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History of Macau

When Emperor Shihuang of Qin Dynasty (221-207 B.C.) unified China with force, Haojing, or present-day Macao, officially became part of the country. During the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279), major events of Haojing began to appear in official records of the then Chinese government.

1152	during the Southern Song Dynasty, Xiangshan County was set up in Guangdong, and Haojing was made part of Xiangshan County.
1271	an army of the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) invaded Southern Song Dynasty and forced the emperor of Southern Song to flee to Haojing (Macao) and its surrounding areas with half a million troops and civilians. Southern Song's troops beat off the Yuan army by holding their ground in the fortresses on the hills in Haojing. Some of the Southern Song soldiers and civilians stayed behind and settled down there.
1553	some Portuguese landed at Haojing (Macao) and built temporary huts there under the pretext of drying up their soaked cargo. Afterwards, they tried to stay behind by bribing local Chinese government officials of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).
1557	the Portuguese occupied the area and named it Macao, and began to construct permanent facilities including residential and office buildings, emplacements and walls. The Portuguese successfully acquired the right to stay through bribery.
1563	the population of Macao reached 5,000, including 4,100 Chinese and 900 Portuguese.
1573	Portuguese inhabitants started paying a ground rent to the Chinese government to the tune of 500 taels of silver a year.
1607	Lu Tinglong, a local scholar in Panyu, Guangdong, wrote to the Chinese government pleading, in vain, to drive out the Portuguese from Macao.
1614	the Chinese government issued a five-article control ordinance to rein in the Portuguese in Macao at the request of Zhang Mingwang, governor of Guangdong and Guangxi provinces.
1616	the Portuguese government appointed its first governor to Macao, but he never took office.
1644	the year Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) came into being. The Qing government continued Ming government policies toward Macao and exercised sovereignty over the territory.
1685	the Chinese government adopted an open policy and set up a customs office in Macao. At the time, the Macao Customs was one of the four largest in the country.
1717	the Chinese government issued a ban prohibiting Chinese merchant ships from doing trade overseas, but Macao was exempted from the ban, that is to say, Chinese ships could do trade with the Portuguese.
1748	the Chinese cut water supply to Macao after the Macao governor had connived at the killing of a Chinese by a Portuguese soldier and refused to extradite the killer. Finally, the Portuguese gave in and the Macao governor was deprived of his position and sent back under escort.
Sept 2, 1839	Lin Zexu, an imperial envoy of the Chinese government, made an inspection tour in Macao, seized opium and drove out foreign opium vendors.
1840	Chinese troops defeated a British invading army. Lin Zexu, who was then governor of Guangdong and Guangxi provinces, increased the number of Chinese soldiers stationed in Macao to 8, 000.
Aug 20, 1845	the Portuguese queen illegally declared Macao a free port and refused to continue paying a ground rent to China, despite protests by the Chinese government.
1851	the Portuguese occupied Taipa Island.
1862	Portugal sent its Macao governor to Beijing requesting the Chinese government to sign an agreement between the two countries. Later, the Sino-Portuguese Treaty of Friendship and Trade was signed.
1864	Portugal sent an envoy to Beijing for the exchange of copies of the treaty, but the Chinese government turned down the request saying that the Chinese version and the French version did not agree with each other.
1886	Portugal formally demanded the right of permanent residence in and, administration of, Macao and its appendages.
Dec 1, 1887	government representatives from the two countries signed the Sino-Portuguese Treaty of Friendship and Trade. Under the treaty, the Qing government was forced to recognize the occupation of Macao by the Portuguese.
1890	Portuguese colonialists occupied Qingzhou in defiance of opposition from the government of China's Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), built roads there, and then re-leased the area to Britons. The Qingzhou-based Chinese marine troops were forced to move to Qianshan. Later, Portuguese colonialists built emplacements on Taipa and Coloane islands.
1893	Chinese revolutionary forerunner Dr. Sun Yat-sen and a Portuguese founded a newspaper in Macao to publicize the former's revolutionary ideas, but it was closed two years later.
1897	Kang Youwei founded a newspaper to publicize the well- known Reformist Movement. The paper was shut down four years later.
1902	Portugal sent an envoy to China to hand over a note to the Chinese government asking to make Macao its apanage and to build a railway between Macao and Guangzhou. The requests were firmly turned down by the latter.
1905	Banco Nacional Ultramarino, S.A., for the first time, issued the local currency, the pataca, in Macao.
Feb 1909	the governments of China and Portugal agreed to examine Macao's boundary. On July 15, representatives from the two sides began to negotiate on boundary delimitation, but the talks ended in failure on November 14 of the year.
1912	one year after the founding of the Republic of China in 1911, Portuguese opened a "central prison" in Macao.
1913-1914	the Portuguese envoy sent a note, regarding the delimitation of Macao, to the then Chinese government led by the Northern Warlords.
1916	the Macao Chamber of Commerce got its present Chinese name upon approval from the Chinese government.
1927	the area of the Macao Peninsula reached 5.42 square kilometers, compared with 2.78 square kilometers in 1842, thanks to land reclamation from the sea. By the time, the population of Macao had reached 156,000, 97.2 percent of whom were Chinese.
1928	with Article 54 of the Chinese-Portuguese Treaty having expired, the foreign ministry of the Kuomintang government of China sent a formal note to the Portuguese envoy declaring its abolition. On December 19, five new articles were added to the treaty to replace the abolished article.
1951	two years after the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC), the Portuguese Macao authorities joined in a US-led embargo against the PRC which was then engaged in the Korean War ( 1950-53). January 1955, the Portuguese were forced to halt their preparations to celebrate "400th anniversary of the opening of Macao," due to strong protests by the Chinese government.
Aug 1958	the patriotic Macao Daily News was founded.
Mar 10, 1972	the Chinese government, in a letter to the United Nations, pointed out that Macao is part of China and has been occupied by Portugal, and that China will resolve the issue peacefully by appropriate means when conditions are ripe.
Apr 25, 1974	the new government of Portugal announced that Macao is not a colony but is Chinese territory under Portuguese administration.
1975	the Portuguese government called back its troops in Macao, abolished Macao field army and navy commands, and integrated several police departments to form a unified Macao security force.
Feb 8, 1979	China and Portugal established diplomatic relations and both sides reiterated that Macao is Chinese territory under Portuguese administration and that the two countries will resolve the issue at an appropriate time through friendly negotiations.
Jun-Oct, 1986	representatives of the two governments held the first three rounds of talks on the Macao question in Beijing.
Mar 18-23, 1987	the fourth round of talks was held in Beijing, at which China and Portugal reached agreement on the issue.
Apr 13, 1987	China and Portugal formally signed the Sino- Portuguese Joint Declaration on the Macao Question in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

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