CGTN Europe spoke to Rana Mitter, Professor of History at the University of Oxford, where he is Director of the China Centre.
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00:00Let's talk now to Rana Mitta, Professor of History at the University of Oxford.
00:04Rana, welcome back, good to see you.
00:05I mean, handovers aren't the easiest thing to do in history.
00:08Give us some perspective, if you would, on the significance of Macau's handover
00:13from Portugal to China 25 years ago.
00:18Well, Jamie, this was actually in some ways rather a low-key handover.
00:21It is actually one that came after a very long period of possession.
00:27Portugal was in charge of Macau really since the 16th century,
00:30which is a very, very long period indeed.
00:32But essentially, Portugal had a revolution back in 1974,
00:36which overthrew the dictatorial government at the time.
00:39And essentially, its successor democratic governments were not that keen to hang on to Macau.
00:43So it was a pretty smooth, pretty easy process in that sense.
00:47And in one sense, I think most of the people living in Macau at the time
00:50saw it as a change of who was in government,
00:53but daily life carried on in a pretty smooth and effective way.
00:57And what about the political and symbolic importance of Xi Jinping's visit on this 25th anniversary?
01:06Well, it's interesting. One of the points that your correspondent Chen Yuan made
01:10was the way in which Macau is increasingly being put forward
01:14as one of the key elements of the Greater Bay Area Project.
01:18In other words, the idea that large parts of southern China around Guangdong province
01:22are going to be part of an economic powerhouse.
01:24The idea is that there'll be investment in research and development and infrastructure.
01:28So Zhuhai, the major city which essentially sits just across the bridge from Macau,
01:34will become more and more a sort of hub in terms of being able to put more economic
01:39and research effort into Macau's presence.
01:42In other words, Macau's being moved away from being a place that is separate
01:46in the sense of having its own very separate economy and society
01:49and being much more integrated into that Greater Bay Area Project.
01:53It's very clear from what's been said today that is the direction of travel
01:56for the next 25 years and probably beyond that.
01:59But I mean, just following that up, how has Macau's unique Portuguese colonial heritage
02:05shaped its identity under Chinese rule?
02:11Oh, there's plenty of heritage, I think, still being pushed forward.
02:13I mean, technically speaking, you can still use Portuguese as the language of usage in Macau today,
02:21although relatively few people do do that, much less than, say, use English in Hong Kong.
02:26That said, the buildings which come from the period of Portuguese colonialism,
02:30including some rather picturesque, sort of now slightly ruined looking buildings,
02:35but the look is wonderful, is there.
02:38Also, Portuguese-influenced cuisine is something that people go over to Macau for even now.
02:43And of course, although it may not be quite so much part of the heritage,
02:46but for a long time, the gaming industry, gambling, casinos have been part of the scene in Macau.
02:51They're not available in the mainland. They're not available in Hong Kong.
02:54And so that gives Macau a unique leisure and tourism option
02:58that has been there for certainly a number of decades
03:00and I think in some ways still sits very much at the heart of the idea of Macau as a sort of fun city,
03:06a place that you go essentially to enjoy that kind of slightly, how can one put it,
03:11loose lifestyle which comes with gambling that you're not allowed to do
03:14in the perhaps more sober confines of the Chinese mainland.
03:18Rana, good to see you. Thank you for that.
03:19Rana Mitt, a professor of history at the University of Oxford.