in 1557, the portuguese empire made a permanent settlement on macau, after being given permission from china to dock and trade there. however, it took over taipa in 1951 and coloane in 1864, and in 1887, china was forced to sign a treaty to make macau a permanent colony of portugal. however, after a military coup overthrew the portuguese government in 1974, the new government made a promise to give back all the lands it took overseas. in 1986, portugal and china began talks on how to bring control of macau back to china peacefully, and in 1999, macau became an sar in the prc.