In 1952, when the Korean War was in full swing, a fierce conflict broke out again in China's border defense in southern Xinjiang. The conflict resulted in the surrender of the enemy forces in just six days, and a treaty of reparations was signed, amounting to 440 million yuan.
In July 1952, the eyes of the world were focused on the Korean War, but at this time, a gate incident occurred in southern Xinjiang. The two sides in this incident are the 29th Chinese Public Security Regiment and the Portuguese Army stationed in Macao. So, what caused this conflict to happen? The end result?
Macau has been a Chinese territory since ancient times, but in 1553, the Portuguese forcibly landed in Macau under the pretext that they needed to dry their goods. Later, the Portuguese government succeeded in signing a Lend-Lease treaty with the Ming Dynasty by bribing local officials, paying 500 taels of silver per year, and Macau was placed under the direct jurisdiction of Guangdong Province.
After the First Opium War in 1848, the Portuguese government followed the British in bringing Macao into its sphere of influence, and the Qing Dynasty was forced to accept it. In 1887, Portugal forced the Qing Dynasty to sign the Draft Treaty of the Sino-Portuguese Conference, turning Macao into its colony.
After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War in 1945, the Nationalist Government could take back Macao, but Chiang Kai-shek, in order to curry favor with the British and American powers and support himself in waging a civil war, recognized the treaty signed between the Qing Dynasty and Portugal, and Macao was occupied by Portugal again.
In order to maintain its dominance in Macau, the Portuguese government sent a mercenary army to garrison Macau. Except for the officers who were Portuguese, the other soldiers in this mercenary army were black and discriminated against. During the War of Liberation, the Portuguese government saw that China had no time to take care of Macao, so it pushed the border inland and sent troops to patrol.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Portuguese government adopted a policy of hostility towards China and imposed an embargo blockade on New China at the request of the United States. At that time, when the People's Republic of China was founded and the Korean War broke out suddenly, the central government's eyes were mainly focused on the United States, and it temporarily took tolerant measures against Portugal and dispatched public security border guards to patrol Macao.
In July 1952, the Korean War had been going on for two years, and the million-strong volunteer army of New China was under tremendous pressure. At this time, it became the norm for the Portuguese troops stationed in Macao to provoke our border public security and insult our army. Our army has always exercised restraint and demanded that the Portuguese army stop its provocative acts. However, the arrogance of the Portuguese army became more and more rampant.
On July 25, 1952, the Portuguese army again provoked and even openly insulted our troops during the patrol. Our squad leader Song Youzeng stepped forward to stop it and demanded an apology from the Portuguese army, but he could not communicate due to the language barrier. Far from apologizing, the Portuguese army became more and more rampant. Our troops then went to demand an apology from the Portuguese army, and the two sides confronted each other.
I thought that the situation would be handled by the higher authorities on both sides, but the Portuguese army suddenly advanced the border line and threatened our side, and even opened fire. We were forced to return fire and throw grenades into the gate. The Portuguese army was eventually unable to withstand the pressure of our army and was forced to retreat. During this conflict, 2 of our troops were killed and 30 were wounded.
Realizing that the confrontation with the new China was doomed, the Portuguese government sought peace talks and apologized to China. After several talks, the Portuguese government admitted its mistake and said it would compensate China with 440 million yuan in old currency. Eventually, the Portuguese government made a formal apology and withdrew the 50-meter rejection of the border line, and once again expressed its apologies to the Chinese fighters who unfortunately died.
This conflict and the victory of the peace talks announced that New China will no longer tolerate any bullying against it. The Chinese people have demonstrated firm will and strong strength, which has completely changed China's position on the international stage.
The victory of the Border Gate Incident proved that New China was no longer a bullied Qing government or a national government, and that the Chinese people were capable of defending their national interests. At the same time, it was also the first treaty signed with Western powers after the founding of the People's Republic of China, laying the foundation for China's diplomacy to achieve a complete victory.
