The return of Macao from the Portuguese administration to the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1999 marks the beginning of its transformation in the 21st century. Macao was confronted with various issues concerning then existing political system, economic downturn and gangland violence during the transition period. Beijing put Macao under the "One country, Two Systems" and implemented a wide variety of measures in order to restore its law and order as well as to recover its tourism dependent economy. Gradually, Macao transformed itself to "Las Vegas of the East". This volume of 18 essays highlights the key dimensions of Macao's remarkable "One country, Two Systems" actualisation experience in its first 15 years, and discusses how Macao transformed and what challenges it encountered during its post-handover transformation. The volume has several focuses. It first investigates the political and electoral issues in a critical manner─ post-handover Macao suffered from maladministratio
