Piracy in the Pearl River Delta has had a long history and recent scholarship has shown an interest in the various aspects of the maritime crime. Piracy after 1860, however, has not been properly evaluated because most studies see the end of large scale piracy as over after the late 1850s as well as its role in the international trade and politics of the time. This study examines piracy that thrived in the delta between Macao, Hong Kong, and Canton authorities in order to fill this hole in scholarship. Through a comparison of the efforts in suppression of piracy that the governments of Hong Kong and Macao were involved in between 1860 and 1941, this thesis demonstrates that not only did piracy continue into the twentieth century, but it transformed from classical to modern piracy. Overall, this study demonstrates that the suppression of piracy by Hong Kong and Macao played a role in the exertion of power and influence over the weakened Chinese state between 1860 and 1941.