Editor's Note:

December 20, 2024, marks the 25th anniversary of Macao's return to the motherland. It not only signifies the ended centuries of Portuguese occupation, but also heralds the beginning of a new chapter for Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR).

On this momentous day, those who witnessed this grand event 25 years ago are filled with emotions. With excitement, they shared their memories with the Global Times, recounting the development and changes in Macao since its return and highlighting precious historical details. Their experiences serve as a testament to the enduring emotional connection and consistent, firm direction of development between Macao and the mainland.

This story is also part of the Global Times' "Witness to History" series, which features first-hand accounts from individuals who were at the forefront of historic moments. From scholars, politicians, and diplomats, to ordinary citizens, their authentic reflections on the impact of historical moments help reveal a sound future for humanity through the solid forward steps taken in the past and the present.
Luo Weijian, a law professor at the University of Macau, views the return of Macao to the motherland and the successful implementation of "one country, two systems" in the city as defining chapters in his life.

His involvement - as a member of the secretariat of Drafting Committee for the Basic Law of the Macao SAR, the Chinese representative of Sino-Portuguese Joint Liaison Group, and a member of the Preparatory Committee of the Macao SAR of the National People's Congress - has placed him at the heart of this transformative journey.

From conception to completion

Reflecting on the historic moment of Macao's return 25 years ago, Luo was struck by a poignant photo album. Among the images, one stood out: Macao residents brandishing a vast banner adorned with a single, powerful phrase in Chinese - "Returned."

"The image was stark yet profound, devoid of flamboyant eloquence, yet brimming with raw sentiment. It resonated with the simplicity of a child, long separated from his mother, on the verge of reunion; not articulating flowery expressions of enduring love, but rather, crying out with unadorned emotion," Luo remarked,

Luo recalled the trepidation that gripped through the people of Macao before the handover. "Macao faced twin challenges: A precipitous decline in public security, with crime syndicates brazenly enacting violence and arson in broad daylight, as the Portuguese authorities' departure loomed and their governance waned. Concurrently, the economy was in a tailspin, with a downward spiral since 1996 that persisted until the return."

Despite these concerns, Luo highlighted the enduring faith of citizens in Macao toward their motherland.

"The Macao compatriots harbored a steadfast belief that with the advent of a special administrative region government of their own, they were poised to surmount these adversities."

"There was no wave of emigration after Macao's return, indicating that the people in the SAR have confidence in the country," Luo stressed.

In the summer of 1988, as Luo stepped onto Macao's soil for the first time, he embarked on a historic mission: To craft the Basic Law of the Macao SAR. "The Basic Law was not just a legal document; it was the blueprint for Macao's future and the safeguard of its people's interests," Luo reflected. "We were committed to including the voices and insights of the Macao community in this foundational process."

"The journey from conception to completion of the Basic Law spanned 4 years and 5 months, and throughout this period, we engaged in three extensive public consultations, ensuring that the Basic Law resonated with the will of the people across the nation," Luo detailed.

With the Macao's Basic Law passed on March 31, 1993, Macao entered a critical post-transition phase. Luo highlighted the challenges of this period, particularly in building a civil service team that reflected Macao's demographic reality. "Initially, Macao's mid-to-senior civil service positions were predominantly occupied by Portuguese officials. Through concerted efforts, by the time of the 1999 handover, 90 percent of these roles were staffed by local Chinese residents who were deeply invested in Macao's progress. The judiciary also saw the rise of locally trained officials since 1988, the Faculty of Law of the University of Macau has been established to offer localized legal courses."

Luo pointed out that Sam Hou Fai, the Chief Executive-elect of the Macao SAR, who had joined Macao's first cohort of judicial auditors in 1995 and later presided over the Court of Final Appeal before his election campaign, was shaped by such a judicial training system.

The local legislature's unwavering dedication to national security and the well-being of Macao's residents since the city's return to China in 1999 has ensured social stability in Macao over the past 25 years, he said.

A demonstrative role

Luo considers himself both a practitioner and a beneficiary of the "one country, two systems" practice.

"Macao's implementation of 'one country, two systems' has not only been a success story but also a model for others to follow," he said.

In his daily interactions with students and residents, Luo has witnessed a profound respect for the policy that underpins Macao's governance.

"There's a clear understanding that the concept of 'one country' serves as the bedrock, supporting two social systems. This principle is not just acknowledged but deeply ingrained in Macao's society," he observed.

The past quarter-century has seen Macao flourish, thanks to the support of the motherland. Once stereotyped as a "casino city" and a setting for gangster films, Macao has reinvented itself as a dynamic economic hub. It is now lauded for its robust economic growth, low crime rates, and its commitment to public welfare, garnering global recognition.

"Macao's development has been a success story of 'one country, two systems' and such success withstood the test of history," Luo emphasizes.

Staple foods in iron pot stews styled to resemble plush toys have become a new social media buzz in Shanghai, with many netizens praising its appeal. 

The most recent week, according to figures provided by e-commerce platform Meituan.com, the search volume of this form of cuisine rose over 970 percent week-on-week.

In Northeast China, iron pot stew is a popular dish for social gatherings. The staple foods are typically corn cakes and steamed buns, stewed together in the iron pot. 

Many shops are now fashioning the staple food into plush toy designs with decorative eyes and mouths, resembling the British brand Jellycat, a favorite soft toy in China.

The number of restaurants that have listed “steamed buns styled like plush toys” on Meituan.com doubled in two months.

During the 75th International Astronautical Congress (IAC) held in October 2024 in Milan, Italy, a remarkable exhibit of "extraterrestrial material" caught the eyes of international attendees - a grayish, seemingly unattractive piece of dirt, yet it marked the first global display of the first sample collected from the far side of the moon.

Guests gathered around the display case, some leaning in for a closer look and others taking photos to commemorate the moment when they were finally able to see the true appearance of lunar regolith.

This remarkable feat was accomplished by China's Chang'e-6 mission in June 2024, showcasing the country's steadily advancing aerospace capabilities that earned international recognition. Yet, this is just one of many significant accomplishments China's space sector has delivered this year.

In 2024, driven by the "dual engine" of its "national team" and the booming commercial space sector, China has excelled in the number of rocket launches, satellite networking, technological innovation, commercial space development and international cooperation, Tan Yonghua, a senior expert of China's Academy of Aerospace Liquid Propulsion Technology, told the Global Times.

On December 18, the Chinese Academy of Engineering released the "Global Engineering Frontiers 2024" report. Among them, the Chang'e-6 mission and China's progress in its low Earth orbit communication satellite constellation were selected as two of the "Top Ten Global Engineering Achievements in 2024" in the aerospace field.

Embracing the future, Tan highlighted the potential of deeper collaboration between the state and private sector, citing the recent adoption of a cargo spacecraft design that was for the first time selected from non-traditional state aerospace entities. "This innovative competitive mechanism not only opens a new chapter in China's aerospace history but also lays the foundation for future low-cost space exploration. At the same time, fully leveraging the potential of private aerospace and integrating it with national capabilities will inject more vitality into China's aerospace endeavors," Tan said.

Highlights of the year

Since the Tiangong Space Station entered its normalized application and operation phase, it welcomed four missions in 2024 - two crewed missions and two cargo supplies - while seeing two crew rotations of some of the youngest faces of the post-90s generation, one of them being China's first female spaceflight engineer.

Most recently, Cai Xuzhe and Song Lingdong, part of the three-person Shenzhou-19 crew, spent more than nine hours spacewalking outside Tiangong on Tuesday, proudly leaving their names in human spaceflight history as they broke the previous duration record for a single extravehicular activity, which was set by NASA astronauts in March 2001, according to a report by space.com.

As for moon exploration and related works, apart from the globally acclaimed Chang'e-6 mission, studies related to Chang'e-5 also saw new advances and breakthroughs in 2024, including the discovery of the sixth new lunar mineral, named Changesite-(Y), which makes China the third country in the world to have identified a new mineral on the lunar surface, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

In the advancement of new rockets, China in December witnessed the maiden flight of the Long March-12, China's most powerful single-core rocket to date. It has potential for reusability and can effectively enhance China's capability to place satellites into sun-synchronous orbits and improve the networking capabilities of low Earth orbit constellations, Kang Guohua, a senior member of the Chinese Society of Astronautics and a professor of Aerospace Engineering at Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, told the Global Times.

In 2024, China actively carried out international cooperation. Dedicated to building an open and shared scientific platform for joint construction, the International Lunar Research Station initiated by China further expanded its "friend circle," so far attracting more than 10 countries and over 40 international institutions to sign cooperation agreements.

A more vibrant commercial space sector

During this year's "Double-11" shopping spree, two tickets for commercial space tourism scheduled for 2027 sold rapidly during a livestream event on China's e-commerce giant Taobao at the end of October. With a price of 1 million yuan ($137 thousand) each, the suborbital manned spacecraft will be launched with reusable carrier rocket Nebula-1 to be developed by private space firm Deep Blue Aerospace.

The event triggered intense discussions across Chinese social media platforms, reflecting an ever-strong passion and expectation that people hold toward the development of the country's commercial space industry.

With the inauguration of the Hainan commercial space launch site, China's first of its kind, the "last piece of the commercial space puzzle" has finally come together - the five essential elements, namely satellite manufacturing, launch services, satellite measurement, satellite utilization and launch facilities, Kang said.

Meanwhile, China's low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite internet constellation was officially unveiled with the Qianfan project taking the lead. Independently developed by Shanghai-based company Spacesail, it aims to establish a network of over 15,000 LEO wide-screen multimedia satellites to provide broadband communication and internet access services, the company said.

On December 5, 2024, the third batch of Qianfan constellation networking satellites was sent into orbit. With a single launch comprising 18 satellites, the total number of the "Chinese version of Starlink" has reached 54 satellites.

Moreover, the technology for reusable rockets continues to advance, as several commercial space companies have successfully completed rocket recovery tests.

However, highlights exist side by side with lessons learned. In July, Tianlong-3, also known as the Chinese "Falcon 9 equivalent," accidentally detached from its launch pad during its static fire test due to structural failure, resulting in an unintended launch. It landed in a hilly area in Central China's Henan Province and caused a fire, Xinhua reported.

"The incident serves as a wake-up call for commercial aerospace, prompting the industry to strengthen the formulation and implementation of regulations and standards," Tan told the Global Times.

Aiming for the moon, Mars, and farther

The China Manned Space Agency in October announced the 2030 target for China's grand lunar crewed landing. In order to achieve this goal, China's crewed lunar rover entered the initial prototype R&D stage in November this year. Other relevant work for the manned lunar landing is progressing smoothly, with the Long March-10 carrier rocket, the Mengzhou manned spacecraft, the Lanyue lunar lander and the lunar landing spacesuit all in the initial sample production and ground testing phases as planned.

Apart from putting humans on the moon, China is planning to build the International Lunar Research Station by around 2035, according to the China National Space Administration. Two missions are expected to lay the groundwork, with the Chang'e-7 mission scheduled in 2026 and the Chang'e-8 mission around 2028.

Not only will there be wireless networks and energy on the moon, but growing vegetables may become feasible, scientists said. With simulated lunar soil bricks sent to space for verification, the development team disclosed that they are considering shaping the base into an egg-shaped habitat on the Earth's neighbor, the Global Times has learned.

Next year, China plans to send a probe to a near-Earth asteroid to retrieve samples as part of the Tianwen-2 mission, with the aim of revealing the formation and evolution process of asteroids and the early history of the solar system.

The Tianwen-3 mission is expected to launch around 2030 to collect Martian samples to study the planet's environment. For the Tianwen-4 mission also scheduled for 2030, China eyes exploring the Jovian system to study the evolutionary history of Jupiter and its moons, and unravel the mysteries of Jupiter's space environment and internal structure, Xinhua reported.

Two travelers concealing luxury goods and jewelry in their luggage, carrying a yellow paper with the words "Customs all blind talisman" in the hope of evading customs inspection, were recently seized by customs officers in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang Province, China's General Administration of Customs reported.

Customs officers at Hangzhou International Airport recorded anomalies in the baggage screening images of the two travelers who chose the green channel to enter the country.

Officers then found an excessive amount of luxury handbags, scarves and clothing in the luggage. Several pieces of jewelry were concealed on their pants pockets.

The two travelers admitted that all items were branded goods, which were purchased abroad and would be resold at a profit in China. 

They posed as strangers and used separate packages, and created a yellow paper writing "Customs all blind talisman," with the words "frequent sales and safe clearance," in hopes of earning more money and avoiding detection.