Feature: Flag Raising Marks 2nd Birthday of Macao SAR

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, December 21, 2001

Feature: Flag Raising Marks 2nd Birthday of Macao SAR

In gentle sea breeze, the national flag was hoisted Thursday morning to mark the 2nd birthday of China's Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR).

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In gentle sea breeze, the national flag was hoisted Thursday morning to mark the 2nd birthday of China's Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR).

Macao SAR Chief Executive Edmund Ho Hau Wah presided over the ceremony at the Golden Lotus Square, which accommodates a golden lotus sculpture presented by the central government in December, 1999 as a gift for the establishment of the SAR.

With the time of flag-hoisting approaching, a police band and teams of public security, fire-fighting and marine police forces marched into the square to receive inspection.

At exactly 8:00 a.m., two policemen walked into the square amidtunes of the solemn national anthem, carrying the national flag and the Macao SAR's regional flag. All the people stood silently there, watching the flags going up slowly.

Flags became the only target in the eyes of more than 1,000 people including officials of local administrative, legislative and judicial organs and those from various social sectors.

And many of them carried small national flags and regional flags.

Buildings nearby are decorated with flowers and colorful slogans on the occasion.

"Time flies so quickly, and our Macao SAR is now two years old," an old lady from the Macao Association of Neighborhood Communities said, adding that all her family members went to greetthe garrison troops of the People's Liberation Army two years ago.

After the ceremony, some people took a picture with the flags, and a few aged people even danced at the square.

Just opposite the square is a patch of grassland, the former site of the Macao Forum, which witnessed the official inaugurationof the Macao SAR government on December 20, 1999.

Since then, Macao has entered a new historical era in implementing the principles of "One Country, Two Systems," "Macao People Governing Macao" and a high degree of autonomy.

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