Portugal Returns Macau To China

Macau is back in China's hands. Portugal has handed the tiny gambling enclave back to China, ending 442 years of colonial rule and bringing Portuguese to tears as jubilant local Chinese partied in

Sunday, December 19th 1999, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Macau is back in China's hands. Portugal has handed the tiny gambling enclave back to China, ending 442 years of colonial rule and bringing Portuguese to tears as jubilant local Chinese partied in the streets.

China's president says Macao has entered a brand new era and welcomed its Chinese residents back to "the embrace of the motherland."

The red and green Portuguese flag came down and was replaced by a red communist Chinese banner. The Portuguese were the first Europeans to take over parts of Asia and they're the last to leave.

Macau is made up of a small peninsula and two islands in the Pearl River delta about 40 miles west of Hong Kong.