It was back in 1999 when the Portuguese government lowered its flag over the seaside gambling territory of Macao – returning to China Europe’s last colonial outpost in Asia.

The handover marked the end of 442 years of Portuguese rule – coming two years after Britain ceded sovereignty of Hong Kong. Since then, China has governed both cities as semi-autonomous territories with greater economic and political freedoms. We begin with CGTN’s Nathan King in Macao.

To discuss:

Victor Teo is an Assistant Professor at Hong Kong University.

Einar Tangen is a political and economic affairs commentator. 

Eilo Wing–Yat Yu is an Associate Professor at the University of Macao.

Carlos Lobo served as a legal adviser to the Macao SAR Gaming Commission.

For more:

#Macao witnesses #economic #development, better life in 20 years: Macao residenthttps://t.co/864oycZO62 pic.twitter.com/YAun30Cc1r

— CCTV+ (@CCTV_Plus) December 16, 2019

Chinese President #XiJinping on Thursday called for continuous staunch #support from across #Macao society for the chief executive and government of Macao Special Administrative Region in exercising law-based governance #MacaoSAR20 pic.twitter.com/y5NwxEhljP

— People's Daily, China (@PDChina) December 19, 2019

Chinese President Xi Jinping said Friday that the central government will "fully support" the work of the fifth-term chief executive of #Macao Special Administrative Region and the new SAR government #MacaoSAR20Years https://t.co/LNc2LupsLc pic.twitter.com/hEC7o6RAK6

— China Xinhua News (@XHNews) December 20, 2019