The troops of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA), which are to take up defense duties in Macao, are gathered in their barracks in Zhuhai City of south China's Guangdong province, ready to enter Macao.

The Chinese national flag and the PLA ensign are flying high over the barracks. Command cars, armored vehicles and other vehicles are lined up in columns with officers and soldiers riding atop them.

Jiang Zemin, chairman of the Central Military Commission of the People's Republic of China, signed a decree concerning the stationing of PLA troops in the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) on Dec. 19, ordering the garrison to enter Macao on December 20 and carry out defense duties there from then on.

The PLA Macao Garrison with about 500 troops was formed in April 1999.