China Seminar | 17 April 1997

Macau

Daniel W. Y. Kwok

As the date of Hong Kong’s reversion to China draws nearer and the world’s attention becomes more intensely focused by the day, there is, for comparative and contrastive perspective, the matter of Macau to consider. Macau reverts to China in December, 1999. Although the Hong Kong reversion is watched closely in Macau and Lisbon, Macau’s own role in Chinese relations with the outside world has had a longer and not altogether similar history as that of Hong Kong. Professor Daniel Kwok will present some historical perspectives on Macau’s reversion.

Professor Kwok is a member of the history department of the University of Hawaii, where he teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on Chinese history, Chinese intellectual history and World Civilizations. He has concurrently served in numerous administrative posts, including chair of Asian Studies, chair of History Department, director of Council of Chinese Studies, and director of Center for Chinese Studies. Among his writings are Scientism in Chinese Thought, 1900-1950; Cosmology, Ontology, and Human Efficacy: Essays in Chinese Thought (with Richard J. Smith), and the recently published Turbulent Decade: A History of the Cultural Revolution (translator and editor of work by Yan Jiaqi and Gao Gao). He is also preparing for publication a cultural history of China (in Chinese), translations of works by Han dynasty thinkers Jia Yi and Lu Jia, and a work on the Chinese garden.