"Letter from Macao"

Criada em 1925, a conceituada revista The New Yorker (EUA) abordou várias vezes Macau nas suas páginas. Para o post de hoje seleccionei excertos de duas crónicas intituladas "Letter from Macao", uma da década de 1970 e outra da década de 1950.

Macao was a Portuguese colony. Now the Portuguese are holding it in trust for China indefinitely as "a special territory". This odd but amicable arrangement is the result of a tacit compromise between Lisbon & Peking. It is hard to tell how long this arrangement will endure, but the chances are that it may go on until 1997, which is when the British colony of Hong Kong, 40 miles to the east, is supposed to revert to China, at the expiration of a 99-year lease. Peking is in no hurry to take over either of the colonies-whose fortunes, both economic & political, are closely linked-because trade & remittances of funds from overseas Chinese funnelled through Communist banks in the British crown colony and, to a lesser extent, through brances of those banks in Macao, provide it with almost half of its foreign-exchange income of 3 billion dollars a year. Hong Kong and Macao also serve the Chinese as useful political listening posts & as important points of contact with Westerners. Gives history of Macao. Dominated by the Chinese business community, some of whom commute to Hong Kong by hydrofoil, and to a lesser extent by a Catholic bishop & priests, Macao retains an essential conservatism. Tells about Chinese businessmen: Ho Yin & O Ching Ping, and Col. Jose Garcia Leandro, the Portuguese governor. Also tells about local govt. & economics. Most of Macao's resources are derived from gambling & other tourist attractions.

Robert Shaplen in The New Yorker, 26.9.1976

This Portugues colony on the South China coast is made up of a three-mile peninsula and two small islands and is 35 miles below Hong Kong. Its neutrality plays a big part in its activities. Much smuggling is going on and is linked with the Communist issue-they bring oil and gasoline from Hong Kong to Macao, for later sale in Red China. Gold comes in and is sent on to Hong Kong. Macao was founded around 1557. It is the Church's beachhead in East Asia. The most striking symbol of today's neutrality is the post office schedule listing closing time of mails to Portugal by different routes, including by rail across Siberia. Also American salesmanship has promoted American products like Coca Cola and Kleenex. There is not much industry-the real thing is the rackets. Gambling goes on all the time; opium can be smoked without much trouble.

Christopher Rand in The New Yorker, 17.11.1951