ABSTRACT
This chapter traces the historic process of convergence between the two Special Administrative Regions (SARs) by focusing on major incidents of congruence. Macau and Hong Kong occupy small isthmuses and outlying islands along the sprawling coastline of China's Guangdong Province. Portuguese-governed Macau was the capital of intercourse between Europe and Asia for nearly 300 years, until the United Kingdom supplanted it by colonizing Hong Kong in 1841. The People's Republic of China (PRC) began to take a more active role in pursuing the handovers of Macau and Hong Kong in the 1970s, binding the fates of the territories together. Beijing also rebuffed a Portuguese offer to exit Macau in 1974, citing its desire to settle the returns of Macau and Hong Kong at a later date. The greatest deviation from Portuguese colonial practice are the provisions on judicial structure.
