An Exceptional Retrocession: the Establishment of the Macau SAR from a Political Perspective

Abstract In late 1999, Macau became a Special Administrative Region ( SAR ) under the administration of the People’s Republic of China and the “one country, two systems” principle, following a different, unique path compared to former Portuguese colonies. In light of such a reality, this paper uses postcolonial theory to situate the political debate involving the SAR ’s establishment. Furthermore, it suggests that the two main factors that explain Macau’s potential exceptionalism in the Lusophone world, when it comes to decolonisation processes, are the retrocession concept and the Macanese political structure, which, in turn, helped to guarantee smooth repatriation proceedings.