Abstract

CARDINAL, Paulo. Macau: The internationalization of an historical autonomy. Bol. Mex. Der. Comp. [online]. 2008, vol.41, n.122, pp.637-689. ISSN 2448-4873.

This article after a brief introduction moves to provide an historical account which, in the authors view is an important factor to understand the peculiarity of a tiny territory having such a preeminent jus-political position within giant China. It then analyses and compares the Macau autonomy as a "territory under Portuguese Administration" vis-à-vis the Portuguese islanded autonomous regions. The author elects two features of the Macau autonomy: the political system and the fundamental rights systems and analyses it both before and after the transfer of full sovereign powers from Portugal to China concluding that play a rather important role accentuating the Macau autonomy as a special region of China.

Keywords : autonomy; internationalized autonomy; fundamental rights; federalism; Special Administrative Regions of China; continuity; Joint Declaration.