By Virgilio Adrian
President of Club Primera Plana A.C., Mexico
The presence of Club Primera Plana and its president at the Journalists’ Forum was highly beneficial in continuing the Mexico–China journalistic relations that span over four decades. On this occasion, lasting six days, the schedule was intense: travel by road, high-speed rail, and flights, visiting up to four different companies in a single day, each day starting at 08:00 and ending at 18:00. But it was rewarding to engage with journalists from different nationalities and learn about the challenges they face in their respective countries.
However, we consider our participation as Club Primera Plana to have been very positive, since we were selected, together with the president of Belarus, to be part of the PRESIDIUM for the second edition. This appointment clearly obligates us, both personally and as Club Primera Plana, to continue developing proposals that benefit and protect journalists, closely aligned with ACJA. The importance of the forum lies in sealing relations between China and Latin America. It is because of these communication platforms, journalists from different nations are confirmed, and new ones, also accumulating important experiences in defending journalists in diverse forms of truthful reporting, are born.
Relations between Mexico and China are very ancient, beginning with the Manila Galleon route, which connected Asia, the Philippines – China, with America (specifically Mexico or New Spain), sailing from 1565 to 1815 and arriving at the port of Villa de la Concepción (present-day Acapulco), marking the beginning of integral trade. After months at sea, the galleon brought spices like cinnamon and pepper, porcelain items, silk fabrics, velvets, knives, white wax, among others, to Mexico. From Mexico came primarily silver from the mines of Zacatecas. Today, China is Mexico’s second-largest trade partner.
The Chinese Clock, located at the intersection of Bucareli and Atenas streets in the Juárez neighborhood, was installed in the Fuente de la Libertad as a gift from Puyi, the last Chinese emperor, in 1910 to commemorate Mexico’s centenary of independence. Regarding alleged connections between China’s ethnicities and the Mayas of Mexico, some researchers say they exhibit certain similarities.
It is also appropriate to mention that Mexico–China relations continue to deepen and date back to 1899, when they signed a Treaty of Friendship, Commerce, and Navigation. China’s entry into the United Nations in 1971 was proposed by Mexico. As a gesture of friendship, China gifted Mexico a panda, which arrived in September 1975.
Speaking of China means looking back over millennia or centuries. With grand vision, it connected with other cultures via the Silk Road. Today, studies confirm that China has become one of the nations that have accelerated economic growth. Ranking among the world’s top economies if measured by GDP—without diminishing its purchasing power—and as a manufacturing nation with openness, it is one of the largest exporters of industrial goods, fortunately without seeking trade wars.
*The views and opinions expressed in the articles are solely those of the individual authors and do not reflect the position of the Secretariat of the Belt and Road Journalist Network.