Handover of Macau to China
At midnight on 20 December 1999 Portugal handed Macau over to the People’s Republic of China, ending 442 years of Portuguese rule and almost six centuries of the Portuguese overseas empire that had begun at Ceuta in 1415.
- Date
- 20 December 1999exact date
- Place
- Macautoday: Macau, China · East Asia
- Participants
- Third Portuguese Republic, People’s Republic of China
- Threads
- History of Portugal since the Battle of Aljubarrota
- Also known as
- Transfer of sovereignty over Macau; Transferência de soberania de Macau; Возвращение Макао
After the Carnation Revolution Portugal offered to return Macau, but Beijing preferred to wait. In 1976 the territory was redefined as Chinese territory under Portuguese administration, and in 1979 Portugal established diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic. The Joint Declaration signed in Beijing on 13 April 1987 fixed the handover for 1999; China had asked for 1997, the year of the Hong Kong handover, while Portugal had proposed later dates.
The ceremony was held at midnight in a temporary pavilion in the garden of the Macau Cultural Centre, attended by the presidents of China and Portugal, Jiang Zemin and Jorge Sampaio, and the last Portuguese governor, Vasco Rocha Vieira. Macau became a special administrative region of China.
Connections
Causes and preconditions
- Carnation Revolution25 April 1974 · Western and Central Europeafter 1974 Portugal offered to return Macau; China preferred to wait, and the handover was agreed in 1987
Related events
- Portuguese settle in Macau1557 · East Asiathe beginning and the end of 442 years of Portuguese Macau
Same participants
- Independence of Angola11 November 1975 · Africavia Third Portuguese Republic
Meanwhile in the world
Other regions, within 25 years of this event
Africa
- Independence of Angola11 November 1975
The same period
Sources
- Wikipedia (English): Handover of Macau
- Wikipedia (Russian): Передача Макао КНР
- Gunn G. C. Encountering Macau: A Portuguese City-State on the Periphery of China, 1557–1999. — Boulder: Westview Press, 1996.
- Wikidata: Q847839