Qianjiang Evening News Hourly News Correspondent Chen Ye
On the morning of March 29, the "Untold Story of the Panama Canal - Erased History" Book Sharing Session" was held in the form of an online conference. To celebrate the fifth anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Pakistan, the reading club was jointly sponsored by the Chinese Embassy in Panama, the Panamanian Embassy in China and the Chang'an Avenue Reading Club, and hosted by the Guangdong People's Publishing House.
Marisa Lasso, a Panamanian historian and author of The Erased History, is a professor of history at Columbia National University and a fellow at the Hutchins Center for African and African American Studies at Harvard University. Through video conferencing, she has an online dialogue with scholars in the field of Latin American studies in China, discussing forgotten and erased historical writing outside the mainstream Western discourse system.
Envoy Wei Qiangli, Chinese Ambassador to Panama, made an opening speech and spoke highly of the pioneering historical research value of Lasso's works and their great significance for deepening the people-to-people ties between China and Pakistan. Out of the similar historical experience of being bullied by foreign powers in recent times, the people of Chinese have always expressed deep sympathy and firm support for the Panamanian people's efforts to pursue national independence and defend national dignity, and have vigorously supported Pakistan's heroic struggle to reclaim sovereignty over the canal, and today sincerely develop relations with Pakistan in accordance with the principles of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit. Under the guidance of this principle, cooperation in various fields has developed smoothly and people-to-people friendship has deepened since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Pakistan in the past five years, and it is hoped that the academic circles of the two sides will continue to strengthen exchanges, learn from each other, and jointly promote cooperation.
Xiao Fenghua, member of the Party Committee and deputy general manager of Southern Media and president of Guangdong People's Publishing House, delivered a speech. He said that this is a unique new book sharing meeting, which is a cordial exchange between the two countries across thousands of miles. Dr. Lasso's book describes a strange and familiar story for Chinese readers, showing chinese readers how similar the fates of human beings are even on the other side of the ocean!
At the meeting, Marissa Lasso had an academic exchange with Hu Xilin, the translator of the Chinese Simplified edition of "Erased History", and Chinese scholars.
Raso first introduced her writings and research experience to Chinese readers, recalling the story of the changes in the Panama Canal Zone told by her father, showing the rich and excellent historical and cultural landscape of Panama, and how the United States changed the landscape of the Canal Zone in order to control the Panama Canal, relocated hundreds of thousands of residents, and completely erased the history of the region.
The translator Hu Xilin paid tribute to the author, who believes that the author has made painstaking efforts to create this book, not only consulting a large number of laws and regulations, a large number of letters retained by the parties, but also in-depth investigation of litigation testimony, local history and archival records, which is an excellent work that opens the reader's eyes.
Screenshot of the video conference
Wang Peng, secretary general of the Center for Central American and Caribbean Studies at the Institute of Latin American Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, analyzed the historical similarities between China and Pakistan, and believed that the book presented a clear Panamanian perspective on the modernization process.
Associate Professor Cui Zhongzhou of the Center for Latin American Studies of Southwest University of Science and Technology evaluated the work from a historical point of view, pointing out that the current historical research on the Panama region is still very scarce, and Dr. Lasso's rich information and works that are different from the Western orthodox view of history have important academic significance and positive publication value. The history of the book presents readers with a typical case of "Western narrative", unveiling the veil obscured by Westernism and forcing people to face the real history.
Writer Wei Zhou said that this book allows the world to re-examine the history of Panama, and through the excavation of the historical practice of Panama's modernization, it shows more possibilities for achieving modernization, and China and Pakistan have many similarities in this regard, and modernization depends on the initiative of their own people to absorb, transform and adopt, rather than accepting the experience of other countries in their entirety.
Gan Lin, embassy of Panama in China, made a concluding speech at the meeting, saying that the first batch of Chinese immigrants in Panama came from Guangdong Province, and the Panamanian people are still proud of the Guangdong people's participation in panama's development and construction.
Gan Lin believes that everyone has the right to understand history, and even if it is denied by hegemonism, they still have the right to understand history. The Book of Erased History, which shows the great price paid by the Panamanian people for development and progress, is a work that critically understands the history of Panama. In conclusion, he said that academic and cultural exchanges are an important pillar for maintaining bilateral relations, and firmly believes that the solid relationship between the two countries must be deeply rooted in mutual understanding, and the new book sharing meeting opened the curtain for the celebration of the fifth anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Pakistan, and injected new vitality into the friendly development of the two countries by enhancing the understanding of the history and culture of the two countries.
This article is the original work of Qianjiang Evening News, without permission, it is forbidden to reprint, copy, excerpt, rewrite and carry out network dissemination of all works of copyright use, otherwise this newspaper will follow judicial channels to pursue the legal responsibility of the infringer.