28 cooperation
Bridging
the great
divide
In an ambitious move, Macau wants to be a platform for dialogue
between asia and Europe. José Sales Marques, the president
of the Institute of European Studies of Macau (IEEM), believes
the city has the history and experience to promote
better understanding between the two continents
by Paula Campos
INCE 2006, the Institute of European which took place in March.
Studies of Macau has been at the fore- Sales Marques summed up the main conclusions
front of an academic network which of the two-day long forum that gathered several invited
brings together nine European and academics in Macau. The most important was, without
Asiatic universities. doubt, the intention to turn the city into a facilitator in
With annual and bi-annual meet- Europe-Asia dialogue.
ings, these institutions get together to “Macau already is and could be an even better
discuss a wide range of subjects with the objective of place for an open and sincere debate between these two
promoting mutual knowledge and improving dialogue continents,” says the president of IEEM.
between the two continents. “Many of the problems arise from wrong mutual
NESCA – Network of Centres for European Stud- perceptions and expectations,” Sales says, explaining
ies in Asia - was financed by the European Commis- that he firmly believes that for many centuries, up to
sion but this came to an official end last month. the Opium War, dialogue between Europe and China
“But the concept behind it will live on,” the presi- developed through Macau. In his opinion, the territory
dent of the Institute of European Studies of Macau, has a long accumulated body of knowledge that comes
José sales Marques, says. The institute will go on pro- from its colonial past, during which it learned to sur-
moting meetings, workshops and other events, so that vive and thrive.
the knowledge gained over the past years will not go Subject to two different cultural realities, Macau
to waste. is therefore now in a better position to understand
the differences between the European and the Asian
Learning from the past realities.
But couldn’t Hong Kong also be considered as a
NESCA’s most recent initiative was a conference good mediator? For Sales Marques there is no doubt:
entitled “States, regions and the global system: North- “Hong Kong does not have that capacity, because it is
ern Asia-Pacific, Europe and today’s globalisation”, an artificial reality, born from a British imposition on
april 2009
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