合謀販毒──近代港澳政府管理兩地鴉片貿易舉措剖析

In modern times, the British Hong Kong Government and the Portuguese Macau government had deeply intervened and even directly operated opium trade between the two places, conspiring to coordinate the opium business and mutual income between the two places, and had long relied on opium income as their main source of finance. From 1868 to 1887, the Qing government officially “blocked Hong Kong”, though the Hong Kong British government proposed to mediate with the Chinese Maritime Customs and the Inspector General Robert Hart, prompted the Qing government to recognize the fact that the Portuguese “permanently manage” Macau. Since then, the opium trade between Hong Kong and Macau entered the Chinese Customs inspection and tax collection. The British Hong Kong, and Portuguese Macau governments had assisted in the supervision and simultaneous sharing of the new stage of high profits generated by the opium trade monopolized by local tax collectors. Under the pressure of the Chinese and foreigners anti-opium campaigns, in 1913, the British and Portuguese governments signed the Agreement between the United Kingdom and Portugal for the Regulation of the Opium Monopolies in the Colonies of Hong Kong and Macau, secretly maintaining the opium trade and government distribution in Hong Kong and Macau. The British Hong Kong Government and the Macau Government had successively implemented opium official management to directly capture the maximum profits of the opium trade. The two governments conspired to narcotics trafficking, becoming a shameful page in history.