Portuguese Hegemony And Macao Region From The Perspective Of Marxist Political Economy

With the rise of the cities and the development of the monetary economy,the landed aristocracy of Spain and Portugal were increasingly unable to maintain their dominance in the face of the squeeze of merchants,the revolt of the peasantry and the outflow of money after the Reconquista.When the old feudal way of ruling was blocked,the landed aristocracy gradually concentrated its fragmented political power at the state level.The king became the agent of the interests of the landed aristocracy,and the state bureaucracy became the vehicle through which the landed aristocracy achieved its interests.Thus,feudal capital,characterized by the dominance of the landed aristocracy,was created and drove the state to annex land internally and commercial expansion externally.However,as agricultural production in Portugal became increasingly commercial,the mere possession of land could not compensate for its disadvantageous position in the exchange and distribution chain.To make up for the 'missing link' in global production,Portugal,dominated by feudal capital,gradually became the largest commercial institution,and the Portuguese king the most representative merchant.Feudal capital was then increasingly combined with commercial capital,and the landed aristocracy was able to grow through the proliferation of commercial capital.In its commercial expansion abroad,Portugal took control of the eastern trade routes and made great efforts to penetrate markets to trade with them,by force and cultural expansion.Portugal also set up trading houses and organized maritime trading networks in different parts of the world and engaged in countertrade to multiply its capital.As an important part of the East Asian trade,and indeed world trade,Macau was an important player in making up for the 'missing link' in Portuguese global production.Thus,Portuguese control and colonization of the region of Macau was a necessary requirement for the establishment of Portuguese maritime commercial hegemony,as well as a natural consequence of the expansion of Portuguese feudal capital abroad.