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Journalism of Courage
Marking a break from tradition, Macao’s former top judge Sam Hou Fai was elected its next Chief Executive or top political leader on Sunday (October 13). One of China’s Special Administrative Regions (SAR), Macao is a casino hub, known as the “Las Vegas of the East”.
Its previous leaders were Macao-born and associated with the region’s business sector. Sam, however, has a legal background and roots in mainland China. His selection was approved by a 398-member election committee, mostly comprising Beijing loyalists, with 394 members voting for him.
His selection also comes close to a milestone, as December 2024 will mark 25 years of Macao’s transfer from Portugal to China. Congratulating Sam, an official of the Liaison Office of the Chinese government said the election implemented the principle of “patriots administering Macao.” What is the context for his selection and how is China’s relationship with Macao? We explain.
Macao became China’s SAR after four centuries of Portuguese colonial rule. Following attempts to control the strategically located peninsular region as a trading post in the 16th Century, Portugal secured a permanent lease from China in 1557.
In the modern era, protests against Portuguese rule in the 1960s in Macao and shifts in Portugal’s domestic politics led to it giving up the overseas province. The “Sino-Portuguese Joint Declaration” was signed in 1987 to declare that “Macao is a Chinese territory, and the government of the People’s Republic of China will resume the exercise of sovereignty over Macao with effect from 20th December 1999.”
In doing so, they followed the model of Hong Kong, the other Chinese SAR. Britain gave away the former colony to China in 1997, under the “One Country, Two Systems” policy. It meant that mainland China’s socialist policies would not be imposed on the SAR, and it would enjoy a high degree of autonomy in its social and economic systems for 50 years. For Macao, this meant guaranteed autonomy until 2049.
Even before the Portuguese handover, gambling was legal in Macao to boost economic growth. Over time, it became a major commercial centre for China, with many mainland Chinese people migrating there for work.
According to an Associated Press report, Sam’s selection over someone from the business community shows a “declining influence from business circles”. The election comes at a time when Macao authorities have been hoping to diversify its economy beyond gambling.
For long, Macao has lodged high levels of economic growth. With a small population, of around 7 lakh, it ranked among the highest per capita GDPs in the world. But soon after Chinese President Xi Jinping came to power in 2013, he launched an anti-corruption campaign against members of his Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Critics say its larger aim was to purge Xi’s rivals.
Among other things, the crackdown impacted high earners who spent lavishly on Macao’s casinos. The pandemic years of 2020-21 also led to fewer incoming tourists due to lockdowns. However, the slowdown was temporary. An increasing section of middle-class customers from the mainland have made up for fewer numbers of super-rich customers, despite slowing economic growth in China, according to a March 2024 report from the Financial Times.
It quoted David Green, chief executive of Macao-based Newpage Consulting, saying, “China’s economic slowdown may have some impact on [mainland] residents’ visitation to Macau, but perversely that impact may not be entirely negative… Adverse economic circumstances can encourage greater risk-taking.”
Hong Kong, the other Chinese SAR, has occasionally witnessed major protests over fears of a Chinese clampdown on its autonomy. However, Macao has not seen such a backlash against China.
For instance, the Chinese government amended a law on the election of the Chief Executive in 2023. Taking effect earlier this year, it said nominees for the election and those electing members to the selection committee should be “pledging allegiance to the Macao SAR”.
The nationalistic push is in line with Xi’s aims of a “national rejuvenation” for China, meant to invoke pride over historical wrongs, such as colonialism. It has also been described as a powerful ideology for Xi to be seen championing, to deflect any criticism of the government.
Compared to Hong Kong, Macao’s perception of China’s government is more positive. A large population of mainlanders has led to a greater sense of goodwill. Steve Tsang, director of the SOAS China Institute in London, earlier told the BBC, “Nearly half of the current population in Macau came as immigrants from China. So you can see from the Chinese government’s perspective, Macau is a poster boy for the one country, two systems model.”
Thomas des Garets Geddes, a former Research Fellow at the Europe-based think-tank Mercator Institute for China Studies (MERICS), observed in 2020 that Macao is more trusting of Beijing. He added that early on, “Groups loyal to the CCP took control of nearly all aspects of Macau’s economy, politics and society. Unlike the institutions in British Hong Kong, those in Macau were weak and more vulnerable to political interference.”
The population is also more prosperous than Hong Kong’s and its social circles are more interconnected, leaving little incentive to dissent, he wrote.
