[balia]

"ceded to China" is a strange way to phrase that Macao was returned to China after colonizing it

[GuardianCaveman]

The Portuguese owned it for what, 500 years? At what point does something become someone else's? Modern China was created through invasion and bloodshed by various political groups just like every single country in the world.

[boyter]

I have often wondered about the answer to that. Especially when people start raising the idea of returning things to the historical owners.

[computerfriend]

"Returned to China" is a strange way to phrase that Macau was given to a country that it was never a part of, that didn't exist at the time.

[cuteboy19]

In the sense that it was returned to the rightful heir. China is the successor nation to the Chinese Empire

[realusername]

If you go that route, there's a few colonized area within China itself, Macao has been longer ruled by the Portuguese than Tibet has been ruled by China

[seanmcdirmid]

China’s right to Tibet hinges on it being conquered by the Mongolians.

[janalsncm]

Well, it depends what you mean by “China” doesn’t it? The People’s Republic of China isn’t the same thing as the Ming Dynasty. There’s no law of nature that dictates that a government in Beijing must also govern Macau, which is pretty far away. (Beijing to Macau is farther than Portugal to Amsterdam.)