On May 28, 1922, several Portuguese African colonial soldiers flirted with Chinese women in broad daylight in Macau, and were besieged by angry citizens, so a fight broke out between the two sides.
Afterwards, the Portuguese Police Arrested Three Citizens Involved in the Fight. This provoked even more indignation. More than 2,000 citizens who rushed to hear the news surrounded the police station, and there was an even greater clash between the police and the citizens. Members of the public attacked the Austro-Portuguese police with tiles and bricks, while the Ao-Portuguese police officers shot and wounded several people.
In the early morning of the 29th of the next day, tens of thousands of Chinese people in Macao gathered again at the entrance of the Macao-Portuguese Police Station, demanding the release of the citizens arrested the day before, as well as asking for an explanation for shooting and injuring people.
Ignoring the citizens' pleas, the Portuguese authorities went so far as to dispatch Portuguese African colonial troops stationed in Macau to shoot at the dense crowd. More than 70 people were killed and more than 100 injured on the spot. What is even more infuriating is that the Australian and Portuguese authorities also blocked various intersections, forbidding the Chinese to pull away the bodies of the victims, but instead bundled five or six corpses into bundles and directly threw them into the sea... This is the "5.29 massacre" that shocked the whole country.
These African colonial soldiers were more barbaric, and at that time, they also made the citizens of Macao "eye-opening".
After the "5.29 Massacre", Chinese people from all walks of life in Macao carried out a general strike, merchants went on strike, and students went on strike. The Macao-Portuguese authorities ordered the merchants not to strike and to resume business on June 1, but Macao businessmen, despite the threats of the Macao-Portuguese authorities, closed their doors to Zhuhai and Guangzhou. The whole of Macau was immediately paralyzed.
At the same time, the "5.29 Massacre" also aroused great indignation among Chinese people throughout the country and at home and abroad. Many groups in the country have called for the speedy recovery of Macau, severe punishment of the perpetrators of African colonial soldiers, and a public apology from Portugal.
At that time, China had two governments, the Beijing government controlled by the Beiyang warlords and the National Government in Guangzhou, where Sun Yat-sen was the president. The Beiyang government was not interested in taking back Macao and had a relatively cold attitude, while Sun Yat-sen was more attentive to the people's call for Macao to be taken back.
Sun Yat-sen issued a circular to the whole country that "we should provide concerted assistance to achieve the purpose of reclaiming territory." Sun Yat-sen also sent two torpedo boats and two patrol boats to the waters around Macau to increase pressure on Portugal to negotiate.
The campaign to reclaim Macau quickly swept the country. Various groups and trade unions across the country have united to demand that the government reclaim macao territory. But at the height of the movement, on June 16, the Guangdong warlord Chen Jiongming launched a rebellion, besieging the presidential palace and shelling Sun Yat-sen's residence. Fortunately, Sun Yat-sen escaped safely, but the negotiation with the Portuguese side to reclaim Macau was also shelved.
Until the victory of the Chinese War of Resistance in 1945, the Nationalist government proposed to Portugal the "Plan for the Recovery of Macao". At this time, the voices of the Macao people demanding the return of the people rose again, and people spontaneously organized themselves and took to the streets to shout against Portuguese rule.
This time, the Australian and Portuguese authorities have adopted the method of repression. As a victorious country in World War II, China has a lot more confidence than it did more than 20 years ago. In the face of the suppression of Macao citizens by the Macao-Portuguese authorities, the Nationalist government also took a tougher attitude on the grounds of protecting compatriots. Liu Shaowu, commander of the 159th Division of the 64th Army stationed in Zhongshan County, sent troops to the Qianshan border in Zhuhai to blockade Macao and prohibit the export of all commodities.
After the blockade, there was no food and no water, and Macao suddenly fell into a state of paralysis, and the Macao-Portuguese authorities had no choice but to change their attitude and be willing to take the initiative to apologize.
At this time, the Nationalist government believed that the time was ripe to negotiate the return of Macao with Portugal. But soon a civil war broke out in China, and negotiations to reclaim Macau were shelved.
In 1949, the People's Liberation Army swept south like an autumn wind sweeping away the fallen leaves, and quickly swept away the remnants of the Kuomintang. At that time, it would be easy to take back Macao by force. Mao Zedong made the decision not to shell Macao for the time being, that is, he had no intention of taking back Macao by force. Maintaining the status quo in Macao is helpful for China's economic development, as Premier Zhou said: it can attract foreign investment through Macao and strive for foreign exchange.
Driven by curiosity, excavating historical materials anecdotes—— [Curiosity Mining Group]