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Description

Rare tourist map of Macau, published in Hong Kong in 1949.

Beautiful eight panel color map of the city with a border of black and white photo illustrations of many of the buildings numbered on the map. Two small maps of the Delts Showing Macao and Macau and neighboring Islands. Verso gives much information on Macao past and present, with a small map of the Motor Road from Macao to Shekki. 

Unlike in the case of Portuguese Timor which was occupied by the Japanese in 1942 along with Dutch Timor, the Japanese respected Portuguese neutrality in Macau, but only up to a point. As such, Macau enjoyed a brief period of economic prosperity as the only neutral port in South China, after the Japanese had occupied Guangzhou (Canton) and Hong Kong. In August 1943, Japanese troops seized the British steamer Sian in Macau and killed about 20 guards. The next month they demanded the installation of Japanese "advisors" under the alternative of military occupation. The result was that a virtual Japanese protectorate was created over Macau. Japanese domination ended in August 1945.

When it was discovered that neutral Macau was planning to sell aviation fuel to Japan, aircraft from the USS Enterprise bombed and strafed the hangar of the Naval Aviation Center on January 16, 1945 to destroy the fuel. American air raids on targets in Macau were also made in February and June 1945. Following Portuguese government protest, in 1950 the United States paid US $20,255,952 to the government of Portugal.

When the Chinese communists came to power in 1949, they declared the Protocol of Lisbon to be invalid as an "unequal treaty" imposed by foreigners on China. However, Beijing was not ready to settle the treaty question, leaving the maintenance of "the status quo" until a more appropriate time. Beijing took a similar position on treaties relating to the Hong Kong territories of the United Kingdom.