António Vieira da Cruz

O artigo em baixo foi inicialmente publicado na revista The Brussels Europe Press Club Magazine nº5, de Novembro de 2015. Lusophone opportunities in the Indian Ocean by António Vieira da Cruz Por mares nunca de antes navegados Passaram ainda além da Taprobana (Luís Vaz de Camões, “Os Lusíadas”, Canto I) Portuguese presence in the Indian Ocean Portuguese is the 6 th  largest language in the world by number of native speakers and it is spoken by around 250 million people in the five continents. [1] But we might say that Portuguese culture is a tale of three oceans: the Atlantic, the Indian and the Pacific. Most of the times we hear news in Portuguese from Atlantic Brazil, Angola or Portugal; we may also think of Macau and Portuguese interactions with Pacific China or Japan; instead, I chose to write here about our relation with the Indian Ocean. By travelling through this ocean you will certainly face many people with Portuguese surnames, find Portuguese for...

China’s President Xi Jinping announced last November that China will promote Asia’s connectivity by creating a $40 billion USD fund for the 21 st Century Maritime Silk Road. This is part of the now called Chinese Dream, which according to President Xi Jinping consists on “ the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation ”. [1] And according to SCMP, the “New Silk Road Economic Belt” and the “21st Century Maritime Silk Road” will build roads, ports, airports and railways across Central and South Asia”. [2] President Xi Jinping was also quoted saying that “ the Silk Road Fund will be open and welcome investors from Asia and beyond to actively take part in the project ”. [3] It is therefore evident that this investment is not only a business opportunity for many regional and global companies, but also a political opportunity of regional cooperation for the countries of Southeast Asia, South Asia, Central Asia, East Africa and Middle East. This is a project that might have a positive gl...