On June 25th, Dr. Jorge Torres-Pereira, the Portuguese ambassador to China, paid a visit to the cemetery of Matteo Ricci and other foreign missionaries, accompanied by Cultural Secretary and the interpreter from the embassy. Executive Vice President Wang Minzhong, Vice President Han Jiugen and colleagues from the Department of International Cooperation and Exchange met the guests.
Pereira showed strong interest in the cemetery of Portuguese missionaries and paid homage to missionaries such as Thomas Pereira and Felix da Rocha who once served in the Astronomy Bureau during Qing Dynasty. He mentioned that this year was the 300th anniversary of Felix da Rocha’s birth, and that Portugal would cooperate with China in the early September to hold memorial and academic study and discussion activities in Beijing, which he hoped scholars from BAC could attend. In addition, Pereira said that a delegation from Portugal of critical importance would come and visit Beijing by then in the hope of visiting and paying tribute to the cemetery.
Wang Minzhong expressed his warm welcome to the delegation and sent to the guests the book —History Recorded by the Stones compiled and printed by BAC as a gift. As a return, Ambassador Pereira sent us a book about the history of friendship between China and Portugal.
(Written by Liu Jingdi; Translated by Zhang Jing)