Hong Kong and Macau's views on China - explained

(Macau & Hong Kong)

The situation in Hong Kong continues to deteriorate with recent news such as the silent march by Hong Kong lawyers in support of protestors and a sit-in at Hong Kong International Airport to gain international support. The fervent demonstration of the detest of Chinese rule and interference into the lives of Hong Kongers remains strong and unfaltering. Meanwhile, to some, as we notice this passionate force in Hong Kong, we cannot resist but to realise and remind ourselves that Hong Kong’s history and place in China is not unique. A little over 65km away from Hong Kong lies Macau, a city that faced a similar plight in its history. Just as Hong Kong was transferred to the British Empire, Macau was transferred to the Portuguese in the 19th century. Yet, despite being returned back to China only as recently as the late 1990s, Macau clearly does not see such strong anti-Chinese sentiments as compared to Hong Kong and of course, this perplexing situation poses a simple question - why is this so?

2 revolutions split the path

Let’s rewind back to the 1960s. As countries around the world continued the trend of senseless and endless fighting, China was experiencing something different. Almost 20 years following Mao’s victory over the Nationalists, the leader felt that China was veering off track and he was losing authority and hence, he thought that he had to rid China of impure elements eventually leading to what is now known as the Cultural Revolution beginning in 1966.

As leftist sentiments grew stronger in mainland China, similar sentiments were also being aroused in Macau and Hong Kong.

Following the blockade of a leftist-sponsored private school construction site by the police upon the request of the municipal authority in November 1966, a confrontation occurred between the police and protestors. Eventually, leftist protestors began gathering upon the Governor’s Palace and soon, the Red Guards also became involved and denounced the actions of the Portuguese colonial government. The protests grew increasingly intense and with emotions growing high against the colonial rule, the statue of Colonel Vicente Nicolau de Mesquita, a symbol of colonialism, was torn down. The city was ravaged by protests and riots which became known as the “12-3 incident”, named after the date the violence began. At the same time, the Portuguese began losing control of the situation and this led to a total of 8 deaths and over 250 injured. This proved to be a breaking point for Portugal’s rule over Macau as the aftermath over the incident saw Portugal recognising China’s de facto authority over Macau and Portugal’s rule became merely nominal.

Fast forward to 1974, Portugal itself went through its own political turmoil - the Carnation Revolution. After more than 4 decades of authoritarian rule, the military organised a coup against the government and successfully overthrown the government. With the military junta in power, it set off to begin its decolonisation process which saw colonies such as East Timor, Angola and Mozambique decolonised. However, just as Portugal offered to return Macau back to China, the latter refused, preferring the status quo, having authority over the city without having actual sovereignty over it.

On the other hand, Hong Kong faced a very different fate. In May 1967, following labour disputes at the Hong Kong Artificial Flower Works, violent clashes occurred between the workers and the police. Following their arrest, many pro-communist demonstrators protested on the streets with the “little red book” (a compilation of Mao’s speeches and writings) and yet another violent clash occurred which eventually saw the implementation of a curfew. The violence did not stop there as thousands of bombs were planted and anti-leftists were also murdered. As the atrocities continued, the leftists continued to attempt to rally the ethnic Chinese to join them but their acts ruined their reputation and eventually, Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai called for an end to the violence and the leftists stood down. The British Colonial Government and the Hong Kong Police Force was able to control the situation and this prevented the leftists from rising and cemented British’s rule in Hong Kong for the next few decades.

Protests in Macau in support of Hong Kong leftist protesters in 1967. By this time, the Portugal colonial government was ruling Macau only nominally

Hence, it is evident that these major protests had led to the split in paths undertaken by both cities up until their return to China. Macau, having been under close supervision of the Communist Chinese government saw the ban and removal of pro-nationalist or Kuomintang displays and Macau became increasingly closer to Beijing. On the other hand, Hong Kong remained fiercely capitalist and Britain held on to Hong Kong tightly and eventually, Hong Kongers drifted further from China. Even after its handover back to China, it is still inevitable that there would be differences that could not be settled quick enough and Hong Kongers would have very much prefer the freedom of speech and capitalist lifestyle over the Communist nature of the Chinese government as compared to Macau. Hong Kong’s time under Britain had diluted the leftist sentiments and perhaps it is from this dilution that we see the rapid rise of discontent over the interference of the Chinese government in Hong Kong affairs while Macau’s more than 20 years headstart gave it time to adapt to the Chinese way of governance, preventing widespread anti-Chinese sentiments across the city.

Main revenue-earning sector

Macau is the gambling capital of the world, beating Las Vegas easily while Hong Kong is recognised as one of the international financial hubs and these are the main revenue-earning sectors of the cities respectively. After the handover, Macau ended the casino monopoly held by Stanley Ho and allowed for more casinos to be set up in the city. Coincidentally, throughout the whole of China, Macau is the only city where gambling is legalised and hence, Chinese nationals frequently travel to Macau to gamble, building its gambling tourism sector. As of 2018, Chinese nationals account for 90% of gamblers in Macau, standing at 25 million strong.

On the other hand, Hong Kong is heavily reliant on international trade and its reputation as an international financial hub. However, while its GDP stood at 25% of China’s GDP at the point of the handover in 1997, it has now dropped below 3%. Hong Kong’s economic might in the region had been eclipsed by the rise of megacities in China such as Shanghai, Beijing and Shenzhen. While Hong Kong remains known for its free market economy and ease of doing business, the attractiveness of China’s economic prowess and industrial might has indeed presented a challenge to Hong Kong. Moreover, as compared to Macau, Hong Kong’s reliance on China for economic growth is significantly lower as international trade comes naturally from all over the world as opposed to Macau’s reliance on mainlanders to gamble in their casinos.

Conclusion

With all these said, one should note that these reasons are mainly general trends and may not resonate with every Hong Konger and Macanese. Though what we can derive from these are that Hong Kong and Macau may seem to have had similar experiences but that cannot be further from the truth. The incompetence of one government in handling a mass riot resulted in a different path that diverged more as time passed and the makeup of the economies of both cities results in them viewing China’s might differently and it is only perhaps due to these differences that we see such different reactions to China’s rule over both cities as the 50 years deadline approaches.

(Cover photos by Stas Kulesh & Dan Freeman)

By Eugene Goh