History of Macau [There were ancestors’ footprints 5,000 years ago] Archaeological excavations in Macau in recent years, especially the painted pottery and jades unearthed from the black sand dunes of Coloane Island more than ten years ago and in 1995, have been identified and confirmed

It is a precious ancient cultural relic four or five years ago. It belongs to the same cultural system as the stone axes and other stone tools unearthed at the same time as the similar cultural relics unearthed in Zhuhai, not far from Macau in recent years. This shows that as early as the Neolithic Age, the Chinese nation

Our ancestors have been working and living in the area around Macao.

Macau, Coloane, Hac Sa and other places have long been visited by the original inhabitants of mainland China.

During the Shang and Zhou dynasties, ancient residents had already lived in these areas. Therefore, among the cultural relics unearthed in Macao and Zhuhai, there are Gui and jars from the Spring and Autumn Period and pottery from the Warring States Period.

[Chinese people began to settle in the late Southern Song Dynasty] Within a thousand and a hundred years, although the Macao area was visited by people, it was still just a place where boats and ships were anchored by the monsoon winds.

It is speculated that the Chinese settled in the Macau Peninsula during the fall of the Southern Song Dynasty.

When hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians of the Southern Song Dynasty arrived in the Macau area by boat, some might set foot on the peninsula to draw fresh water and search for food, and some might even turn this remote land into a hiding place.

Calling the Shali Tou Temple on the Macau Peninsula called "Yongfu Ancient Society", it is said that Yong was built in the late Southern Song Dynasty.

From about the late Southern Song Dynasty to the early Yuan Dynasty, places such as Wangxia and (Chongyoujiahao) Jing on the Macao Peninsula were already settled residential areas.

[The A-Ma Temple already existed in Macao in the future by the Portuguese] During the Chenghua period of the Ming Dynasty, residents of Putian, Quanzhou, Fujian and Chaoshan, Guangdong raised funds to build the A-Ma Temple.

When it was first built, A-Ma Temple was located in Niang-Ma Pavilion and was originally named Haijue Temple.

A-Ma Temple has a history of more than 500 years. The first Portuguese merchant ships to come to Macau came ashore at A-Ma Temple and asked the residents for their place names.

It is said that the name "MACAU" comes from this, which is actually a change of the sound of "mother" in the Fujian language.

A-Ma Temple is the Tin Hau Temple and is the first of the three ancient temples in Macau.

Before the Portuguese came to Macao, there was already the A-Ma Temple, and there were already Chinese people living in Macao.

[The formation of the Macao problem] Macao has been China's territory since ancient times. The Macao problem was caused by the corruption and incompetence of the Chinese feudal dynasty and the invasion of foreign powers.

In 1535, the Portuguese obtained the right to dock ships at the Macau pier for trade; in 1553, the Portuguese bribed local Chinese officials to enter Macau and live in Macau on the pretext of exposing water-damaged goods on the ship; from 1557 onwards, they were required to report to Macau every year.

Local Chinese officials paid a certain amount of land rent in exchange for the right to live in Macau.

The Opium War broke out in 1840, and China's late Qing government was forced to cede territory and pay indemnity under the invasion of Western powers.

The Portuguese government also took the opportunity to launch an attack.

In 1845, Portugal issued a decree openly declaring Macau a "free port", refused to pay land rent, seized the border gate by force, expelled Chinese officials, and kidnapped Chinese soldiers.

In 1851 and 1864, it forcibly added the two islands of Xizai and Coloane to its jurisdiction, thereby gradually completing the occupation of Macau.

In 1887, Portugal and the Chinese Qing government signed the unequal "Sino-Portuguese Peace and Trade Treaty" in Beijing, forcing the Qing government to allow Portugal to "permanently manage Macau." However, the boundary demarcation issue involved in the treaty could not be reached after many talks.

protocol.

In 1928, when the fourth term of the Treaty of Friendship and Trade between China and Portugal expired, the Chinese Kuomintang government sent a note to the Portuguese government, declaring the suspension of the treaty, and signed a new Treaty of Friendship and Trade between China and Portugal with the Portuguese government.

The new treaty did not mention the Macau issue, and the status quo of Portugal's occupation of Macau did not change in any way.

In 1955, Portugal promulgated the "Organic Law of the Overseas Province of Macao" and regarded Macao as its "overseas colony" without authorization.

In 1974, an anti-fascist coup occurred in Portugal, which announced the abandonment of all overseas colonies and recognized Macao as Chinese territory. In 1976, the "Articles of Association of Macao" were promulgated, stipulating that Macao is a special area under Portuguese administration and enjoys administrative,

Economic, fiscal and legislative autonomy.

In 1979, China and Portugal established diplomatic relations, and the two sides reached an agreement on the Macau issue: Macau is Chinese territory and is currently administered by Portugal; the Macau issue is an issue left over from history and should be resolved through friendly consultations between China and Portugal at the appropriate time.

[Macau is not a colony!

] The so-called colony usually refers to an independent country that loses its due sovereignty due to being occupied and administered by another country, so that it becomes a dependency of another country.

For example, Angola was once occupied by Portugal and became a Portuguese colony.

Although Macau is also occupied by Portugal and is under its jurisdiction, as we all know, Macau has been part of China's territory since ancient times, and the Chinese government naturally enjoys sacred sovereignty over Macau. This fact will never be affected by the Portuguese occupation of Macau or the Qing government's relationship with Macau.

It will change if Portugal signs an unequal treaty, nor will it change if Portugal unilaterally regards Macao as its "overseas province".

It can be seen that the concept of colony is obviously not applicable to Macao.

On March 8, 1972, Huang Hua, China’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, wrote to the Chairman of the United Nations Special Committee on Decolonization, stating: “Hong Kong and Macao are the result of a series of unequal treaties imposed on China by imperialism left over from history.