12-3 incident

The 12-3 incident (Chinese: 一二·三事件; pinyin: Yīèr Sān shìjiàn), known in Portugal as the 1-2-3 Riot (Portuguese: Motim 1-2-3), refers to a riot in Macau that happened on December 3, 1966, inspired by the Cultural Revolution in the People's Republic of China. The incident is often referred to as "12-3", with reference to the date of the riots.

In 1966, residents of Taipa Island tried to obtain permission to build a private school, sponsored by leftist organisations. Although they had been granted a plot of land by the Portuguese authorities, officials in the public works bureau delayed the processing of the building permits, as they had failed to get any bribes. Having received no reply from the authorities, the residents went ahead and started building without the proper permits.

On November 15, 1966, urban services officers on Taipa blocked the construction of the school, leading to a confrontation between the protesters and Macau Police. The police, including plain-clothes officers, injured over 40 people, of whom 14 were later detained.

In response, a group of around 60 students and workers demonstrated outside the Governor's Palace, the seat of government, in support of the Taipa residents, shouting slogans and reading aloud from the Little Red Book. Finally, at 1pm on December 3, Red Guards began to riot, denouncing the Portuguese authorities for "fascist atrocities".

On December 3, the government ordered the rioters to be arrested. This stirred up the anger of the general public and more people came to protest. They pulled down the statue of Colonel Vicente Nicolau de Mesquita at Largo do Senado at the city centre and tore the right arm off the statue of Jorge Alvares located on the former outer harbour ferry port. At the Leal Senado or city hall, portraits of former governors were torn off the walls, while books and city records were tossed into the street and set on fire. Consequently, martial law was declared. As a result of the protests, 8 people were killed by police and 212 were injured.

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