at least an opportunity to return to wherever they prefer.

The truth is that progress is still slow between Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macau to establish the much anticipated travel bubble, with citizens in the region able to move freely between borders.

We have been hearing repeatedly about Greater Bay Area cooperation between regions, so you would expect the process to be smoother than how it has progressed. Its true that such decisions will depend on Central Government authorization, but if the three regions managed to get their act together and cooperate, certainly it could progress.

Meanwhile, the hotel and gaming sector agonizes with empty tables and rooms, with a food and beverage sector not much better, despite the MOP2.1 billion consumer e-card injection.

Because the hard truth of the COVID-19 pandemic restriction measures all over the world, you can say we are all in this together all you want, but if you are a restaurant waiter in a touristic area, youre certainly not dealing with the crisis the same as a website programmer.

Thankfully, and with great effort by local health authorities and residents, Macau has not reported any new COVID-19 cases for 65 consecutive days.

Other countries and regions have shown its possible to re-open borders and economies safely, so lets all cheers that the Greater Bay Area, that new beacon of regional cooperation, can do the same.

MNA Editor-in-Chief

See the original post:

OPINION - The gilded cage - Macau Business

Its safe to say that law enforcement departments around the world are smart enough to keep tabs on certain individuals who have been linked to major crimes. Even if arrested, put in jail and then set free, they wont be able to do much of anything without someone knowing about it. The arrest of the operator of a long-time illegal gambling outfit in China has led to police swooping in to nab others who were involved, following the criminals trails to uncover the expansive organization he was leading. So far, 18 people with ties to the illegal criminal syndicate and over 100 gamblers have been arrested in Nantong, China, all part of what the city is calling the largest organized gambling ring it has come across locally.

The man pulling the strings has a last name of Shi, according to Nantongs Public Security Bureau. The individual was responsible for organizing and running an illegal gambling ring that has been in place since at least 2007, and which had helped mainland Chinese gamble in Macau. It had also facilitated loans and accounts to keep them going, collecting commissions off of profits and interest off of loans.

Things started to unravel in April 2018 when Shi was initially arrested. His capture followed an investigation that reportedly lasted seven months after he and his cohorts were identified as being the faces behind several accounts at casinos in Macau that were used by the gamblers. Police also uncovered an online gaming club that Shi was operating in Haimen, China where players could wager over the Internet or phone.

For his efforts, Shi had amassed around $4.7 million that was identified, but there was potentially much more not uncovered. Whenever someone couldnt pay his debt, Shi would reportedly go after the gambler, using violence and/or kidnappings to recover the money. There is no indication of how many victims may have been forced in such a way to pay up, or if any of his customers didnt survive their ordeal.

Shi finally went before a judge almost a year after his arrest. Evidence was presented from investigations that were conducted in Macau and Jiangsu, Guangdong, Hebei and Shangdong on the mainland, and the Nantong Intermediate Peoples Court handed down its ruling earlier this year. Shi will now get to spend 16 years behind bars for illegal gambling, running an illicit casino and unlawful detention, and will also have to pay a fine of $17.4 million. It isnt clear what punishments befell his cohorts.

Read more:

Chinese police bust massive illegal gambling op with ties to Macau - CalvinAyre.com

The return of Italian football was a hit with television viewers in the country as more than eight million tuned in to watch the cup semi-final second leg between Juventus and AC Milan on Friday.

The match was the first to be played in Italy since the coronavirus pandemic halted the season on March 9.

The 0-0 stalemate, which was enough to send Juventus to the final, drew the biggest TV audience for a football match this term, Italian media reported on Saturday.

When he authorised the resumption of football, Italian Sports Minister Vincenzo Spadafora welcomed the fact the first matches would be in the Italian Cup, as they are broadcast free-to-air on national network RAI and are thus accessible to everyone.

On Friday, the match attracted almost 8.3 million viewers on RAI 1, with a 34 per cent market share.

The biggest audience before the lockdown was for the first legof the semi-final which ended 1-1 attracted 8.09 million viewers.

The national team, whose matches are also broadcast free-to-air on RAI, attracted 7.4 million viewers for their Euro 2020 qualifier against Bosnia last June.

Read this article:

More than 8 million Italians tune in as football returns - Macau Business

Criminal Penalties:You are subject to local laws. If you violate local laws, even unknowingly, you may be expelled, arrested, or imprisoned.

Drugs: Penalties for possessing, using, or trafficking in illegal drugs in Macau are severe.

ID: Police have the right to take you in for questioning if you are not carrying your passport.

Photography: You may be detained if you take pictures of certain buildings (please pay attention to no photography signs in casinos in particular).

DUI: Driving under the influence of alcohol or other drugs could land you immediately in jail.

Furthermore, some laws are also prosecutable in the U.S., regardless of local law. For examples, see our website oncrimes against minors abroadand theDepartment of Justicewebsite.

Arrest Notification:If you are arrested or detained, ask police or prison officials to notify the U.S. Consulate General immediately. Macau authorities regularly notify the Consulate if they know that a U.S. citizen has been detained or arrested. See ourwebpagefor further information.

SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES:

Currency:There are no currency restrictions for tourists in Macau. Pataca is the official currency in Macau. Hong Kong currency is commonly used and widely accepted in transactions. Credit cards and ATM network debit cards are widely accepted in Macau. Banks and major hotels accept traveler's checks.

Customs Regulations: Macau customs authorities may enforce strict regulations concerning temporary importation into or export from Macau of items such as firearms, ivory, certain categories of medications, and other goods. Please see theMacau Customs Servicewebsite for further information.

Macau customs authorities enforce strict regulations concerning controlled items you might be carrying while transiting or entering Macau. If you bring controlled items into Macau without the necessary Macau documents, you may be prosecuted and the goods may be seized. The penalty for trafficking in dangerous drugs can be life imprisonment and a heavy fine.

The following is a non-exhaustive list of controlled and/or prohibited items:

For more information on bringing controlled items into Macau please contact theMacau Customs Service at +(853) 2855-9944 orinfo@customs.gov.mo.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection encourages the use of an ATA (Admission Temporaire/Temporary Admission) carnet for the temporary admission of professional equipment, commercial samples, and/or goods for exhibitions and fair purposes.

For additional information, please visit theU.S. Council for International Business websiteand the U.S. Customs and Border Protection web page onTraveling with Samples.

Please see ourU.S. Customs Informationsheet for general information.

Importation into the United States of counterfeit items is prohibited by U.S. law. Please see ourU.S. Customs Informationsheet.

Dual Nationality:Dual nationality is not recognized underPRC nationality law. Be mindful of the following special circumstances for dual nationals when traveling in the region.

Enter Macau on your U.S. passportto ensure the U.S. Consulate General can provide consular assistance in case of arrest or other emergency.

Your child will be considered a PRC citizenif one or both of the parents are Chinese nationals regardless of U.S. citizenship.

If traveling onward to mainland China, enter China on your U.S. passport to ensure U.S. consular protection. SeeChina Country Specific Informationfor more information.

For further information on consular protection anddual nationality, please refer to our website.

Faith-Based Travelers:See our following webpages for details:

LGBTI Travelers: There are no legal restrictions on same-sex sexual relations or the organization of LGBTI events in Macau. See ourLGBTI Travel Informationpage and section 6 of ourHuman Rights reportfor further details.

Pets:You must have a permit to bring dogs and cats into Macau. Additionalinformation on importing pets is available directly from theMacau Customs Service at +(853) 2855-9944 orinfo@customs.gov.mo.

Typhoons: During the typhoon season (July through September),theMacau Meteorological and Geophysical Bureauissues typhoon warnings an average of six times a year. The Bureau has a good notification and monitoring system. General information about natural disaster preparedness is available from theU.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

Travelers Who Require Accessibility Assistance:Macau law prohibits discrimination against persons with physical, sensory, intellectual, and mental disabilities in employment, education, access to health care, or the provision of other state services. The government generally enforces these provisions. The law mandates access to public buildings, usually in the form of a ramp, for persons with physical disabilities. Crosswalks are also required in Macau, and they generally include audible signals for hearing-impaired and raised-treading for visually-impaired pedestrians. Handicap-accessible parking is mandated in publically-owned parking lots. TheSocial Welfare Bureauis primarily responsible for coordinating and funding public assistance programs to persons with disabilities.

For Macau residents who are mobility impaired, theSocial Welfare Bureauoffers free transportation to medical appointments by accessible van through theCaritas Rehabusor theRed Cross Medical Transfer Service. Accessible van rental and Macau tours for the mobility impaired are available throughViagens Acessiveis(tel. +(853) 2840-3315, email:barrierfreemacau@gmail.com.

Students:See ourStudents Abroadpage andFBI travel tips.

Women Travelers: See our travel tips forWomen Travelers.

Original post:

Macau International Travel Information

Macau SAR history

Macau is a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the People's Republic of China. In 1557 it was leased to Portugal as a trading post in exchange for an annual rent of 500 tael in order to stay in Macau, it remained under Chinese sovereignty and authority until 1887, the Portuguese came to consider and administer it as a de facto colony. Following the signing of the Treaty of Nanking between China and Britain in 1842, and the signing of treaties between China and foreign powers during the 1860s, establishing the benefit of "the most favoured nation" for them, the Portuguese attempted to conclude a similar treaty in 1862, but the Chinese refused, owing to a misunderstanding over the sovereignty of Macau. In 1887 the Portuguese finally managed to secure an agreement from China that Macao was Portuguese territory.[1] In 1999 it was handed over to China. Macau was the last extant European territory in continental Asia.

The human history of Macau stretches back up to 6,000 years, and includes many different and diverse civilisations and periods of existence. Evidence of human and culture dating back 4,000 to 6,000 years has been discovered on the Macau Peninsula and dating back 5,000 years on Coloane Island.[citation needed]

During the Qin Dynasty (221206 BC), the region was under the jurisdiction of Panyu County, Nanhai Prefecture of the province of Guangdong.[2] [3][4] The region is first known to have been settled during the Han dynasty.[5] It was administratively part of Dongguan Prefecture in the Jin dynasty (265420 AD), and alternated under the control of Nanhai and Dongguan in later dynasties.[4][6]

Since the 5th century, merchant ships travelling between Southeast Asia and Guangzhou used the region as a port for refuge, fresh water, and food.[citation needed] In 1152, during the Song dynasty (9601279 AD), it was under the jurisdiction of the new Xiangshan County.[2][3][6] In 1277, approximately 50,000 refugees fleeing the Mongol conquest of China settled in the coastal area.[4][6][7][4]

Mong H has long been the center of Chinese life in Macau and the site of what may be the region's oldest temple, a shrine devoted to the Buddhist Guanyin (Goddess of Mercy).[citation needed] Later in the Ming dynasty (13681644 AD), fishermen migrated to Macau from various parts of Guangdong and Fujian provinces and built the A-Ma Temple where they prayed for safety on the sea. The Hoklo Boat people were the first to show interest in Macau as a trading centre for the southern provinces. However, Macau did not develop as a major settlement until the Portuguese arrived in the 16th century.[7]

During the age of discovery Portuguese sailors explored the coasts of Africa and Asia. The sailors later established posts at Goa in 1510, and conquered Malacca in 1511, driving the Sultan to the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula from where he kept making raids on the Portuguese. The Portuguese under Jorge lvares landed at Lintin Island in the Pearl River Delta of China in 1513 with a hired junk sailing from Portuguese Malacca. They erected a stone marker at Lintin Island claiming it for the King of Portugal, Manuel I. In the same year, the Indian Viceroy Afonso de Albuquerque commissioned Rafael Perestrello a cousin of Christopher Columbus to sail to China in order to open up trade relations. Rafael traded with the Chinese merchants in Guangzhou in that year and in 1516, but was not allowed to move further.

Portugal's king Manuel I in 1517 commissioned a diplomatic and trade mission to Guangzhou headed by Tom Pires and Ferno Pires de Andrade. The embassy lasted until the death of the Zhengde Emperor in Nanjing. The embassy was further rejected by the Chinese Ming court, which now became less interested in new foreign contacts. The Ming Court was also influenced by reports of misbehaviour of Portuguese elsewhere in China, and by the deposed Sultan of Malacca seeking Chinese assistance to drive the Portuguese out of Malacca.

In 1521 and 1522 several more Portuguese ships reached the trading island Tamo off the coast near Guangzhou, but were driven away by the now hostile Ming authorities. Pires was imprisoned and died in Canton.

Good relations between the Portuguese and Chinese Ming dynasty resumed in the 1540s, when Portuguese aided China in eliminating coastal pirates. The two later began annual trade missions to the offshore Shangchuan Island in 1549. A few years later, Lampacau Island, closer to the Pearl River Delta, became the main base of the Portuguese trade in the region.[8]

Diplomatic relations were further improved and salvaged by the Leonel de Sousa agreement with Cantonese authorities in 1554. In 1557, the Ming court finally gave consent for a permanent and official Portuguese trade base at Macau. In 1558, Leonel de Sousa became the second Portuguese Governor of Macau.

They later built some rudimentary stone-houses around the area now called Nam Van. But not until 1557 did the Portuguese establish a permanent settlement in Macau, at an annual rent of 500 taels (~20 kilograms (44lb)) of silver.[9] Later that year, the Portuguese established a walled village there. Ground rent payments began in 1573. China retained sovereignty and Chinese residents were subject to Chinese law, but the territory was under Portuguese administration. In 1582 a land lease was signed, and annual rent was paid to Xiangshan County.[citation needed] The Portuguese continued to pay an annual tribute up to 1863 in order to stay in Macau.[10]

The Portuguese often married Tanka women since Han Chinese women would not have relations with them. Some of the Tanka's descendants became Macanese people. Some Tanka children were enslaved by Portuguese raiders.[11] The Chinese poet Wu Li wrote a poem, which included a line about the Portuguese in Macau being supplied with fish by the Tanka.[12][13][14][15]

After the Portuguese were allowed to permanently settle in Macau, both Chinese and Portuguese merchants flocked to Macau, although the Portuguese were never numerous (numbering just 900 in 1583 and 1200 out of 26,000 in 1640).[16] It quickly became an important node in the development of Portugal's trade along three major routes: MacauMalaccaGoaLisbon, GuangzhouMacauNagasaki and MacauManilaMexico. The GuangzhouMacauNagasaki route was particularly profitable because the Portuguese acted as middlemen, shipping Chinese silks to Japan and Japanese silver to China, pocketing huge markups in the process. This already lucrative trade became even more so when Chinese officials handed Macau's Portuguese traders a monopoly by banning direct trade with Japan in 1547, due to piracy by Chinese and Japanese nationals.[17]

Macau's golden age coincided with the union of the Spanish and Portuguese crowns, between 1580 and 1640. King Philip II of Spain was encouraged to not harm the status quo, to allow trade to continue between Portuguese Macau and Spanish Manila, and to not interfere with Portuguese trade with China. In 1587, Philip promoted Macau from "Settlement or Port of the Name of God" to "City of the Name of God" (Cidade do Nome de Deus de Macau).[18]

The alliance of Portugal with Spain meant that Portuguese colonies became targets for the Netherlands, which was embroiled at the time in a lengthy struggle for its independence from Spain, the Eighty Years' War. After the Dutch East India Company was founded in 1602, the Dutch unsuccessfully attacked Macau several times, culminating in a full-scale invasion attempt in 1622, when 800 attackers were successfully repelled by 150 Macanese and Portuguese defenders and a large number of African slaves.[19] One of the first actions of Macau's next governor, who arrived the following year, was to strengthen the city's defences, which included the construction of the Guia Fortress.[20]

As well as being an important trading post, Macau was a center of activity for Catholic missionaries, as it was seen as a gateway for the conversion of the vast populations of China and Japan. Jesuits had first arrived in the 1560s and were followed by Dominicans in the 1580s. Both orders soon set about constructing churches and schools, the most notable of which were the Jesuit Cathedral of Saint Paul and the St. Dominic's Church built by the Dominicans. In 1576, Macau was established as an episcopal see by Pope Gregory XIII with Melchior Carneiro appointed as the first bishop.[21][22]

In 1637, increasing suspicion of the intentions of Spanish and Portuguese Catholic missionaries in Japan finally led the shgun to seal Japan off from foreign influence. Later named the sakoku period, this meant that no Japanese were allowed to leave the country (or return if they were living abroad), and no foreign ship was allowed to dock in a Japanese port. An exception was made for the Protestant Dutch, who were allowed to continue to trade with Japan from the confines of a small man-made island in Nagasaki, Deshima. Macau's most profitable trade route, that between Japan and China, had been severed. The crisis was compounded two years later by the loss of Malacca to the Dutch in 1641, damaging the link with Goa.

The news that the Portuguese House of Braganza had regained control of the Crown from the Spanish Habsburgs took two years to reach Macau, arriving in 1642. A ten-week celebration ensued, and despite its new-found poverty, Macau sent gifts to the new King Joo IV along with expressions of loyalty. In return, the King rewarded Macau with the addition of the words "There is none more Loyal" to its existing title. Macau was now "City of the Name of God in China, There is none more loyal". ("No h outra mais Leal" [Listen(helpinfo)]).

In 1685, the privileged position of the Portuguese in trade with China ended, following a decision by the Kangxi Emperor of China to allow trade with all foreign countries. Over the next century, England, the Dutch Republic, France, Denmark, Sweden, the United States and Russia moved in, establishing factories and offices in Guangzhou and Macau. British trading dominance in the 1790s was unsuccessfully challenged by a combined French and Spanish naval squadron at the Macau Incident of 27 January 1799.

Until 20 April 1844 Macau was under the jurisdiction of Portugal's Indian colonies, the so-called "Estado portugus da India" (Portuguese State of India), but after this date, it, along with East Timor, was accorded recognition by Lisbon (but not by Beijing) as an overseas province of Portugal. The Treaty of Peace, Amity, and Commerce between China and the United States was signed in a temple in Macau on 3 July 1844. The temple was used by a Chinese judicial administrator, who also oversaw matters concerning foreigners, and was located in the village of Mong H. The Templo de Kun Iam was the site where, on 3 July 1844, the treaty of Wangxia (named after the village of Mong Ha where the temple was located) was signed by representatives of the United States and China. This marked the official beginning of Sino-US relations.

After China ceded Hong Kong to the British in 1842, Macau's position as a major regional trading centre declined further still because larger ships were drawn to the deep water port of Victoria Harbour.[citation needed] In an attempt to reverse the decline, Portugal declared Macau a free port, expelled Chinese officials and soldiers, and thereafter levied taxes on Chinese residents. In 1848, there was a revolt of the boatmen that was put down.

Portugal continued to pay rent to China until 1849, when the Portuguese abolished the Chinese customs house and declared Macau's "independence", a year which also saw Chinese retaliation and finally the assassination of Gov. Ferreira do Amaral during the so-called Baishaling Incident. Portugal gained control of the island of Wanzai (Lapa by the Portuguese and now as Wanzaizhen), to the northwest of Macau and which now is under the jurisdiction of Zhuhai (Xiangzhou District), in 1849 but relinquished it in 1887. Control over Taipa and Coloane, two islands south of Macau, was obtained between 1851 and 1864. Macau and East Timor were again combined as an overseas province of Portugal under control of Goa in 1883. The Protocol Respecting the Relations Between the Two Countries (signed in Lisbon 26 March 1887) and the Beijing Treaty (signed in Beijing on 1 December 1887) confirmed "perpetual occupation and government" of Macau by Portugal (with Portugal's promise "never to alienate Macau and dependencies without agreement with China" in the treaty). Taipa and Coloane were also ceded to Portugal, but the border with the mainland was not delimited. Ilha Verde (Chinese: ; pinyin: Qngzhu; Jyutping: Ceng1 Zau1 or Cing1 Zau1) was incorporated into Macau's territory in 1890, and, once a kilometre offshore, by 1923 it had been absorbed into peninsula Macau through land reclamation.[citation needed]

In 1871, the Hospital Kiang Wu was founded as a traditional Chinese medical hospital. It was in 1892 that doctor Sun Yat-sen brought Western medicine services to the hospital.[23]

In the 1930s, Macau's traditional income streams related to illegal opium sales dried up, as the Royal Navy's Eastern Fleet suppressed piracy and smuggling in support of Hong Kong's growing commercial status. Traditional local industries of fishing, firecrackers and incense, as well as tea and tobacco processing, were all small scale, while Macau Government income from 'Fan-Tan' gambling was only around US$5000 (about US$100,000 in modern money) per day. So the financially pressed Portuguese government urged the colony's administrators to develop greater economic self-sufficiency. One channel that bore fruit was as a transit point for the new trans-Pacific passenger and postal flights, for competing airlines from the US and Japan which was at the time engaged in conflict with China. In 1935, Pan-Am secured sea-landing rights in Macau and immediately set about building related communications infrastructure in the enclave, allowing a service from San Francisco to begin in November that year.[24]

Intertwined with this economic progress was an alleged and much discussed offer (never officially confirmed) in 1935 by Japan to buy Macau from Portugal, for US$100 million. Concerns were raised by the British, and others. In May, the Portuguese government twice denied that it would accept any such offer, and the matter was closed.[24]

From 1848 to about the early 1870s, Macau was the infamous transit port of a trade of coolies (or slave labourers) from southern China. Most of them were kidnapped from the Guangdong province and were shipped off in packed vessels to Cuba, Peru, or other South American ports to work on plantations or in mines. Many died on the way there due to malnutrition, disease, or other mistreatment. The Dea del Mar which had set sail to Callao from Macau in 1865 with 550 Chinese on board, arrived in Tahiti with only 162 of them still alive.

Macau became a refugee center during WWII causing its population to climb from about 200 thousand to about 700 thousand people within a few years.[25] Refugee operations were organized through the Santa Casa da Misericordia.[26]

Unlike in the case of Portuguese Timor, which was occupied by the Japanese in 1942 along with Dutch Timor, the Japanese respected Portuguese neutrality in Macau, but only up to a point.[25] As such, Macau enjoyed a brief period of economic prosperity as the only neutral port in South China, after the Japanese had occupied Guangzhou (Canton) and Hong Kong. In August 1943, Japanese troops seized the British steamer Sian in Macau and killed about 20 guards. The next month they demanded the installation of Japanese "advisors" under the alternative of military occupation. The result was that a virtual Japanese protectorate was created over Macau.

When it was discovered that neutral Macau was planning to sell aviation fuel to Japan, aircraft from the USS Enterprise bombed and strafed the hangar of the Naval Aviation Centre on 16 January 1945 to destroy the fuel. American air raids on targets in Macau were also made on 25 February and 11 June 1945. Following Portuguese government protest, in 1950 the United States paid US$20,255,952 to the government of Portugal.[27]

Japanese domination ended in August 1945.

When the Chinese communists came to power in 1949, they declared the Protocol of Lisbon to be invalid as an "unequal treaty" imposed by foreigners on China. However, Beijing was not ready to settle the treaty question, leaving the maintenance of "the status quo" until a more appropriate time. Beijing took a similar position on treaties relating to the Hong Kong territories of the United Kingdom.

In 1951, the Salazar regime declared Macau, as well as other Portuguese colonies, an "Overseas Province" of Portugal.

During the 1950s and 1960s Macau's border crossing to China Portas do Cerco was also referred to as Far Eastern Checkpoint Charlie with a major border incident happening in 1952 with Portuguese African Troops exchanging fire with Chinese Communist border guards.[28] According to reports, the exchange lasted for one-and-three-quarter hours, leaving one dead and several dozens injured on the Macau side and more than 100 casualties claimed on the Communist Chinese side.[29]

In 1954, the Macau Grand Prix was established, first as a treasure hunt throughout the city, and in later years as a formal car racing event.[30]

In 1962, the gambling industry of Macau saw a major breakthrough when the government granted the Sociedade de Turismo e Diverses de Macau (STDM), a syndicate jointly formed by Hong Kong and Macau businessmen, the monopoly rights to all forms of gambling. The STDM introduced western-style games and modernised the marine transport between Macau and Hong Kong, bringing millions of gamblers from Hong Kong every year.[31]

Riots broke out in 1966 during the communist Cultural Revolution, when local Chinese and the Macau authority clashed, the most serious one being the so-called 12-3 incident. This was sparked by the overreaction of some Portuguese officials to what was a regular minor dispute concerning building permits. The riots caused 8 deaths and the end was a total climbdown by the Portuguese Government.[32]

On January 29, 1967, the Portuguese Governor, Jos Manuel de Sousa e Faro Nobre de Carvalho, with the endorsement of Portuguese Prime Minister Salazar, signed a statement of apology at the Chinese Chamber of Commerce, under a portrait of Mao Zedong, with Ho Yin, the Chamber's President, presiding.[33][34]

Two agreements were signed, one with Macau's Chinese community, and the other with mainland China. The latter committed the Government to compensate local Chinese community leaders with as much as 2 million Macau Patacas and to prohibit all Kuomintang activities in Macau. This move ended the conflict, and relations between the government and the leftist organisations remained largely peaceful.[citation needed]

This success in Macau encouraged leftists in Hong Kong to "do the same", leading to riots by leftists in Hong Kong in 1967.

A Portuguese proposal to return the province to China was declined by China.[citation needed]

Also in 1966, the Church of our Lady of Sorrows on Coloane opened up.[35]

In 1968, the Taipa-Coloane Causeway linking Taipa island and Coloane island was opened up.[35]

In 1974, following the anti-colonialist Carnation Revolution, Portugal relinquished all claims over Macau and proposed to return Macau back to Chinese sovereignty.

In 1990, the Academy of Public Security Forces was founded in Coloane.[35]

In 1994, the Bridge of Friendship was completed, the second bridge connecting Macau and Taipa.[35]

In November 1995, the Macau International Airport was inaugurated.[35] Before then the territory only had 2 temporary airports for small aeroplanes, in addition to several permanent heliports.

In 1997, the Macau Stadium was completed in Taipa.[35]

Portugal and the People's Republic of China established diplomatic relations on 8 February 1979, and Beijing acknowledged Macau as "Chinese territory under Portuguese administration." A year later, Gen. Melo Egidio became the first governor of Macau to pay an official visit to Beijing.

The visit underscored both parties' interest in finding a mutually agreeable solution to Macau's status. A joint communique signed 20 May 1986 called for negotiations on the Macau question, and four rounds of talks followed between 30 June 1986 and 26 March 1987. The Joint Declaration on the Question of Macau was signed in Beijing on 13 April 1987, setting the stage for the return of Macau to full Chinese sovereignty as a Special Administrative Region on 20 December 1999.

After four rounds of talks, "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 1987. The two sides exchanged instruments of ratification on 15 January 1988 and the Joint Declaration entered into force. During the transitional period between the date of the entry into force of the Joint Declaration and 19 December 1999 the Portuguese government was responsible for the administration of Macau.

The Basic Law of the Macau Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, was adopted by the National People's Congress (NPC) on 31 March 1993 as the constitutional law for Macau, taking effect on 20 December 1999.

The PRC has promised that, under its "one country, two systems" formula, China's socialist economic system will not be practiced in Macau and that Macau will enjoy a high degree of autonomy in all matters except foreign and defense affairs until at least 2049, fifty years after the handover.

Although offered control of Macau as early as the 1960s, the Chinese deemed the time "not yet ripe" and preferred to wait until December 1999the very end of the millennium, two years after the Hong Kong handoverto close this chapter of history.

Upon the handover of Macau European colonization of Asia ended.

In 2002, the Macau government ended the gambling monopoly system and 3 (later 6) casino operating concessions (and subconcessions) were granted to Sociedade de Jogos de Macau (SJM, an 80% owned subsidiary of STDM), Wynn Resorts, Las Vegas Sands, Galaxy Entertainment Group, the partnership of MGM Mirage and Pansy Ho Chiu-king, and the partnership of Melco and PBL, thus marking the begin of the rise of Macau as the new gambling hub in Asia.

As one of the measures to develop the gambling industry, the Cotai strip was completed after the handover to China with construction of the hotel and casino industry starting in 2004. In 2007, the first of many resorts opened, The Venetian Macao. Many other resorts followed, both in Cotai and on Macau island, providing for a major tax income stream to Macau government and a drop in overall unemployment over the years down to a mere 2% in 2013.[36]

In 2004, the Sai Van Bridge is completed, the third bridge between Macau island and Taipa island.[35]

In 2005, the Macau East Asian Games Dome, the principal venue for the 4th East Asian Games, is inaugurated.[35]

Also in 2005, Macau government started a wave of social housing construction (lasting until 2013 at least), constructing over 8000 apartment units in the process.[37]

Similar to other economies in the world, the financial crisis of 200708 hit Macau leading to a stall in construction of major construction works (Sands Cotai Central[38]) and a spike in unemployment.[39]

With residential and development space being sparse, Macau government officially announced on 27 June 2009 that the University of Macau will build its new campus on Hengqin island, in a stretch directly facing the Cotai area, south of the current border post. Along with this development, several other residential and business development projects on Hengqin are in the planning.

In 2011 to 2013 further major construction on several planned mega-resorts on the Cotai Strip commenced.[40]

2014 marked the first time that the gambling revenues in Macau declined on a year-to-year basis. Starting in June 2014, gambling revenues declined for the second half of the year on a month-to-month basis (compared with 2013) causing the Macau Daily Times to announce that the "Decade of gambling expansion end[ed]".[41] Some reasons for the slowdown are China's anti-corruption drive reaching Macau, China's economy slowing down and changes of Mainland Chinese tourists preference of visiting other countries as a travel destination.[42][43]

This led the Macau government to attempt to reconstruct the economy, to depend less on gambling revenues and focus on building world-class non-gambling tourism and leisure centers, as well as developing itself as a platform for economic and trade cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking countries.[44][45]

In 2015, the borders of Macau were redrawn by the state council, shifting the land border north to the Canal dos Patos and expanding the maritime border significantly. The changes increased the size of Macau's maritime territory by 85 square kilometers.[46]

Typhoon Hato hit southern China in August 2017 causing widespread damage to Macau, never before experienced major flooding and property damages, with citywide power and water outages lasting for at least 24 hours after the passage of the storm. Overall, 10 deaths and at least 200 injuries were reported. This caused widespread anger against the Macau government, accused of being unprepared for the typhoon as were as the delay of raising the no. 10 tropical cyclone signal; this caused the head of the Macao Meteorological and Geophysical Bureau to resign.[47] At the request of the Macau government, the Chinese People's Liberation Army Macau Garrison (for the first time in Macau's history) deployed around 1,000 troops to assist in disaster relief and cleaning up.[48][49]

On December 12, 2019, Macau officially opened its first rail transit system: the Macau Light Rapid Transit.[50]

Read the rest here:

History of Macau - Wikipedia