Macao Reflects on Identity, Future as China Pursues Development Plan

TaiwanPlus News

As Macao marks 25 years of Chinese rule, residents reflect on what it means to be from the territory. They also consider the future, as China pursues its "Greater Bay Area" development project in Macao.

Transcript

00:00On the southern tip of China, a unique blend of East and West, a former Portuguese colony

00:08now back under Chinese rule.

00:12Over centuries, Cantonese and Portuguese culture have mixed here in Macau to create a unique

00:18identity and a language that some locals speak to this day.

00:23When I want to meet a new person, I say, como ta vai, como ta bom, como ta bom, onde ja

00:34vai voce, onde ja vai, onde tem voce hoje, how are you?

00:41But Beijing is working hard to make its own mark on Macau, which has been considered a

00:46special administrative region of China since the Portuguese handover in 1999.

00:53To mark its 25th anniversary, Chinese President Xi Jinping is in town, where he will also

00:59swear in Macau's new leader under a bannered one country, two systems style of governance.

01:07China is also breaking ground on sprawling developments here as part of its Greater Bay

01:12Area Project, an initiative that links Hong Kong and Macau to neighboring Chinese cities

01:19by building projects that span the region and blurring the economic boundaries that

01:24separate Hong Kong and Macau from mainland China.

01:27Residents here know that their Macau identity may evolve as the Greater Bay Area grows.

01:33I'm not worried about the Greater Bay Area being completely erased.

01:45But of course, some things have already happened in Macau, and they have already changed.

01:51And some believe they have a responsibility to preserve the Macanese culture for younger

01:56generations.

01:58This culture will be fading because, you see, Chinese culture is a very absorbing culture.

02:06And then you have this Great Bay Area thing, which just sucks up everything else.

02:14But if the next generation has a glimpse of awareness that we can be unique, we might

02:29have a chance to survive this.

02:31But for those same youth, these changes could be an opportunity to define themselves on

02:37their own terms.

02:39Because I'm related to the three places, but I'm not that fully attached to any one of

02:45it.

02:46I do feel like stuck in the middle sometimes, but it just sways around more or less.

02:51I feel like this is why I want to identify myself as a Greater Bay Area person instead

02:57of stuck in one place.

02:59That's because of my background of growing up.

03:02For now, one thing is certain.

03:05With just over 700,000 people, Macau is dwarfed by the Chinese megacities making up its so-called

03:12Greater Bay Area.

03:14And as that development continues, there will be no avoiding the mainland's effects on Macau's

03:19economy and its culture.

03:22Devon Tsai and Sonia Schlesinger for Taiwan Plus.

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