The People's Liberation Army Macao Garrison is a garrison of the

People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the military of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the People's Republic of China (PRC). It consists of four Military branch, services—People's Liberation Army Ground Force, Ground Force, People's ...

(PLA), responsible for defense duties in the

Macau Macau or Macao is a special administrative regions of China, special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most List of countries and dependencies by p ...

Special Administrative Region (SAR) since the

sovereignty Sovereignty can generally be defined as supreme authority. Sovereignty entails hierarchy within a state as well as external autonomy for states. In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the person, body or institution that has the ultimate au ...

of Macau was transferred to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

in 1999. The PLA stations between 500 and 600 troops in Macau, primarily as a symbolic presence to underscore Chinese sovereignty. The remainder of the 1,200-strong Macau garrison resides just across the Chinese border in

Zhuhai Zhuhai; Yale romanization of Cantonese, Yale: ''Jyūhói''; Chinese postal romanization, also known as Chuhai is a prefecture-level city located on the west bank of the Pearl River (China), Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern ...

. Although the

Macao Basic Law The Basic Law of the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( zh, 中華人民共和國澳門特別行政區基本法, ) is the organic law that establishes the Macau Special Administrative Region, replacing the E ...

states that the Macau SAR government may "when necessary" ask the

central government A central government is the government that is a controlling power over a unitary state. Another distinct but sovereign political entity is a federal government, which may have distinct powers at various levels of government, authorized or deleg ...

to allow the garrison to assist in maintaining public order or disaster relief,

Chief Executive A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

Edmund Ho Edmund Ho Hau Wah, GML, GCM, GOIH (born 13 March 1955) is a Macau politician who served as the first Chief Executive of the Macau Special Administrative Region from 1999 to 2009. He currently serves as a Vice-Chairman of the Chinese Peopl ...

has said that, in keeping with the Basic Law the garrison will play no role in

internal security Internal security is the act of keeping peace within the borders of a sovereign state or other Self-governance, self-governing territories, generally by upholding the national law and defending against internal security threats. This task and rol ...

. The garrison has maintained a low profile, with soldiers generally wearing civilian clothing when off base and not engaging in business activities.

Mission

According to the Law on Stationing Troops in the Macau Special Administrative Region (or Macao Garrison Law, passed by the NPC Standing Committee on June 28, 1999), the mission of the PLA in Macau is to defend the special administrative region by "preventing and resisting aggression; safe-guarding the security of Macau; undertaking defense services; managing military facilities; and handling related foreign military affairs." The PLA can also be called upon by the chief executive to help maintain public order and assist with disaster relief efforts. The members of the garrison are mainly ground force troops.

2017 Typhoon Hato

At the request of Macau SAR Government, the PLA Macao Garrison was deployed to assist in disaster relief and cleaning up in the aftermath of

Typhoon Hato Typhoon Hato, known in the Philippines as Severe Tropical Storm Isang, was a strong tropical cyclone that struck South China in late August 2017. The thirteenth named storm and the fourth typhoon of the 2017 Pacific typhoon season, Pacific typh ...

in August 2017, the first time for domestic affairs in Macau history. About 1,000 troops were called in to help remove debris and clear roads.

Organization

The PLA Macao Garrison is under the command and control of the

Central Military Commission Central Military Commission may refer to: *Central Military Commission (China), the highest national defense organization in the People's Republic of China. *Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of Vietnam, the highest body in Vietnam ...

and under the operational supervision of the

Southern Theater Command The Southern Theater Command () is one of the Theater commands of the People's Liberation Army, five theater commands of the People's Liberation Army, founded on 1 February 2016. Its predecessor was the Guangzhou Military Region. Its jurisdicti ...

, and its budget is administered by the central government in Beijing. A PLA major general heads the Macao Garrison. ; Garrison Commanders * Maj. General Liu Yuejun 1999–2002 * Maj. General Liu Lianhua 2002–2008 * Maj. General Wang Yuren 2008–2010 * Maj. General Zhu Qingsheng 2010–2014 * Maj. General Wang Wen 2014–2018 * Maj. General Liao Zhengrong 2018 * Maj. General Xu Liangcai 2019–2023 * Maj. General Yu Changjiang 2023–present ; Political Commissars * Maj. General He Xianshu 1999–2001 * Maj. General Liu Liangkai 2001–2003 * Maj. General Yang Zhongmin 2003–2006 * Maj. General Li Wenchao 2006–2007 * Maj. General Zhao Cunsheng 2007–2008 * Maj. General Xu Jinlin 2008–2013 * Maj. General Ma Biqiang 2013–2014 * Maj. General Zhang Zhimeng 2014–2017 * Maj. General Zhou Wugang 2017–present

Troops

* 1

motorized infantry Motorized infantry is infantry that is transported by trucks or other motor vehicles. It is distinguished from mechanized infantry, which is carried in armoured personnel carriers or infantry fighting vehicles, and from light infantry, which c ...

* 1 armoured company

Equipment

Bases

The garrison was temporarily stationed at the 11 storey Edificação Long Cheng/Long Cheng Mansion. It is now stationed on

Taipa Taipa ( zh, t=氹仔, ; , ) is an area in Macau, connected to Coloane through the area known as Cotai, which is largely built from reclaimed land. Located on the northern half of the island, Taipa's population is mostly suburban. Administrativ ...

located amongst the new casinos in

Cotai Cotai ( zh, t=路氹城, cy=Louhtáhm Sìhng; ) is a piece of land reclamation, reclaimed land on the top of the Seac Pai Bay between Taipa and Coloane islands in Macau that has connected two independent islands since 2005. The name, which is ...

(Estrada da Baía de Nossa Sra. da Esperança across from Hotel Venetian and Galaxy Macau). There are more troops at the barracks in

(Zhengling).

Notes

References

External links

* {{Military of Asia People's Liberation Army Ground Force Military in Macau Southern Theater Command 1999 establishments in Macau Military units and formations established in 1999 Corps deputy grade units of the armed forces of China