The Chinese City That Defeated EVERYONE In WWII | Dr. Helena Lopes

Originally published on 1 August 2024.
While the entire world plunged into global war in the mid-20th century, there was ONE Chinese city that remained free and prosperous against all odds. Meet Macau, and the story of a neutral territory in the midsts of a brutal war for power and resources.

Neutrality and Collaboration in South China: Macau during the Second World War | Get the book: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009311786

Today I'm talking to the brilliant WWII historian, Dr. Helena Lopes, who is a lecturer in Modern Asian History at Cardiff University, in Wales. Originally haling from Portugal, Helena researched the South China enclave of Macau, which was the first and last European colonial settlement in East Asia. Her study entitled “Neutrality and Collaboration in South China: Macau during the Second World War” focuses on the experience of this tiny plot of land which at the time was controlled by the Portuguese colonial state. Since Portugal declared neutrality in WWII and remained free, its neutrality also extended to Macau, which the Japanese, Chinese, Americans and other belligerents actually respected. Although the Japanese did invade Hong Kong — which was under the British — they didn’t touch Macau. Now that constellation of a neutral territory in East Asia led to some very interesting constellations.