台灣大學政治學系中國大陸暨兩岸關係教學與研究中心 「中國學的知識社群」計畫 MEMORY OF BRAZILIAN SYNOLOGY 台 灣 大 學 政 治 學 系 中 國 大 陸 暨 兩 岸 關 係 教 學 與 研 究 中 心 Interview Schedule What follows now is the script of our interviews carried out in Brazil, seeking to gather experiences, impressions and opinions about Sinology in Brazil and its participation in this field. This structure was adapted from the oral interview script – a modality that unfortunately we could not perform at that time for health and logistical reasons, among other reasons. We seek an overview of the personal and educational trajectory; next, what led to the study of China, and from what aspect; finally, some of the academic and personal opinions about Sinology in Brazil and its future. It was not necessary to answer all the questions, but if possible, to form a scenario of the personal trajectory, academic performance and vision of Sinology . We allow for less formal language, telling personal stories and expressing opinions. There was no set size for each answer, you could use as much space as you want. André Bueno Prof. adj. Eastern History UERJ/Brazil Coord. Project Orientalism Full name and birthday DANIEL BICUDO VERAS, 丹尼尔, born in São Paulo, Brazil, February 11, 1973. Family history details (including family history, spouse, and family of the spouse, siblings, and children). Like many Brazilians, I have a varied background. My father was from the Northeast region of Brazil, descending from Portuguese and indigenous peoples. My mother is from São Paulo state countryside, descending mostly from Italian. I was born and grew up in the vibrant São Paulo city, a real cultural melting pot, and that was an opportunity for me to experience cultures of different countries, as well as of different regions within Brazil. Especially the variety of foods and festivals. Being the youngest of three boys, I have always enjoyed reading, stories and imagination. My older brothers have always loved soccer and sports, while I would busy myself in drawing 台 灣 大 學 政 治 學 系 中 國 大 陸 暨 兩 岸 關 係 教 學 與 研 究 中 心 stories and imagining fantastic worlds. I will tell more on my study, later, but what I can tell for now is that I have always been driven by curiosity and thirst for knowledge. As I came of age, I discovered another passion: traveling. Making my own money allowed me to visit different cities, states and later, countries. My first trip abroad on my own, to Europe, was a milestone of personal development, both for study and for leisure. In college, I met my wife, Erika, a sweet girl who became my companion for the adventure of life. We moved in together in 1999 and got married in 2002. Together, we traveled around Latin America, Canada – and later on, China. At first, we lived in Nanjing, China, in the 2003-2004 period, to study Chinese language. Then, after a 2-year period back in Brazil, we finally headed to China again in 2006, this time to Wuhan. Little did we know that we would end up spending the next nine years in the capital of Hubei province. And, eventually our son would be born there. Samuel, or Han Sheng (汉生), born in Wuhan in May 2014, is a lively kid, very fond of his Chinese name, actually. We all came back to Brazil in 2015, when he was a little more than 6-month old, so he barely remembers anything about China. Nevertheless, whenever we have a chance, we show and teach him some of the culture. We lived in São Paulo from 2015 to 2020, and he once spent a summer vacation in a Taiwanese kindergarten school there (Santo Confúcio 华文学校). Now we live in Rio de Janeiro, and in 2021, he had a great experience in the Chinese School of Rio de Janeiro (ECI –里约中国国际学校). This is why he can speak some words in Chinese, and knows something about Chinese culture. Details of school experiences (from preschool to graduate school). China and I did not cross paths until my doctorate period. However, my admiration for this Asian country had always been there. I remember browsing encyclopedias and learning information about China at an early age. I was fascinated by the pictures of Beijing and its people, riding their bicycles up and down, and from time to time I would come across news articles about the complex political system of the country. As a child, of course, I could understand very little of it, but it triggered my curiosity. Another detail is that I was very fond of martial arts films, many of them Chinese. There were some documentaries and news videos on China, not to mention western directors paying epic tributes to China, like in Bernardo Bertolucci’s “The Last Emperor”. In addition, the accounts by Marco Polo were also an important reading for me. Food was a special point of contact as well, for as a child I ate in countless Chinese restaurants, both Taiwanese and Mainland Chinese. It was good that São Paulo would cater for this variety. In my child’s imagination, I would picture life in Chinese countryside villages, and it was a very soothing image for me. Books would transport me to different cultures and countries, so I learned a lot about different peoples through literature. At first, fairy tales from different countries, and then plays, tales and novels. Perhaps it was the beginning of my anthropological look on life, in my formative years, later to be developed in college. I come from a middle class family, which gave me the opportunity and privilege of access to good schools. My father was a lawyer and my mother is a college professor and public servant. They have always believed that education was an important investment, and my brothers and I studied in constructivist schools, which treasured the child’s autonomy, organization and independence. These schools encouraged and incentivized our creative side, investing a great deal in arts creation and a lot of writing as well. As I told you before, I developed a taste for drawing, devoting myself to creating comics, characters, stories. Another passion I developed was composition writing, for both stories and dissertations. In high school, I discovered my musical side, being the lead singer of a band. I had studied some classic piano before, but it was not really my thing and had quit. We used to play for fun, and would always choose funny tunes in our repertoire. It was more for the sake of performance and comedy, at last. I spent most of my Junior and Middle School years at the Escola Vera Cruz, and my high school at Colégio Oswald de Andrade, both private schools in the west side of São Paulo city. 台 灣 大 學 政 治 學 系 中 國 大 陸 暨 兩 岸 關 係 教 學 與 研 究 中 心 Foreign languages were an import part of my formation, as my parents gave me a lot of opportunity to study them. When I was 12 I started learning English at school, and they had a great course. Later on, I furthered my studies at Alumni Association, in São Paulo. In high school I stared learning French, which also broadened my horizons. In my high school years, I started having pen friends, which I strongly recommend for any teenager who wants to get to know more about different cultures. Back on my days, we would do it via snail mail (which is nice because I still have lots of postcards and letters from that period), but now everything is easier because of the internet. By doing this, I improved my foreign languages and got a different understanding of the world. I had pen pals from Germany, Italy, Russia, the USA, Yugoslavia, Estonia, Hungary, Norway, England – having even met one in person, and today I am still in touch with some of them. In 1998, I would take an English course at Saint Giles College, in London. More on my Chinese language studies, later. In 1992, I finally entered college. I was then entering PUC-SP, the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo, which would be my alma mater for Bachelor’s Degree, Master’s Degree and Doctorate. My parents met in this university, and my mother still works there. As a child, I would play in that building, and later on, I met my wife there. Needless to say PUC-SP is very special to me. I chose to study social sciences because I felt this major would give me a deep understanding on social and political issues. That time, Brazil was a country recovering democracy after a right-wing military dictatorship that had lasted for decades. Economy wise, there were still straight economic crises, and living in Latin America, an extremely unequal region, would develop in me a sense and an urge for social justice. And indeed, the study of social sciences would be like getting into a rich new world. The reading of classical books, as well as the debates and discussions within and outside of the classroom, were unforgettable, besides my development as a researcher. I got my first scholarship in the period, offered by my university: I then developed a study about comics and social issues. I analyzed the works by US graphic novelist Will Eisner. Lucky as I was, I had the chance to meet him in person when he visited São Paulo in 1994. As I was very fond of arts and communication, I started a second major, Advertisement, in the same university, which I did not conclude, at last. Granted with a solid formation in Sociology, Political Science and Anthropology, I graduated in social sciences in 1995. I started my Master’s Degree in Communication and Semiotics in 1996, also at PUC-SP. In one of the best Semiotics program in the world, I could then be introduced several Semiotics sub-specialties, such as Psychological Semiotics (highly influenced by Freud and Lacan), Classical Semiotics (going further on the writings of Charles Sanders Peirce), and Semiotics of Culture (studying the Russian school, the Czech Ivan Bystrina, and others). And Semiotics of Culture was the sub-specialty I chose to further my studies in, under the supervision of Dr. Norval Baitello Jr. As I was working at a medical school at the time, I chose a topic related to public health, so my thesis was about drugs and alcohol in advertisement communication. It was a fantastic experience, and I finally became a Master in Semiotics in the year 2000. In 2003, I finally joined the Doctorate in Social Sciences, and this was when China and I finally crossed paths. The beginning of the Study of China/ academic experiences 台 灣 大 學 政 治 學 系 中 國 大 陸 暨 兩 岸 關 係 教 學 與 研 究 中 心 It all started as soon as I got in the Doctorate, in 2003. Still not so sure about I was going to study, I submitted a preliminary research plan about media and war. It was the time of Afghanistan War. Nevertheless, there was flexibility to change it later. I started sitting the Ph.D. courses, which comprised research seminars, anthropological views on Brazil, among others. I had decided to invite Dr. Miguel Wady Chaia to be my advisor. He had supervised me during my Bachelor’s Degree time, helping me develop a study about mass media communication and comics. It was a great pleasure to work with Prof. Chaia again. He is a political scientist with a long record of publications and an extensive teaching career. That semester was crucial for my China story because I came across my longtime friend Marcella Cassiano. She had taken the same major as me at PUC-SP, and now she was taking her Master’s Degree in Sociology from the Shandong University, China. We started talking and I got increasingly interested in how she got an opportunity to study in China with a China Scholarship Council (CSC) scholarship. I had always been interested in China, and getting to know that there was a window of opportunity made my eyes sparkle. I kept on taking my courses, and in the meantime, Erika and I applied to a one-year scholarship to study Chinese language. We could barely imagine it would be a life-changing experience. We would start Chinese language from scratch, and in case we got the scholarship, the CSC would assign the city and the university we were going to. Life went on, and after the application deadline, we led our lives, busy with our daily affairs. Just in case, we started taking a Sunday course at Missão Católica Chinesa, in Vila Olímpia, São Paulo. It was a Chinese course taught inside a Catholic Church, which gathered many members of the Chinese community in the city. It was very challenging, first because it was our first contact with Chinese language, and secondly because in that course we had to use zhuyin fuhao. Back then, I had no idea of the existence of pinyin (which China Mainland adopts). I – and I guess I can speak for most westerners – find pinyin a lot easier. And them, around May 2003, we got the answer. We were going to spend a year studying Chinese at Nanjing University! We could hardly believe it. So, in August we were flying to China for the first time. And it turned out to be a wonderful year. Of course, there were some hardships (especially about not being able to communicate at first), but it was a year of discovery about the world- and about ourselves, too. It was a life-changing experience. Nanjing is a fantastic place, the teachers and staff of Nanjing University (南京大学) were so lovely, and we had the chance to visit wonderful places in China, such as Yangzhou, Huai’An (in which we presented a forró dance performance for a 1000-person audience), Suzhou, Wuxi, Hangzhou, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and even far away Guilin and Yangshuo. All in all, an unforgettable year. And yes, we acquired a new language. We were able to communicate in Mandarin, even if the reading was still challenging (as still is). This time in China was also a great opportunity to make friends from all over the world. It was also the beginning of our appearing on Chinese TV, something that would happen again more times (CGTN, local radio stations, China Daily, and newspeapers). Over time I tried to improve my Chinese language, taking some private classes in São Paulo, and just in the early 2010s, I would finally take my HSK Level 4. 台 灣 大 學 政 治 學 系 中 國 大 陸 暨 兩 岸 關 係 教 學 與 研 究 中 心 And then, in July 2004, we headed back to Brazil to resume our work and study affairs. Nevertheless, my mind was already flipped. I was strongly convinced that, for my Ph.D., I had to choose a topic related to China. I still did not know what I was going to write about, but I witnessed in loco the increasing importance of China in the world scenario. The Brazil-China relations were closer and closer; the bilateral trade would increase to the point that in 2009 China would become Brazil’s number one trading partner. And has been so since. Anyway, I had to study something related to China. After thorough thinking, I made a decision: studying Chinese immigration to Brazil, or the Chinese diaspora. It was important because it was on population movement, and a cultural aspect of the Brazil-China relations. I attach great importance to the cultural aspect, so I decided that. Brazil still lacks experts on China, and most of the few existing ones are focused on economy issues, because of the bilateral trade. Nonetheless, I then thought (as I still do think) that the cultural aspect is key. Brazil and China still know very little about each other, so cultural studies have been so much needed. Both countries have historical cultural links, so I was willing to explore them. I decided to study Chinese immigration to Brazil. Brazil is home of about 300,000 Chinese and descendants, half of each living in São Paulo state. A heated industrial economy had been, since the beginning of the 20th Century, a factor of attraction for this specific region. Curiously enough, the huaren and huayi are not the biggest Asian immigration group in Brazil. The Japanese are. For historical reasons, the coolie initiative fell through in Brazil, and in the early 20th Century, Japanese workforce supplied the demand for Asian labor in Brazil. Nowadays, Brazil has a Nikkei community of around 1.5 million people, making it the biggest Nikkei community in the world. In the turn of the 20th Century, the enslaved labor force was being replaced by immigrant workers. Sâo Paulo, the most industrialized state, received mostly Italian, Japanese and Portuguese groups. Other groups, such as Korean, Chinese and Arabs, among others, were minor groups. Considering that 35 million Chinese live and work around the world, most of them in Southeast Asia, North America and other parts, Brazil is a minor destination for Chinese people. Nevertheless, there is still transit between Brazil and China. One cannot, however, provide exact numbers on migrations, for a number of factors. First, there is still illegal population movements around the world. Moreover, the Chinese circulate with non-Chinese passports. Many Chinese who came to Brazil, for example, did so carrying Portuguese passports, coming from Mozambique. The Chinese community in Brazil is mostly urban, with a strong entrepreneurial trait. Chinese immigration to Brazil started more than 200 years ago, in an attempt of bringing the coolie initiative – which obviously failed here. The Qing dynasty’s discontentment on the working conditions of the early Chinese workers in Brazil was a factor for this, added to the dynasty’s own internal instabilities. The greatest part of Chinese in Brazil are from Southern China. One can identify different trends according to different periods. Until 1950, a wave of people from Guangdong. After 1950, the Taiwanese were a massive group, and from 1980 on, the Mainland Chinese resumed the prominence. Of course, we can establish connections between those dates and important historical facts of Chinese internal history. To analyze this subject I made use of the pull and push theories of immigration, developed by economist Paul Singer and historian Herbert Klein. My reflection is also based on the Marxian concept of industrial reserve army. Brazil and China still lack mutual understanding. What most people overlook is that both countries share history. Both had been connected by the Portuguese, who set themselves in their double mission: civilizational and mercantile, i.e., promoting religious conversions and trade. Few points in the American continent have had as much Chinese influence as Brazil. Since colonial times, Brazil has received Asian people, animals, plants and goods. The Portuguese connected China (including Macau), Japan, and India (including Goa) – not to mention African regions, such as Angola and Mozambique. José Roberto Teixeira Leite presents thorough research on this matter. 台 灣 大 學 政 治 學 系 中 國 大 陸 暨 兩 岸 關 係 教 學 與 研 究 中 心 Another concept that is dear to me is diaspora. Often associated with the Jewish people, this word comes from the Greek expression “dia speiro”, meaning scattering of the seeds. A very important remark is that immigration and diaspora are not interchangeable terms. Whilst immigration is mere population movement, diaspora comprises three dimensions: ● ● ● Actual physical spreading of people around the world; Creation of a mythology about motherland; Promise of return. It is only a diaspora if these tree elements are present. And it is true for many peoples, including the Chinese. When it comes to diaspora, it is important to highlight works by Stuart Hall and Adam McKeown. Abdelmalek Sayad has important thoughts on the promise of return in immigration. In my research, I performed five in-depth interviews with Chinese immigrants to Brazil. I tried to make sure different origins and backgrounds are present. For example. Interviewees from China Mainland and Taiwan, for example. There are differences in perspective, but also similarities. Overall, Chinese immigrants to Brazil see this country as a still young country, with a lot yet to build. There are of course, some generation gaps between Chinese parents and children born in Brazil .and racism is still a barrier for advancement. At the same time, Asians are considered a “model minority”, which intensifies racism against black people. Nowadays, a serious problem has been racism motivated by the Wuhan outbreak of covid-19. Another important piece of information is that the Museum of Immigration in São Paulo has a great assemble of testimonies of different migratory groups in São Paulo. I resorted to this material a lot, as well. Curiously, one of my interviewees was the neighbor of world-famous painter Chang Dai-chien, who lived in Mogi das Cruzes (São Paulo state) for nearly twenty years. As a child, he used to play with the artist’s children in this Brazilian countryside. Some other authors were important for my Doctorate, such as Edward Said, and his concept of Orientalism. As a researcher from the West, I always have to be self-aware of prejudiced bias of Western researchers on “the East”. Said alerts us of the dangers of prejudice acquiring scientific status, a constant in the history of Western perspective on Asia. On displacement of persons, it is important to highlight works by Homi Bhabha (the location of culture, life on the border) and Giorgio Agamben (migrants as people deprived of rights, and the camp as the paradigm of space – for its transitory character). My advisor, Dr. Miguel Chaia, helped me a lot in my research process. For my Ph.D. defense, in August 2008, it was great to have the Professors Henrique Altemani de Oliveira (one of the earliest Brazilian experts on China), Caterina Koltai (who has deep analysis on the condition of foreigner) Celia Sakurai and Maria do Rosário Rolfsen Sales (both experts on migrations). The contribution and constructive criticism they offered me was unparalleled. 台 灣 大 學 政 治 學 系 中 國 大 陸 暨 兩 岸 關 係 教 學 與 研 究 中 心 Previously, in 2006, I had arrived in China for the second time. All the Doctorate fieldwork was done, so it was just a matter of analyzing the materials and finish writing the dissertation. The interviews had been made, Brazilian media in Chinese language had been collected, and photographs had been taken. Then, our second and longest period in China began, this time in Wuhan. While my wife got a scholarship to get her Master’s Degree in business administration at Wuhan University of Technology (武汉理工大学), I started looking for a job – which I found, eventually. I spent a semester at Xiantao No. 2 Middle School (仙桃二中), in Hubei Province, teaching English to 12-year-old children. I would spend the weekends in Wuhan, to be with Erika. Nevertheless, this semester in the country was a unique experience for me, as I was he only foreigner in this 200,000 people city. Everybody knew me, and called me by the name I as I walked around the city. It also gave me some better understanding on the childhood of the Chinese people. The kind of school they attend, the teachers they have, the activities they engage in, the games they play, etc. And then, on the 2007 Spring Festival, I finally moved to Wuhan. I started teaching English at the Wuhan Institute of Technology (WIT – 武汉职业技术学院), a vocational college, which would form hotel administrators, flight attendants, tourism professionals, among other careers. I also taught IELTS preparation courses, for WIT had a cooperation with South Karelia University, in Finland, which demanded this certificate. It was a very rich period, in which I taught during the day, and wrote my Ph.D. thesis at night. My colleagues were teachers from the USA, Australia, Japan, and France, and we learned a lot from each other. Wuhan is a university city per excellence. Having more than 80 universities, you would also come across students from different regions, such as Africa, the Middle East, India and Pakistan. A few years later, more and more Latin American students came. That time, we used to see Brazilian students everywhere, because our country had the Science Without Borders program. Upon my Ph.D. defense, some months later I joined a great international academic cooperation. In 2009, I was hired by Hubei University (湖北大学), where I would work until 2015. Meanwhile, Erika defended her Mastership and started her Doctorate, again at Wuhan University of Technology, in management science as well. At Hubei University (Hu Da), I took part in a cooperation involving the Confucius Institute in São Paulo, the Han Ban (汉办) and the São Paulo State University (UNESP). At Hu Da, I would teach Portuguese, Brazilian Culture, Culture of Portuguese-Speaking Countries, as well as Political Communication, World History and Introduction to International Relations. I would also train Chinese volunteers (culture and language wise) before their teaching duty in Brazil. UNESP has 23 campi around São Paulo state, and many of my Chinese former students are spread around the state, working as teachers. My university also supported another Confucius Institute, which was in Memphis, Tennessee, USA. Part of my job was also selecting cadres for the Confucius Institutes in both São Paulo and Memphis. It also involved receiving international delegations at the University, and in summer and winter sessions, teaching a Brazilian group about Chinese culture from the perspective of a Brazilian, exploring the ideas of cultural shock, the dangers of Orientalism and introducing elements of Chinese philosophy. I saw this Sino-Brazilian cooperation grow important, to the point I witnessed the opening of a Center for Brazilian Studies in the campus, and soon after I left they started a Portuguese language major. The Chinese are really investing in this, having now more than 20 universities teaching this language around the country. Now I have a great relationship with Hu Da and with the Confucius Institute in São Paulo (the first in Brazil, open in 2008, and an award-winning institute for several times). Even today, years after my return to Brazil, I still have a strong bond with the Institute, having given presentations in São Paulo, like the one I gave in 2015 with Erika about Chinese business culture. 台 灣 大 學 政 治 學 系 中 國 大 陸 暨 兩 岸 關 係 教 學 與 研 究 中 心 Since the beginning of my writing about China, I have taken part in conferences in Lisbon, Portugal (6th International Sinology Forum, Instituto Português de Sinologia, Fundação Oriente, CCCM), Macau (MAPEAL, University of Macau), Shanghai (SIIS, ICSSS, Center for Chinese Studies Lu Xun Bilbao-Spain), Wuhan (Hubei University, Wuhan University of Technology), São Paulo (PUC-SP, USP, Crossings, UNIP, Confucius Institute at UNESP), Buenos Aires, Argentina (ALADAA), Rio de Janeiro (FGV, UERJ), Natal (UFRN), Recife (UFPE), Florianopolis (Univali), among others. It has been a rich experience, and my horizons have been broadened. In 2013, Hubei University offered Erika and I an opportunity to develop research about culture shock among Brazilian students in China. With this grant, we realized sessions with a focus group composed of Brazilian students, scholarship holders who had just arrived there to study there a year. They offered their honest opinion about the strangeness they had faced, and we analyzed their testimonies taking into account expectations, frustrations and fulfillments. Besides immigration, along the years, I have developed broader a range of topics to approach on China. Intercultural communication (especially business culture), legal system and international relations focusing on the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI and non-alignment), soft power, not to mention Sinophobia and racism. Besides being my partner in life, Erika has also produced texts and research with me. Erika Zoeller is not only an achieved businesswoman, but also a relevant scholar, especially when comparing the situation of women in Brazil and China. Her Mastership was about women and managerial positions in companies, whereas her Ph.D. focused on women and entrepreneurship. Together, we made a comparison between business cultures of Brazil and of China. We used theory by Geert Hofstede (the five cultural dimensions), as well as by Edward Hall (low context cultures and high context cultures). The subtleties of Chinese culture were also approached by using the analysis by François Jullien. Together, we published this study in scientific journals and presented it in universities – and even companies. There are Chinese companies in Brazil concerned about the well-being of the employees from different cultures, hence investing in training and awareness of intercultural communication. Along with Erika, from 2010 to 2018 I also delivered an annual video conference about Brazil’s economy and society at ISIALM – Institut Supérieur d’Ingénierie d’Affaires Le Mans, France. In 2020, I joined the Center for Brazil-China Studies at FGV Law School, Rio de Janeiro. Along with Prof. Evandro Menezes de Carvalho, one of the most prominent sinologists in Brazil, and Pedro Steenhagen, a Ph.D. candidate from Fudan University, we have made a great team. One of the projects held by our center is the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Created in 2013, the BRI is the Chinese policy of foreign relations. We study how this aims to integrate different regions by means of infrastructure, in the process promoting transport networks, financial integration, mechanisms of dispute resolution (this way strengthening legal apparatus and culture), and connecting peoples (attaching importance to soft power and cultural exchange) Our coordinator, Prof. Carvalho, highly values the study of Chinese legal system and political institutions, therefore granting our team with opportunity to attend his courses on the matter. A real gain for me, as I am not a lawyer. On the BRI, our Center highlights the relations between the Initiative and our region, Latin America. We strongly believe that BRI has the potential of integrating Latin America even more, and at the same time Mercosur and regional initiatives can strengthen the BRI. We see China as a global player who has the power of democratizing international arena and multilateral cooperation. This perception is backed-up by previous history of international positioning of China, strengthening the United Nations as a whole. 台 灣 大 學 政 治 學 系 中 國 大 陸 暨 兩 岸 關 係 教 學 與 研 究 中 心 In this process, studying soft power is key. A concept developed by Joseph Nye Jr., soft power involves a country’s pretention of coopting, rather than coercing partners. Culture is a means of doing that, and every major nation in the world resorts to it. For example, the USA has always done it by using Hollywood films, tourism, sports and other mechanisms. China is doing this with educational exchanges, scholarships, C-pop, films, apps such as Tik-Tok, and cultural products on streaming, such as Netflix. The Chilean diplomat Fernando Reyes Matta, also a Professor at Universidad Andrés Bello, in Santiago, highlights the importance of cultural exchange of arts. Very much influenced by Nestor Garcia-Canclini, Ambassador Reyes Matta says that exchanging cultural products is indeed important. However, more important is joining efforts and producing the so-called cultural hybrids, or co-productions. The Sino-Argentinean film “Chinese Take-Out” by Sebastián Borensztein is a good example. This is a topic I would very much like to develop further. Perhaps write more about Chinese cinema, approaching directors such as Zhang Yimou, Jia Zhangke, Jianqi Huo and others, and assess their penetration and acceptance in Brazil. And even more importantly, analyze successful experiences of cultural hybridization in the fashion of “Chinese Take-Out”. There is a lot of room for improvement on that. I met Ambassador Reyes Matta in a conference at Hubei University in 2013. Another important positioning he taught me is the “multipertencia”, or multi-belonging. As part of Latin America, our countries should be free to associate with whomever they like (the USA, China, or any other), and this association should not be seen as a renouncing to associating with other partners. We should not be forced to choose, and our choices should not be subjected to reprisals or sanctions from a discontent side. In fact, Latin American countries have now a privileged position of negotiating with different countries. Only a multipolar world, of sovereign players, can give us that. Racism against Asians is nothing new, but Sinophobia has reached new levels after the first outbreak of covid-19. This is a problem that has to be addressed, and I have made an effort to do so in my conferences. The model minority issue and disputed narratives in the Western countries just add complexity to this reality. We can gather, nevertheless, that most of displays of prejudice stem from the fact that China is bound to become the number one economy in the world within a decade. This has triggered a strong reaction, especially in the USA. Opposition to the Chinese government irradiates into an anti-Chinese people feeling. Of course, the ordinary huaren and huayi pay the price, in both capitalism center and periphery. Professional career / Involvement in debates about China, both theoretical and practical/China in Brazil / Latin America and its future prospects. I did not start working until I was 20, in 1993, when I was a sophomore at university. Before that, you would probably see me as a geek devoted student. That year I got my first paid activity, which was a scholarship to develop research. As I told you before, the topic was the works by Will Eisner, a demystifying portrait of society, under the supervision of Dr. Miguel Wady Chaia. It was a defining experience for me, as it made a researcher as such. I learned how to become one. And eventually I developed the same topic for my course completion essay, just before I graduated. This scholarship was provided by PUC-SP, my alma mater. 台 灣 大 學 政 治 學 系 中 國 大 陸 暨 兩 岸 關 係 教 學 與 研 究 中 心 As I was also considering a career in Advertising, that same year, 1993, I got an unpaid internship at an advertisement agency in São Paulo, ALMAP/BBDO. They had a variety of clients, such as Volkswagen, Unilever’s Wall’s Ice Cream, Danone, and others. For a semester, I circulated in all areas of the agency, and elaborated a final project. It would be an internal campaign for a bank association. For this work specifically, I engaged in art direction, final arts and storyboards. Perhaps this is my only experience in advertisement. In 1994, I joined a research center, the CEDEC – the Center for Studies on Contemporary Culture – São Paulo. Founded in the 1970s, this research center has developed studies in different areas, such as International Relations, Environment, Health, and Education. Their flagship project is the Lua Nova bulletin. My team was the one about health policies, coordinated by Dr. Amelia Cohn, a professor from the University of São Paulo’s medical school. We analyzed all the national health policies of the 20th Century, going through different political periods. We wrote reports (including for Ford Foundation and the Dutch NOVIB), published books and participated in seminars. I would stay at CEDEC until the year 2000. And from 1997 to 2003, for my focus on health studies, I would work for the medical school of the FMABC, as a Sociology Professor. In the period I stayed there, I taught Sociology, Anthropology and Political Science, both general and health-directed. With time, I came to be the coordinator of the discipline Collective Health, an interdisciplinary cooperation with physicians. Besides, I went further on Epidemiology, a discipline I started teaching, along with Dr. Adozinda Silveira, a doctor from Angola who eventually became a close friend. I thank FMABC for promoting this meeting. It was a rich period of research, teaching and supervising students’ monographs and articles. I even published one with my medical students about medicine ads on television. Besides teaching Medicine students, I also taught Nursing, Pharmacy and Nutrition majors. In the 2000-2001 period, I taught at Unibero – the Ibero-American College – in São Paulo. There I taught Political Science, Sociology, Writing and Communication, for the Hotel Management, International Relations and Advertising majors. I remember we performed fieldwork in the São Paulo state touristic city Campos do Jordão to assess the impact of tourism in the city. It was a rewarding experience, as I recall. In the same year, I also became an English teacher. I taught at Seven Idiomas, in São Paulo. My teaching as a whole improved a lot, as there I learned innovative educational techniques and strategies. They invested a lot in training, and it was beneficial for me. They would observe class and give constant feedback. And I found out that teaching languages would become a passion of mine. I taught there 2000-2003 (when I first went to China) and then 2004-2005 (a period upon my arrival from China and then going there again). There were periods, nevertheless, in which I was exclusively on a government scholarship for my Graduate Studies. For my Master’s Degree, I had the support of CAPES, and for Ph.D., I had the support of CNPq. Both CAPES and CNPq are agencies of the Brazilian Government, to foster and sponsor research. As I said, I lived in China in the periods 2003-2004, and 2006-2015. 台 灣 大 學 政 治 學 系 中 國 大 陸 暨 兩 岸 關 係 教 學 與 研 究 中 心 My son was born in Wuhan in 2014, with Down syndrome and some health issues, which had us decide to go back to Brazil. We did so in 2015, and upon my return to Brazil in 2015, I went to work at Santo André City Hall. Santo André is a city in São Paulo state, belonging to the São Paulo Metropolitan area. It is not very big, having a 700,000 people population. At the City Hall, I belonged to the DISE – Social and Economic Indexes Division – and our team produced important reports in order to help the Mayor make advised decisions. Aided by data production, we developed studies on Women, Youth, and the Wealthy. For each topic, a thorough report containing data, social analysis and suggestions. All reports are public goods, and in addition to the print versions, we distributed among governments, libraries and NGOs, and even today, they are available online for the public. I worked there until the end of 2016. On the following years, I worked at Cultura Inglesa, one of Brazil’s most traditional English language schools in Brazil. This is a school with support of the British Government and the British Council. I went back to English teaching, and again, I had the chance to recycle my teaching techniques. Cultura Inglesa has the state-of-the-art technology, so I incorporated many new technologies in my teaching. It was a chance to come back to teaching young learners, so it allowed me to experience new things and expand my versatility. Suddenly I saw myself teaching classics of literature, such as Moby Dick or Frankenstein – and that was really rewarding. They held culture festivals, theater plays, lectures and even George Ezra and Lilly Allen concerts. I stayed at Cultura Inglesa until the end of 2019, after which I changed jobs for a family situation. Our family change was due to our moving to Rio de Janeiro. As I have told you previously, in 2020 I joined the Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV) Law School, in Rio. It was a big move after five years in São Paulo. At FGV, I joined the Center for Brazil-China Studies, coordinated by Professor Evandro Menezes de Carvalho. There I have learned a lot. Not only because I have got to know more about law, but also because I could go further on comparing legal cultures of Brazil and China. I have learned about rule of law in China, legal culture of the country, as well its complex and particular political system. In Brazilian academia, few scholars know about this system in depth. The more you know, the more you avoid simplistic explanations about Chinese political culture. Modern China surely inherits a traditional way of doing politics, and there are channels of participation. The Chinese government does deliver what it promises. They set goals - and they meet them. Besides, we have done research and online seminars on the BRI, and the opportunities it might bring to Brazil and Latin America as a whole. We also have research meetings to discuss texts about China and discuss with the authors – a very rich experience, indeed. FGV is a traditional think tank (founded in 1944) and is internationally acclaimed, having ranked third in the world according to the Global Go To Think Tank Index Report evaluation in 2021. Another important feature of FGV is that it highly values the national interests and characteristics of Brazil when studying China. I say this because in Brazil we need to improve a national and autonomous perspective on China urgently. Our views just cannot be the same as Europe’s or the USA’s, because we stand on a very different point from them. I still feel that science produced in these Western regions filters our perceptions. On the other hand, Brazil and China share more than they think, and can exchange a lot directly, and can strongly understand each other. The future possibilities are endless, as long as we maintain autonomy and sovereignty. Professional societies, associations, research team and so on. 台 灣 大 學 政 治 學 系 中 國 大 陸 暨 兩 岸 關 係 教 學 與 研 究 中 心 During my Mastership studies, I was part of the CISC – Interdisciplinary Center for Semiotics of Culture, at PUC-SP, my alma mater. Having majored in social sciences, I immediately identified myself with Semiotics of Culture as a sub-division of Semiotics. For me, Semiotics of Culture shared a lot with Anthropology. I was part of this Center from 1996 to 2000, when I defended my thesis. By that time, I was teaching at the Medical School of Fundação ABC (FMABC), and being there drew my attention to drugs as a social issue, being hence determining for the choice of my topic. Upon my entering the Doctorate in Social Sciences in 2003, I immediately joined the NEAMP – Center for Arts, Media and Politics Studies, also belonging to PUC-SP, where I would stay until I defended my dissertation, in 2008. My advisor, Dr. Miguel Chaia, has a long record in research on Arts, Media and Politics, having devoted a long time in studying ancient philosophy, works by Shakespeare, cinema and even journalism. It really helped me observe the symbolic dimensions of migratory process, which I was studying. That time I also joined the NEPUR, also at PUC-SP. It is the Center for Urban Studies and Research. I have contributed there since, having delivered presentations there. More recently, in 2015, Erika and I delivered a seminar at the IEA – Institute for Advanced Studies – at USP, the University of São Paulo. It was a general exposition about Chinese culture, business and way of thinking. The presentation is available online and we figure as contributors of the Institute. Later that year, we also presented our research comparing business cultures in Brazil and China for the Crossings Seminar, also at USP. In 2018, there was the creation of the RBChina, a network to connect all Brazilian scholars who study China. It was the first initiative of the kind in the country, connecting Brazilians of different areas, universities and levels of seniority. I was glad to be in the foundation of the entity, in 2018 at PUC Minas, where I gave a presentation on Chinese culture. For the time being, it is not a formal entity, but I do my best to be an active member. In 2021, I mediated a debate and interviewed a Chinese professor at the 4th RBChina Meeting. It was a pleasure to finally have a joint project with Dr. Marcella Cassiano for the first time. At the RBChina, my colleagues and I exchange lots of information, publications, events and news. And, of course, there are specific projects of cooperation, which do not necessarily imply formal membership or adhesion, although they can be a possibility, eventually. For example, although I am not a formal member, I have participated in an ALADAA Conference, and we are always in touch to exchange, ideas and publishing. ALADAA stands for Latin American Association for Asian and African Studies. In a similar fashion, I have cooperated with MAPEAL – the Macau Association for the Promotion of Exchange between Asia-Pacific and Latin America – having also participated in events ate the University of Macau. There, by the way, I met professors from the Tamkang University, NTU and other Taiwanese universities. Likewise, I have contacts at the Red ALC-China – Red Académica de América Latina y el Caribe sobre China, and 台 灣 大 學 政 治 學 系 中 國 大 陸 暨 兩 岸 關 係 教 學 與 研 究 中 心 receive bulletins by the CECHIMEX – the Center for China Mexico Studies at the UNAM – Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Other examples of punctual cooperation projects with the University or members are the Lu Xun Center for Chinese Studies in Bilbao, Spain; the UCC – the Catholic University of Cordoba, Argentina; the UNLA – National University of Lanús, Argentina; UNAB – Andrés Bello University, Chile; and the Autonomous University of Madrid (UAM), Spain. I have published an article at UAM’s journal called REDIAO. In Portugal, I have participated in events at CCCM – Macau Scientific and Cultural Center; the Portuguese Institute of Sinology and the Orient Foundation. More recently, as I moved to Rio de Janeiro, I am getting to know more about the Confucius Institute here, at the UFF (Federal Fluminense University), linked to the Hebei Normal University. Also in Rio, I was glad to meet Prof. André Bueno in 2020 at the UERJ - the Rio de Janeiro State University. Prof. Bueno is not only a prominent Sinologist and historian, but also a great contributor for the knowledge about China in Brazil. We have engaged in projects together, and the launching of the book Studies on Chinese Migrations: Brazil, China and Mozambique, in 2021, is great reason to pride, not only for the high level of the authors we gathered for the project, but also because it is the first Brazilian book on Chinese immigration. Prof. Bueno and I were the organizers of the book. We also had the chance to collaborate in a podcast for the Estado de São Paulo newspaper, retelling the history of the Silk Road, and in August 2021, he invited me to present one of the Seminars on Asian studies at UERJ. We also participated at a seminar at UFPE – the Pernambuco Federal University. In these seminars, I could present something about my research on Chinese immigration to Brazil. It is a happy partnership, and I strongly believe it has a lot of room for growth. Talking about seminars, since 2021 I have participated in quite a few. Besides those abovementioned, there was one about Sinophobia, or prejudice against Chinese people and Asians in general after the spread of covid-19. It was promoted by Univali (University of the Itajaí Valley, Brazil). More recently, in February 2022, I gave a presentation about Chinese foreign policy, involving the present Geopolitics and the BRI, promoted by UFRN – the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte. Now I am about to intensify relations with PUC Minas, as they are launching the first specialization on Chinese graduate studies, and the prospects are very good. Furthermore, over the past years I have been part of several defense board committees (both for final defense and qualification, both Mastership and Doctorate) of students of UNICAMP (the State University of Campinas) and USP (the University of São Paulo). Events or experiences that affect research in China nationally and individually. Evaluation of the academic establishment and scholarship of China. Many are the factors that affect research on China, and they are international, at a country-level and individual. At the international level, the world has been stricken by a severe pandemic crisis. Besides the human tragedy and deaths, the economy has plunged in retraction. Unemployment, starvation, impoverishment have all soared. Covid-19 reality restricted the lives of everyone in some many levels, so we had to readapt. We can barely travel, but now distances have been overcome with technology. This process speeds up now, and China has been an important game changer in it. Cloud diplomacy and Health Silk Road (with selling and donation of health equipment, vaccines and medical conferences) are now boosted by the BRI. In this context, all of our research has to be online, from afar. This has been a limitation, but technology is helping and making it all agile. 台 灣 大 學 政 治 學 系 中 國 大 陸 暨 兩 岸 關 係 教 學 與 研 究 中 心 China is the world’s number 2 economy, and is bound to become number one in some years. This has triggered strong reaction, especially from the Western countries, who now see their hegemony crumble. The unipolar world seems to be ending, giving rise to a multipolar new order. In this context, Sinophobia now takes place. If you observe Western news vehicles or even academia, the Chinese government and Chinese institutions are from start discredited. Their accomplishments, minimized. It seems now that China has to fit in Western standards, or Western concepts, such as the abstract ideas of “democracy”. The West, however, has never understood China in its specificity, and now, still, does not make an effort to do so. China is criticized for not fitting in the Western model, at the same time that the West just overlooks how China tackles its internal problems. We have to look at Chinese political culture, how the government sets goals – and meet them. Chinese institutions do deliver, hence the massive approval from the people. China is a country with very long time horizon, a trait few foreigners are willing to understand. In the process, fake news hatred and misinformation mushroom everywhere. This way, a hostile environment is created for those who want to do honest, independent and critical research. Another consequence is the wave of violence and mistreatment faced by the huaqiao all over the world. China, a country that in the middle of the 20th century beat imperialism, humiliations and unjust treatment, is now thriving and dealing with fast social transformations. As a university professor, I can tell it is a lively and prosperous environment to work in. At the same time, it is a traditional country, with a culture of face (面子) and reputation. This requires us to be more subtle when offering our criticism, but there is no harm to intellectual activity. Actually, after a while you come to realize that the Chinese are very perceptive and sensitive towards subtle meanings. Besides, you soon realize that Chinese do display their discontentment all the time. They are a very combative people, and at times more direct than we tend to assume they are. About the scholarships policy, it is evident that China has invested in relationships with emerging countries, especially those allied to China, such as Pakistan and several African countries. Curiously enough, there are many self-paying students from countries like India, who do not get any scholarships, but are there for the quality of the education, and value for money (higher education in China is quite affordable). Now, with the BRI and the People-to-People connection, I am sure China will invest more in soft power, artistic and cultural ties. Education will keep on playing a significant role in the process, involving scholarships and the Confucius Institutes. As for Brazil, we now live a very delicate moment. The present government is not only reckless about the pandemic, which just in Brazil has claimed more than 600,000 lives. It has also a very poor administration of our economy and social issues, making the consequences of pandemic crisis even worse. Unemployment, starvation were already growing trends even before the pandemic, starting back in 2017, 2018… but now they have soared. It is clear that this government do not value science. It is visible in the way scientists have been treated in the pandemic, and even more seriously, in the money shortage offered to any initiative or institution scientific, educational, artistic or cultural. One cannot develop research properly as there are no scholarships. Also, lots of fake news and hostilities for those who are too scholarly or who do not take the position they consider correct. Therefore, Brazil now is a dire environment for researchers. 台 灣 大 學 政 治 學 系 中 國 大 陸 暨 兩 岸 關 係 教 學 與 研 究 中 心 At an individual level, I now do my research and give my presentations via internet. And by doing so, I have worldwide reach, which is fantastic. Nevertheless, I still miss traveling, I miss visiting China. The country changes so fast that I am sure it is very different from 2017 China, the last time I visited. Having all the above mentioned in consideration, I can only hope for a better government in Brazil next year, and for the end of the pandemic any time soon. The development and evolution of the curriculum itself in China. In China, I started my teaching as a language instructor. First, English, and then Portuguese teacher. In my language classes, I tried to combine the best of different methods (audio-lingual elements, communicative approach, also having elements of Vygotsky, constructivism and inductive learning). Anyway, what I always have tried to do is offer the students a chance to build language actively. In the process, have the students think in the language, the same way I learned different languages myself. In fact, this baggage in language teaching has helped me create an active environment for learning for virtually any teaching topic, in any subject I came across. At Hubei University, I started teaching other disciplines, such as Brazilian Culture and Culture of Lusophone Countries, which I could create more freely, based on my background and experience as a Brazilian. Some other courses, such as World History, International Studies, Introduction to International Relations and Political Communication, had specific coursebooks to follow, something typical of USA universities, actually. In Brazil, on the other hand, the professor is the one to select bibliography, often composed by a variety of readings. Nevertheless, following a coursebook does not mean you cannot make adaptations. And, of course, I made changes whenever I thought they were necessary. Teaching methodology to encourage discussions and presentations, as well as the writing of a deep essay, were practices I sought to adopt. Over time, I started teaching summer courses at CUSSA – China University Summer Schools Association. My students are Chinese who are taking their undergraduate studies in the USA. Sometimes, there were some others studying in Canada and New Zealand as well. Just some examples of the alma maters of my students in the US: University of Syracuse, University of Missouri, University of Illinois, North Carolina State University, UC Riverside, university of Washington, University of Colorado Boulder, among others. The credits I teach in the summer are at last eliminated from the total of regular courses they have to take in order to graduate. The courses I have taught are Sociology, Philosophy, Consumer Behavior and History of Modern Asia. These courses have textbooks as well, and of course, I constantly add changes. These courses have been the opportunity for me to visit China once a year. Nevertheless, with the pandemic all the activities have gone online. Indeed, I am looking forward to resuming activities in an actual classroom. Reflections on textbooks or pedagogical materials about China. Reflections on the methodology of China studies. 台 灣 大 學 政 治 學 系 中 國 大 陸 暨 兩 岸 關 係 教 學 與 研 究 中 心 I believe Latin American professors like me are very autonomous when writing the syllabus of a new course. When you see a syllabus by one of us, you are going to see an endless list of texts students are supposed to read. This is because we try to include our life experience in our work, I suppose. In the American fashion, though, you only use a coursebook, and further readings are more like suggestions for the students. In this regard, Chinese universities are strongly influenced by this US model. And most of the books I have seen are actually American, talking about the USA reality, filled with American cultural internal references and even jokes. It is past time China used more Chinese materials, or at least used materials from different countries. I think USA materials have a lot to offer, indeed, but diversification is key, and a Chinese perspective is much needed in academia, especially nowadays. Let me be clear that here I am talking about my experience, the subjects I have taught or that my acquaintances have studied. I know that, depending on the field, they provide many Chinese materials. But still, American materials are in excess, if compared to others. I know that there are editorial and market factors to explain this, though. On methodology, the Eastern and Western ones differ greatly. Chinese classrooms tend to have a lot more students than the West’s, so it is a challenge to create an opportunity-offering environment, especially in a language course or a humanities class (in which discussion is paramount). From what I have seen, the Chinese method is very deductive, and at times top-down, with a lot of memorization. In the West, in turn, our challenge is to create an inductive construction of knowledge. What I can say is that I tried the methods I know, and I had the feedback they worked. Besides, my students told me that the kind of method I used was completely new for them, so I believe Chinese education still sticks to traditional methods. Like anything in China, though, education is in fast transformation. The origin and quality of students in China over time. Of course, it all depends on the institution I am working at. When I taught in Xiantao, Hubei Province, those were the children of that rural area. I am not so sure about their parents’ occupation, but I remember agriculture is strong in that province. Tobacco and rapeseed are some of the province’s main products, and the landscape reflects that. The children were lively, playful and humorous, although I sometimes felt that my Chinese colleagues were very strict with them. Maybe at this point I did not feel so much difference between the Chinese children and the children of my country, in terms of behavior. Then I moved to Wuhan, and the story changed. First, I worked at vocational institute, and later, at a provincial university. In both cases, it seemed to me that access to study was very democratic. In the same class, the children of farmers, factory workers, professors, physicians, lawyers, nurses, public servants and business people all learned together. Brazil in the 2000s and first half of the 2010s used to be a little bit like this, because we had a period of wide democratization of education. Nonetheless, there were more outstanding differences. For example, the Chinese students were far more respectful and disciplined than the students from any Western country, I dare say. 台 灣 大 學 政 治 學 系 中 國 大 陸 暨 兩 岸 關 係 教 學 與 研 究 中 心 In Brazil, most of university students go to school in the evening because they work during the day. On average, they are also older than Chinese students. When I told of this Brazilian reality to my Chinese students, they could hardly believe it, for their families usually support them in that period. And there is a clear division: students are supposed to study, and workers are supposed to work. While in their high school years, the Chinese students are under a lot of pressure because of the gaokao, and choosing a career. When they reach university, I believe they are a lot more laid back. They sleep more, play many online games, and start dating. Some affiliate to the Communist Party, which can keep them busy as well. Face and reputation are strong in Chinese culture, so the senior students are expected to find a job as soon as they graduate. Dealing with failure is a delicate matter, so around May the whole society must be alert about suicides of senior university students. At CUSSA, I teach Chinese students graduating from a USA university. Of course, the profile is quite different, because the students come from an upper class, who can afford a life in American dollars. Besides, those students are now changing their mindset; they are perhaps between two different cultures. Some of them incorporate features of the way of being of USA students, at the same time they keep Chinese. Interestingly, some are very critical of both cultures. At the same time, we know that after Trump administration, the US became more hostile to Asians, and although Chinese students make American higher education economically viable, after the election of Trump, figures have declined dramatically. The distribution of supervised dissertation subjects over time. I only did that at undergraduate level. At Hubei University, I remember supervising more dissertations in the courses Brazilian Culture and Culture of the Lusophone Countries. Overall, the students did thorough research, although sometimes, unfortunately, I came across plagiarism and adoption of questionable sources. In the end, however, I gave these specific students another opportunity, and they could fix the situation, although they lost marks. I left the students free to choose the topic they would like to write about and had meetings with them. In the case of Brazilian Culture, there were interesting papers about Brazilian mass media, and others about social inequality in Brazil. As for Culture of Lusophone Countries, the students could pick one of the eight countries and a region in the world that speaks Portuguese, and give a panorama of that culture and society. These processes were topped with a presentation to the classmates, and this engaged real interest in them. Of course, undergraduate studies have other forms of assessment as well, such as class participation and tests. Back in Brazil, I have participated in defense board committees at USP, UNICAMP and FGV, for both undergraduate and graduate level (Mastership and Doctorate). Also, appraisals for theses and dissertations for publishing at Federal University of Minas Gerais. The areas range from social sciences, law and Chinese language to history. Curiously, some of the (Master’s and Ph.D.) candidates are Chinese, furthering their studies in Brazil. In those cases, I strongly encourage them to be bolder, as I feel they are sometimes too self-conscious or afraid of criticizing or having somebody lose face. Academia is the arena for free discussion, and the students must feel safe to tell their minds or offer criticism. I have also participated in a defense of a Russian student, once. I would love to be a supervisor of a Mastership or Doctorate student someday, but I still have not had the chance, for I have never been a professor of a lato sensu Graduate program. The source of research funding over time. 台 灣 大 學 政 治 學 系 中 國 大 陸 暨 兩 岸 關 係 教 學 與 研 究 中 心 As previously said, I graduated from Brazilian institutions, so I could count on sponsorship from the Brazilian Government. The main financing agencies are CAPES and CNPq. My wife, on the other hand, was financed by the CSC – China Scholarship Council, both in her Master’s and Ph.D. realized in China. In both cases, everything went smoothly. Just clarifying , I was only sponsored by CSC when I was a language student in Nanjing. Involvement in policies, consultations or risk analysis in the public and private sectors. I have never taken part in such specific activities. Apart from being sponsored by the Brazilian Government during my Mastership and Doctorate, or by the CSC for my language course, my only experience in the government was at Santo André City Hall, in São Paulo state. Although my main activity there was research, from time to time I helped the mayor when he was negotiating with a Chinese city to make it a sister city, but negotiations did not advance, after all. In the private sector, I have provided intercultural training at CTG – China Three Gorges – office in São Paulo, in order to minimize intercultural shocks in the management. Those were both fantastic experiences. Involvement in transnational research projects on China. Relations with academics, professionals, government and other connections from China. Working t at FGV, we have access to international institutions. We have a long-term partnership with the ACCWS, the CECLA, and constant contacts with the Fudan University. Our project Belt and Road –Brazil (BR & Br) has taken us far in this sense, also with punctual cooperation projects with the UNLA, UNAB, UCC, UNAM and Red China ALC. For the time being, everything is online, but we hope to be able to consolidate these relations face-to-face, as it used to be before the pandemic. Of course, at a personal level, I keep in touch with the Confucius Institute and the Hubei University, my former employer. We sometimes cooperate for presentations, publications and training courses. Reflections on the influence of the church institutionally and academically in the studies of China. I grew up as a Catholic, and studied at a Pontifical Catholic University, the PUC-SP. What I can tell is that this institution has always given me freedom and the means to grow as a researcher. It is an open-minded environment, and at the same time, you have access to a solid intellectual formation in science, arts and humanities. Critical thinking and active political participation are another plus. Therefore, from this personal point-of-view of mine, the church actually fosters high quality knowledge and freethinking about China. And I believe alumni from other Catholic universities tend to have a similar take on this. Moreover, let us not forget that my first contact with Chinese language was at a Catholic church in São Paulo, the Missão Católica Chinesa, an important meeting point of Chinese community in São Paulo, either religious or not. It is interesting how the church created a safe environment for the community to get together, not requiring baptism or any adhering to Christianity. Some members were Catholic, while some others were not. Frequency of trips to China and recollection of trips to China. 台 灣 大 學 政 治 學 系 中 國 大 陸 暨 兩 岸 關 係 教 學 與 研 究 中 心 I lived in China in the periods 2003-2004 and 2006-2015. Besides, for the CUSSA courses, I visited China in 2016 and 2017 (and after that, I have taught Chinese students online). The year of 2017 has been, therefore, the last year of actual visit. It has been nearly five years, so I miss China a lot. Of course, countless are the memories I have about China. What they have in common is the pleasure of discovery and the constant effort to understand a new country. When I am successful, of course, it gives me a lot of joy. New landscapes, urban and rural. I will never forget the beautiful scenery of Guangxi Province, the puzzling Shanghai, and imperial Beijing. Also, the Portuguese influence in Macau and the skyline in Hong Kong. As for Nanjing and Wuhan, of course I will always remember everyday life, the people, and university life. After a while, in spite of strangeness anecdotes, the strange becomes familiar and I can tell China has become an important part of myself. Back home, I sometimes become a different person, for we can incorporate ways of seeing things and behaving. Nevertheless, since I became a visitor to the country, what has drawn my attention is social change. For example, when I left China, people used paper money, or yuan notes. Just a year later, as a visitor, I saw nobody using it, just WeChat money. This is just an example of how the pace of change is vertiginous. The cities change as well, as old constructions often give place to new ones. After a couple of years, you cannot recognize the city anymore. The relationship with the government. Besides the abovementioned relations with government institutions, in Brazil I have had brief cooperation projects with the Chinese Consulates, both in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. Our Center at FGV promotes partnerships and close contact. I am also in touch with the ILAS-CASS, the Institute for Latin American Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social l Sciences. In my first year in China, I had a scholarship from the China Scholarship Council. When living in Wuhan, the local governments (Wuhan City Hall and Hubei Provincial Government) had great relationship with us foreigners. We were often invited to cultural events, meetings of the Communist Party, and they frequently consulted us in order to know what should be improved for the better serving of foreigners there. Publications I have 34 publications in my name, among journal articles, conference proceedings, book chapters, interviews and newsletters. Out of 34 titles, 24 are about China, so almost everything I published after 2004 is about China. As you can see, living in China was an impacting and life-changing experience. The book Prof. André Bueno and I launched in 2021, entitled Studies on Chinese Migrations: Brazil, China and Mozambique and edited by UERJ, makes me very proud. It is my first book as an organizer, and also the first book in Brazil totally devoted to Chinese immigration to Brazil. Hence, my pride. I am looking forward to publishing more and more. Evaluation of Chinese pedagogy in Brazil/Latin America and its future prospects. 台 灣 大 學 政 治 學 系 中 國 大 陸 暨 兩 岸 關 係 教 學 與 研 究 中 心 The author Malcom Gladwell, in his book Outliers, highlights some differences between East Asian and Western ways of thinking. While the former tend to work and study without rest, the latter really treasure their pauses and breaks. Gladwell goes back to the 17th century, in which rice paddies Chinese workers just could not afford weekly rest, because rice culture does not allow it. On the other hand, at the same period, in Europe the culture of wheat demanded rest of the land for a season – so the breaks were necessary. This, along with the Judeo-Christian belief that one needs a weekly pause, shaped the way westerners alternate work and rest. When Chinese companies go abroad, there are a number of cultural clashes. The same sometimes happens when the Chinese export their educational system. Diasporic families tend to develop generation gaps: the huayi children confront the parents about the strict education and lifestyle, when compared to the laid-back life their Brazilian friends lead. Adjustments must be done, and at times intercultural trainings are necessary. I have already given training courses in Chinese companies coming to Brazil for that reason. Another topic we approach in those courses is face (mianzi) and levels of assertiveness. While Western communication tends to be more direct and assertive, Eastern communication tends to be more indirect and hierarchy-conscious. In Eastern companies, it often leads to miscommunication and failure of processes, as employees dare not say that their supervisors are wrong. In the classroom, the teacher-student communication in Asia is far more vertical than in the Western schools. I should say that the Confucius Institutes in Brazilian universities have adapted well to the Brazilian system. In order to learn better, a Latino student must add a component of pleasure into education, and this initiative has considered this. Now there are more and more initiatives, such as the one of Chinese School of Rio de Janeiro, in which they combine a Montessori approach and the state of the art of Chinese technology. In São Paulo, as there are traditional immigrant communities, you can find little neighborhood Chinese schools, like the Taiwanese one I previously mentioned. Those are for the Chinese community, and as some sort of enclave spaces, they do not have to cater to the mainstream Brazilian culture. In fact, these schools can give you a very faithful like-in-China experience. Evaluation of Chinese pedagogy in Brazil/Latin America and its future prospects. Of course, there are cross-strait differences, and I am looking forward to learning more about Taiwanese academic production. In Taiwan, I believe traditions are very well preserved, at the same time it is such a modern place. In São Paulo, I have met Taiwanese people, have eaten Taiwanese food and seen a Taiwanese kindergarten. In Macau, I had the chance to meet some Taiwanese professors, and their talks were really interesting. In addition, Hong Kong and Macau have other academic specificities in terms of universities, and the dialogues and exchanges are always beneficial. 台 灣 大 學 政 治 學 系 中 國 大 陸 暨 兩 岸 關 係 教 學 與 研 究 中 心 Mainland China, in turn, is a gigantic educational market and internally the universities compete. Provinces compete with each other in so many levels, and education is one of them. There are national projects, such as Made in China 2025, which has been driving innovation. The Project 211 has gathered the most innovative universities in China, and injected a lot of money for research among members. There was also the 985 Project. Although these projects have been reformulated, university names are still brand names, giving their students growing prestige and facilitating network. As for the second-tier universities, they struggle to keep in the game, but I believe there is room for everyone in this huge market. Visions of China's future. China will have a bright future because it is paving the way to it. Actually, it has already accomplished a lot. Let us not forget that in 1949 there was an important liberation war, putting a stop to a century of imperialistic humiliations. Moreover, over the last 40 years, China rescued 800 million people from poverty. This is unheard of in humankind history. At present, the covid crisis has clearly shown which countries care about their people and which ones do not. China managed to keep control of transmission and treatment, aided by testing, vaccines and equipment – anyway, by science. Besides, the pandemic allowed us to see which countries value international cooperation and multilateralism – and China is one of them, always strengthening the United Nations and the World Health Organization. China makes the international environment more democratic; for it does not try to become a hegemonic or colonial power. It never has. With the BRI, China embraces globalization, but on its own terms. Policy coordination, infrastructure integration, financial integration, development of a solid legal system and people-to-people ties contribute for world peace, economic bonds, and gains for everyone. They not only heat China’s economy, but also those of the partners’, this way making a win-win situation. Of course, there are countless challenges, such as urbanization transition, energetic transition, aging of the population, inclusion of minorities, health system, pension system, domestic inequality and a defamatory campaign against China perpetrated by the West. China will soon become the world’s number one economy, so the West offers strong reaction, in the process trying to fit China into the liberal boxes. China puzzles the West because it will never fit in Western models, and it is time the world dealt with it. Internally, China is doing its homework in order to solve the problems. Solid investments in research and development will lead to success, and for me the most patent case is green economy and green development. This seems to be the only area China and the West agree upon, so there is room for a lot of cooperation. Environmental concerns could be a starting point to bring together East and West. And, at last, I would like to say that wars and instability definitely compromise China’s rise, so you will always see China advocating for peace, as well.