Role in government

Historically, the Macanese always played an indispensable role in the Portuguese administration. Portugal wouldn’t have been able to consolidate their influence in Macau without using the Macanese as a bridge into the Chinese realm. Being the majority population in Macau, the Chinese were significantly disconnected with the Portuguese ruling class because of the language barrier. Localization of the civil service was a difficulty. If they worked in the government, they usually held low-ranking jobs.  The Macanese, on the other hand, became a middlemen between the two groups since they understood both Chinese and Portuguese. Their cultural and linguistic versatility put them in tasks that often involved communications. They could comfortably handle the paperwork and laws which were all written in Portuguese. Constituting less than 3 percent of Macau’s total population, the Macanese held on to almost all the middle-ranked posts in the government. However, the Macanese were never able to reach the top positions of the administration, because those spots were always reserved for white delegates from Portugal. Though, they did possess more political power than ethnic Chinese due to their flexible communication skills and “racial superiority”. 

For centuries, governors had to cooperate with the middle-ranked Macanese officials to govern Macau successfully. Nevertheless, some governors such as Garcia Leandro (1975) and Almeida e Costa (1984), who promoted more white personnel, challenged the Macanese-dominated Legislative Assembly. However, Macanese civil servants began fully supporting the governor’s authority when news of a handover to China was looming with the Sino-Portuguese Joint Declaration of 1987. The Macanese did not want the Chinese Communist Party to interfere with Macau’s political autonomy. They aimed to preserve their relatively stable status in the Portuguese system. While Portuguese nationalism is weak among ethnic Chinese in Macau, the Macanese feel a much stronger sense of belonging to Portugal because of their mixed race and that they are partial benefactors of the Portuguese power structure. Hence, Macanese legislators sided with Portugal on almost every issue during the period right before China took over. Today, under China’s “one-country two-policy” system, Portuguese and Chinese are the official languages of Macau. Thus, the Macanese people remain in their historical advantaged position as translators, but are gradually becoming a minority within the Chinese-dominated government. 

Government architecture during colonial rule:

Painting of the white Portuguese aristocracy:

Macau's government headquarters today: Portuguese building but with Chinese emblem