Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Return to Chinese Sovereignty: A Historical Turning Point

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Gambling Dynamism

  • 816 Accesses

Abstract

In Macao’s history, three important years—1557, 1849, and 1999—should not be forgotten. These years signify three historical turning points. The year 1557 marked the beginning of Portuguese settlement in Macao with the consent of the Ming court and the development of Macao as an international maritime trading port. Around three centuries later, in 1849, Macao was seized as a Portuguese colony, and gambling was made legal (in 1847) to generate income for the government as well as to boost the local economy. One and a half centuries later, Macao returned to the motherland as a SAR of China under the framework of “one country, two systems”, involving “a high degree of autonomy” and “Macao people governing Macao”. In other words, Macao’s previous capitalist system and way of life—with a legalized gambling industry as the pillar of the economy—remained unchanged after the return of sovereignty.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
eBook
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    The contents of this February 1979 Paris agreement were kept secret until the signing of the Sino-Portuguese joint agreement over Macao in April 1987 (Edmonds 1993, p. 879).

  2. 2.

    Both in the rhetoric of the era of the Portuguese administration and in the terminology of the current SAR government, gambling is categorized as a form of entertainment or a leisure activity. Therefore, although it is not clearly spelled out that “gambling” is allowed after the handover, no one doubts that this is the case. Even gambling operators take it for granted that gambling will continue to be the pillar industry of Macao’s economy (Leng 2009, p. 194).

  3. 3.

    According to Ng Kuok-cheong, an elected Legislative Councillor, the demonstration was organized around the end of April by unemployed workers. Originally, they scheduled the demonstration to be held on the next day—International Workers’ Day. But Ng informed them that, according to Macao’s Law No. 2/93/M (amended by Law No. 16/2008) that regulates the right to hold public meetings and to demonstrate (Macao Government 1993; Macao SAR Government 2008), the Head of the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau (Instituto para os Assuntos Cívicos e Municipais) must receive advance notice before any demonstrations are held. Because of this, the law-abiding unemployed workers agreed to postpone the demonstration for one week in order to comply with the law (personal interview on 8 November 2011).

  4. 4.

    Under this scheme, a large number of unemployed workers who joined training programmes were counted as “students” instead of unemployed workers. As such, the number of adult students that were enrolled increased rapidly from 38,506 in 1995/96 to 46,879 in 1996/97, i.e., a big jump of 21.7 %, thereupon levelling off until 1999 (DSECa various years).

  5. 5.

    The perceptions that the STDM had too much power over the government and it was not improving its facilities as it should were also regarded as major factors leading to the liberalization (Leng 2009, pp. 203–206; Godinho 2010).

  6. 6.

    In addition to tax and contributions, concessionaires and sub-concessionaires are required to pay annual premiums of fixed and variable amounts to the government. See Articles 47, 48, and 49 of the gaming concession contracts. Gambling taxation in Macao is considerably heavier than in most gambling jurisdictions (Pessanha 2008, p. 348). See also Fig. 4.3.

  7. 7.

    Information that later became available showed that the central government played some role in helping Venetian obtain the sub-concession. On 26 May 2008, the South China Morning Post reported that “a Las Vegas court has awarded US$43.8 million to Hong Kong businessman Richard Suen Chi-tat as compensation for his efforts to help casino developer Las Vegas Sands win a Macau gaming licence [sub-concession] in 2002”. It further revealed that Suen had used his personal connections to arrange meetings between the chairman of the casino firm, Sheldon Adelson, and top Chinese government leaders—Qian Qichen and Liu Qi (then Mayor of Beijing) “to discuss the central government’s vision for Macau”. In return for Suen’s help in setting up these meetings, the casino “promised a US$5 million success fee and 2 % of net profits for the 20-year life of the gaming licence from the firm’s Macau operations if the bid proved successful”. Although the Las Vegas Sands finally obtained a gaming sub-concession, it refused to accept that Suen had helped the firm to achieve its goal, and therefore declined to pay him the “success fee”. As a result, a lawsuit was filed and, after lengthy argument, the jury voted to award compensation to Suen in recognition of his contribution to helping the casino firm win the gaming sub-concession. A court hearing further revealed that the chairman of the Las Vegas Sands once helped the Chinese government lobby the US Republican Senator, Tom Delay, to bar a Congressional resolution aimed at weakening Beijing’s chances of winning the bid to host the 2008 Olympic Games (Gough 2008; Vegas Chinese News 24 April 2008; Kwong 2010, pp. 36–39).

  8. 8.

    The Individual Visit Scheme was first introduced in four Guangdong cities. It is now implemented in 21 provinces and 49 cities. As of April 2012, a total of 48.32 million mainland visitors travelled to Macao under this scheme (Macao Economic Services 2012, p. 13).

  9. 9.

    The island is currently under the administration of Zhuhai. It is adjacent to Taipa and Coloane and has a total population of around 7,000 in a territory three times bigger than Macao.

  10. 10.

    Singapore has become a major casino destination in just its first year of operation. Given that only two licences have been issued, Singapore’s casinos, on a property-by-property basis, have higher margins than Macao’s (PricewaterhouseCoopers 2011, p. 17).

References

  • Assessment Office, Hong Kong Government (1984) Arrangements for testing the acceptability in Hong Kong of the draft agreement on the future of the territory. Government Printer, Hong Kong

    Google Scholar 

  • Basic Law of the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China. http://bo.io.gov.mo/bo/i/1999/leibasica/index_uk.asp. Accessed 23 Oct 2012

  • BBC News (1999) “Broken Tooth” sent to jail, November 23. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/533226.stm. Accessed 23 Oct 2012

  • Beijing Review (1985) The Hong Kong solution. Beijing Review, Beijing

    Google Scholar 

  • Beijing Review (1991) “One country, two systems”: the best way to China’s reunification. New Star Publishers, Beijing

    Google Scholar 

  • Biddulph J (1983) Hong Kong in turmoil: The Biddulph report 1983. Heinemann Asia, Hong Kong

    Google Scholar 

  • Bottomley DT (1989) In Hong Kong even the ghosts want to migrate. Int J Publ Opin Res 1(3):258–263

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown JM, Foot R (1997) Hong Kong’s transitions, 1842–1997. St. Martin’s Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Buckley R (1997) Hong Kong: the road to 1997. Cambridge University Press, New York

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Cheng JYS (ed) (1984) Hong Kong: in search of a future. Oxford University Press, Hong Kong

    Google Scholar 

  • Chung SY (2001) Hong Kong’s journey to reunification: memoirs of Sze-yuen Chung. The Chinese University Press, Hong Kong

    Google Scholar 

  • Cottrell R (1993) The end of Hong Kong: the secret diplomacy of imperial retreat. John Murray, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Cradock P (1994) Experiences of China. John Murray, London

    Google Scholar 

  • CRIENGLISH.com (2005) Sino-Portuguese ties, December 2. http://english.cri.cn/2238/2005-12-5/135@285241.htm. Accessed 23 Oct 2012

  • Culpan T (2007) Taiwan casinos may generate US$3 bil. in revenue: magnate. The China Post, November 24. http://www.chinapost.com.tw/business/2007/11/24/132190/Taiwan-casinos.htm. Accessed 23 Oct 2012

  • DICJ (2012) Macao gaming history. http://www.dicj.gov.mo/web/en/history/index.html. Accessed 23 Oct 2012

  • DSEC (1996) Tourism statistics: 1995. DSEC, Macao

    Google Scholar 

  • DSEC (1997) Tourism statistics: 1996. DSEC, Macao

    Google Scholar 

  • DSEC (2010) Major revision of gross domestic product. DSEC, Macao

    Google Scholar 

  • DSEC (2012a) Gross domestic product: 2011. DSEC, Macao

    Google Scholar 

  • DSEC (2012b) Statistics database. http://www.dsec.gov.mo/TimeSeriesDatabase.aspx. Accessed 23 Oct 2012

  • DSECa (Various years) Yearbook of statistics. DSEC, Macao

    Google Scholar 

  • Edmonds RL (1993) Macau and greater China. China Q 136:878–906

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Edmonds RL, Yee HS (1999) Macau: from Portuguese autonomous territory to Chinese special administrative region. China Q 160:801–817

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fang Y (1997) The origin of Macao question. Culture and Art Publishing House, Beijing (In Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Foreign Affairs Committee, House of Commons, Parliament, Great Britain (1994) Relations between the United Kingdom and China in the period up to and beyond 1997. HMSO, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Godinho JAF (2010) Macao casino gaming law and regulation: at a turning point? http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1490604. Accessed 23 Oct 2012

  • Gough N (2008) US$43m award over casino row. South China Morning Post, May 26. http://www.scmp.com/article/639110/us43m-award-over-casino-row. Accessed 23 Oct 2012

  • Gunn GC (1996) Encountering Macau: a Portuguese city-state on the periphery of China, 1557–1999. Westview Press, Boulder

    Google Scholar 

  • Hook B (1997) From repossession to retrocession: British policy towards Hong Kong 1945–1997. In: Li PK (ed) Political order and power transition in Hong Kong. The Chinese University Press, Hong Kong, pp 1–29

    Google Scholar 

  • Hsu CHC (ed) (2006) Casino industry in Asia Pacific: development, operation, impact. Haworth Hospitality Press, Binghamton

    Google Scholar 

  • Huang Q (1999) General history of Macao. Guangdong Education Publishing House, Guangzhou (In Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Hui SY, Lai D (2008) Social welfare in Macau: a state of transition. In: Aspalter C, Aldosary AS, Dashkina A, Singh S (eds) The state of social welfare in Asia. Casa Verde Publishing, Taoyuen, pp 153–176

    Google Scholar 

  • Joint Declaration of the Government of the People’s Republic of China and the Government of the Republic of Portugal on the Question of Macao. http://bo.io.gov.mo/bo/i/88/23/dc/en/. Accessed 23 Oct 2012

  • Joint Declaration of the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the People’s Republic of China on the Question of Hong Kong. http://www.cmab.gov.hk/en/issues/jd2.htm. Accessed 23 Oct 2012

  • Jornal do Cidadão (2000) Qian Qichen: the development of the gaming industry depends on good management, March 6. (In Chinese) http://library.umac.mo/html/e_resources/newsclipping/news_result.asp?page=6425. Accessed 23 Oct 2012

  • Krelove R, Uranbileg J, Basanti R (1999) Portugal—Macau: recent economic developments. International Monetary Fund, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Kwong KK (2010) The relationship between the gambling industry and Macao’s politics. In: Leung KF, Lo SH (eds) Casino development and its impact on China’s Macao SAR. City University of Hong Kong Press, Hong Kong, pp 33–53 (In Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Lai C (2008) Historical analysis and regulation on gambling. China Commerce and Trade Press, Beijing (In Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee GOM, Warner M (2008) The political economy of the SARS epidemic: the impact on human resources in East Asia. Routledge, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Leng X (2009) A view on Macao: a review and reflection on the Macao SAR in its first decade. Celebrity Press, Hong Kong (In Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Loi KI, Kim WG (2010) Macao’s casino industry: reinventing Las Vegas in Asia. Cornell Hosp Q 51(2):268–283

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Luke FM (2000) The imminent threat to China’s intervention in Macau’s autonomy: using Hong Kong’s past to secure Macau’s future. Am Univ Int Law Rev 15(3):717–756

    Google Scholar 

  • Macao Daily News (2000a) Anti-unemployment march; conflict over route change; police fire tear gas, July 3. (In Chinese) http://library.umac.mo/html/e_resources/newsclipping/news_result.asp?page=6747. Accessed 23 Oct 2012

  • Macao Daily News (2000b) Unemployed construction workers march in protest, May 8. (In Chinese) http://library.umac.mo/html/e_resources/newsclipping/news_result.asp?page=6597. Accessed 23 Oct 2012

  • Macao Daily News (2008a) Suspension of Cotai Strip project affects 11,000 construction workers; Sands Macao fires 9,000 foreign workers to retain local workers, November 14, p A06 (In Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Macao Daily News (2008b) The fourth in two weeks; MGM suspends Cotai project, November 22, p A10 (In Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Macao Daily News (2011a) Guangdong introduces Hengqin innovation policy; two Hong Kong companies sign two projects in Zhuhai worth 30.8 billion, September 17, p B01, (In Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Macao Daily News (2011b) Huang Huahua and Chui Sai on attend and act as chair; Guangdong and Macao introduce Hengqin innovation policy, August 22, p A03 (In Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Macao Economic Services (2012) Signing of supplement IX to the Mainland and Macao closer economic partnership arrangement (Press release), August 24. http://www.economia.gov.mo/servlet/ShowContent/cms/NC_WN/2012-08-24?locale=en_US. Accessed 23 Oct 2012

  • Macao Government (1993) Law no. 2/93/M. (In Chinese) http://bo.io.gov.mo/bo/i/93/20/lei02_cn.asp. Accessed 23 Oct 2012

  • Macao SAR Government (2001a) Legal framework for the operations of casino games of fortune (Law no. 16/2001). (In Chinese) http://bo.io.gov.mo/bo/i/2001/39/lei16_cn.asp. Accessed 23 Oct 2012

  • Macao SAR Government (2001b) Stipulating the open bidding for the operation of casino games of fortune and the eligibility and financial capability of the companies that participated in the tendering process (Administrative regulation no. 26/2001). (In Chinese) http://bo.io.gov.mo/bo/i/2001/44/regadm26_cn.asp. Accessed 23 Oct 2012

  • Macao SAR Government (2008) Law no. 16/2008. (In Chinese) http://bo.io.gov.mo/bo/i/2008/52/lei16_cn.asp. Accessed 23 Oct 2012

  • McCartney G (2006) Casino gambling in Macao: through legalization to liberalization. In: Hsu CHC (ed) Casino industry in Asia Pacific: development, operation, and impact. Haworth Hospitality Press, Binghamton, pp 37–58

    Google Scholar 

  • New Epoch Weekly (2008) China’s annual capital drain due to gambling reached RMB600 billion, February 15. (In Chinese) http://mag.epochtimes.com/b5/070/4685.htm. Accessed 23 Oct 2012

  • Pessanha L (2008) Gaming taxation in Macau. Gaming Law Rev Econ 12(4):344–348

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pinto R (2008) Macau’s war on terror. Macau Closer, May:12–17

    Google Scholar 

  • PricewaterhouseCoopers (2011) Global gaming outlook: the casino and online gaming market to 2015. http://www.pwc.com/en_GX/gx/entertainment-media/publications/assets/pdf/global-gaming-outlook.pdf. Accessed 23 Oct 2012

  • Shipp S (1997) Macau, China: a political history of the Portuguese colony’s transition to Chinese rule. MacFarland, Jefferson

    Google Scholar 

  • Sing Tao Daily (2008) Cheung Kin-chung willing to help Hong Kong workers returning from Macao; construction industry urges government to launch ten major infrastructure projects, November 17, p A06 (In Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Skeldon R (ed) (1994) Reluctant exiles? Migration from Hong Kong and the new overseas Chinese. M. E. Sharpe, Armonk

    Google Scholar 

  • Tarlow PE (2009) How the next pandemic may impact the world’s tourism industry. Tour Rev Online Magazine, October:37–38

    Google Scholar 

  • The Economist (2011) Chinese gambling: the high-roller’s guide to the Galaxy—why does Macau have no mainland Chinese rivals? May 19. http://www.economist.com/node/18712445. Accessed 23 Oct 2012

  • The Independent (1997) China ends triad war in Macau, May 25. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/china-ends-triad-war-in-macau-1263450.html. Accessed 23 Oct 2012

  • The Telegraph (2010) China’s secret gambling problem, January 9. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/6942975/Chinas-secret-gambling-problem.html. Accessed 23 Oct 2012

  • Thompson WN (2010) The international encyclopedia of gambling. Praeger, Santa Barbara

    Google Scholar 

  • UNESCO (2012) Historic centre of Macao. http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1110. Accessed 23 Oct 2012

  • Vegas Chinese News (2008) Olympic games involve Macao; gambling tycoon involved in gaming licence, April 24. (In Chinese) http://www.vcnonline.net/web/news_details.php?sid=1761708393. Accessed 23 Oct 2012

  • Wang W (2005) Rethinking the gambling system after liberalization. Macao Polytechnic Institute, Macao (In Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang W (2011) Macau gaming during bombing of Asia gaming. In: Hao Y, Wu Z (eds) Annual report on economy and society of Macau (2010–2011). Social Sciences Academic Press, Beijing, pp 58–75 (In Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang G, Wong SL (eds) (1995) Hong Kong’s transition: a decade after the deal. Oxford University Press, Hong Kong

    Google Scholar 

  • Wen Wei Po (2011) Hengqin: new height in special economic regions in 21st century China, August 23, p A24 (In Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Wiseman P (2007) Macau leads Las Vegas in gambling. USA Today, January 22. http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/2007-01-22-macau-1a-usat_x.htm. Accessed 23 Oct 2012

  • World Bank (2012) Foreign direct investment, net inflows (% of GDP). http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/BX.KLT.DINV.WD.GD.ZS. Accessed 23 Oct 2012

  • Wu Z, Chen X (2000) Political and social studies in Macao. Association for Adult Education, Macao (In Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Zheng YS (2000) Macao chronicle, 1972–1999. Macao Foundation, Macao (In Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Zheng V, Wong SL (2006) A history of Hong Kong stock market 1841–1997. Joint Publishing (Hong Kong) Company Limited, Hong Kong (In Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR

    Victor Zheng & Po-san Wan

Authors
  1. Victor Zheng
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Po-san Wan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Zheng, V., Wan, Ps. (2014). The Return to Chinese Sovereignty: A Historical Turning Point. In: Gambling Dynamism. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-40749-9_3

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-40749-9_3

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-40748-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-40749-9

  • eBook Packages: Business and EconomicsEconomics and Finance (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation