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Macau Garrison

Since December 20, 1999, the defense of Macau has been the responsibility of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA), which stations up to 1,000 troops in the Macau Special Administrative Region. The garrison has its logistics base, medical care, and food supply in the Zhuhai Special Economic Zone, across the border from Macau.

Macau was founded in 1557 by Portuguese seafarers, who used it as a safe harbour on the trade route between India and East Asia. The Portuguese commanded the Malacca Straits, carving out a prosperous trade with Chinese merchants along the Pearl River delta. From 1563 to 1639, Portugal controlled commerce between China and Japan (in Chinese silks, porcelain, and gold for Japanese silver) and Macau became a major entrepot. It is not clear when Portugal acquired sovereignty over Macau from China. Portugal repeatedly, and unsuccessfully, sought sovereignty from as early as 1687. It was only after Britain acquired Hong Kong, and the five treaty ports were opened in China, that the Portuguese took more aggressive action on Macau.

In April 1987, the 'Sino-Portuguese Joint Declaration on the Question of Macau' addressed the question of Macau's future status. Accordingly, China resumed administration of the territory on 20 December 1999, and the Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR) came into being. Akin to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China's policy of 'one country, two systems' means Macau is to enjoy a 'high degree of autonomy' for 50 years.

China unilaterally decided to station an 800 strong PLA garrison in Macau. This decision was protested by Portugal because the garrison was not specified in the Basic Law. However, China has insisted the garrison was necessary to demonstrate their sovereignty, noting that the garrison had no internal policing role and was intended for external defence. The Macau public has greeted the proposed deployment positively as a possible deterrent to triad activity. Macau's poor internal security situation has been widely reported in the press in the past few years. Several sources have attributed the apparent growth in inter-triad "turf" battles (and accompanying violence) to recent uncertainty relating to the issuing of new gambling licenses by the Government.

Between 500 and 600 People's Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers are stationed in Macau, primarily as a symbolic presence to underscore Chinese sovereignty. The remainder of the 1,200-strong Macau garrison resides just across the Chinese border in Zhuhai. Although the Basic Law states that the Macau SAR government may "when necessary" ask the central government to allow the garrison to assist in maintaining public order or disaster relief, Chief Executive Ho has said that, in keeping with the Basic Law the garrison will play no role in internal security. The garrison has maintained a low profile, with soldiers generally wearing civilian clothing when off base and not engaging in business activities.

According to the Law on Stationing Troops in the Macau Special Administrative Region (or Macau Garrison Law, passed by the NPC Standing Committee on June 28, 1999), the mission of the PLA in Macau is to defend the special administrative region by "preventing and resisting aggression; safe-guarding the security of Macau; undertaking defence services; managing military facilities; and handling related foreign military affairs." The PLA can also be called upon by the chief executive to help maintain public order and assist with disaster relief efforts. The members of the garrison are mainly ground force troops. The Macau Garrison is under the command and control of the Central Military Commission, and its budget is administered by the central government in Beijing. A PLA major general heads the Macau Garrison.

The Macau garrison has no more than 1,000 personnel. Eighty-six per cent of the officers are university or college graduates, while most of the soldiers are high school graduates. While most of the Macau garrison members are infantry troops, there are also small numbers of naval and air force officers. One motorised infantry and one armored company from Hong Kong were chosen to join the troops.

Macau's military branches are the Macau garrison of China's People Liberation Army or PLA, which includes about 500 troops. There are about 125,737 men ages 15 to 49 available for the military in Macau and 69,191 men fit for the military service. Macau's responsibility for defense reverted to China on December 20th, 1999.