LAPPA  , an

island directly opposite the inner harbour of Macao, the distance across being from 1 to 12 m . It is a station of the Chinese imperial maritime customs which collects duties on vessels trading between China and the Portuguese colony of Macao . The arrangement is altogether abnormal, and was consented to by the Portuguese government in 1887 to assist the Chinese authorities in the suppression of opium smuggling . A similar arrangement prevails at the British colony of Hong-Kong, where the Chinese customs station is Kowloon . In both cases the customs stations levy duties on vessels entering and leaving the foreign port in lieu of levying them, as ought to be done, on entering or leaving a Chinese port .