Friendship award recipient expresses lifelong commitment to promoting China-Brazil relations

The recipient of Chinese Government Friendship Award Evandro Menezes de Carvalho from Brazil, widely known by his Chinese name Gao Wenyong, expressed his lifelong commitment to understanding China and fostering friendship between China and Brazil.

The Brazilian scholar on China shared his personal journey with China in a video message for a cultural event titled "Written in the Sky: My China Story," which was launched by China Media Group in March 2024.

About 11 years ago in 2013, Carvalho came to Shanghai to work as a Senior Scholar at Shanghai University of Finance and Economics and a visiting professor at Center for BRICS Studies of Fudan University.

During his three years living in China, Carvalho not only conducted in-depth research on BRICS-related topics, but also extensively read Chinese literature, studied the Chinese language, and immersed himself in Chinese culture.

"[I] always say that in China I feel that I am a student. It's a country very complex with a long history. I went to China completely from zero and I think this was very important because I built my perceptions, point of view, my experience together with my Chinese friends that I met during this time," he said.

After returning to Brazil in 2016, Carvalho continued his research on China and actively participated in various China-Brazil exchange activities.

As the coordinator for Brazil, he played a key role in organizing the BRICS Seminar on Governance in 2019, one of the main sideline events of the 11th BRICS Summit held in Brasilia.

He has also been instrumental in orchestrating numerous cultural exchange events, including the China-Brazil Forum on Civilizational Exchange and Mutual Learning.

In September of this year, he facilitated the First China-Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) States Roundtable on Human Rights in Brazil, marking the first institutional exchange addressing human rights issues between China and countries in the Latin America and the Caribbean region.

Carvalho's contributions to cultural exchanges between China and Brazil has been widely recognized by both countries.

"I also had a very important award in the beginning of 2023, I received a medal given by the Parliamentary Fronts from the Brazilian National Congress, Parliamentary Fronts on China-Brazil relations," he said.

At the beginning of this year, he received the 2023 Chinese Government Friendship Award, the highest honor to commend foreign experts who have made outstanding contributions to China's modernization drive, ahead of China's Lunar New Year.

"And in 2024 this year, something really meaningful to me, that moved me a lot happened at the end of the Year of the Rabbit. I was completely astonished with this, because this is the hugest award given by the Chinese government to foreigners. I feel that I have a lot of things to do. [On the way to] the National People's Congress, I was together with my wife, and I told her every second and minute here for me, I see a movie. In silence, I started to give thanks to many people, many friends. I knew that I was there because of them, as if I was shaking his/her hand one by one. I always remember, one by one. I was still moved a little bit because I owe them. It's not because of my personal effort [that I was given the award]," said Carvalho.

Carvalho stated that he will remain true to his original aspiration and continue to study Chinese culture and philosophy. He aims to encourage more Brazilians to understand, recognize, and appreciate China. As he tells his Brazilian students, he has chosen to dedicate his life to this mission.

"When we decided to marry, I told her (my wife), 'you know that I am married with China first, right?' So it's important to know this because my life is well connected with China. As I mentioned to my students, it was a life's choice," he said.

"Written in the Sky: My China Story" is a series of cultural events gathering personal stories about China from around the world. To date, it has collected more than 1,600 stories from China and over 60 countries worldwide.

Friendship award recipient expresses lifelong commitment to promoting China-Brazil relations

Travelers to Lebanon are seeking a quick and secure way out of the country, as Israel ramps up its attacks on Hezbollah. Governments worldwide have also facilitated evacuations, encouraging their citizens to leave before the situation worsens.

Annika finally made it to the airport in Beirut. She was supposed to leave next week, but the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah militants shortened her stay. Now, the only thing on her mind is getting back home.

"It's horrible. And you have drones flying over your house and things like that. I didn't feel afraid, but I also have to leave in the future for work, and I don't know, it's so insecure. Maybe I don't want to stay here for another few weeks," said Annika, a traveler leaving Lebanon.

Although everything seemed calm and far away for the first few days, the scene changed quickly in Beirut. Israeli airstrikes intensified, causing many to flee as fast as they could.

"I'm very worried because you don't know what can happen from day to day. You're living like second to second. You don't know what's going to happen. And it's very, very stressful. And this has to come to an end, you know? So, it's time. It's time to go," said Tania, another traveler leaving Lebanon.

The fighting, which has escalated over the past few weeks, has forced the evacuation of thousands of tourists and people with dual citizenship, leaving many scrambling to the airport to secure any available flight in an atmosphere of ongoing strikes. Governments have stepped in to assist with these evacuations, using various channels to reach those who need help.

"We have been using social media a lot to get the message out. [For] our foreign minister, prime minister, and the embassy here in Lebanon, we have been putting out on Twitter, on Facebook, and on Instagram the message that the crisis is here, you need to leave now as soon as possible. And still some don't get the message. But we're getting there, because we've got a good pick-up today, we're getting close to 500 people out on two assisted departures to Cyprus today. And we'll probably continue that for a few days," said Andrew Barnes, Australian ambassador to Lebanon.

The Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, and Australia have all sent government representatives to Beirut to help people who want to leave or need support. Though the first couple of days were chaotic, as many were fleeing, the evacuation now seems to be proceeding steadily. Although Beirut and its airport are still relatively safe, governments urge their citizens to leave before things worsen.

"We've been dealing with this crisis for a while now, and our government has been urging Australians in Lebanon to return home because we were fearful that the situation could escalate. Now it has escalated badly and we are urging all Australians to come to the airport and get on a flight. There are still flights going, the airports still open. They need to leave now because we don't know how the crisis might escalate," Barnes said.

Since Sept. 23, the Israeli army has intensified its airstrikes against Hezbollah targets across Lebanon, causing great civilian casualties and forcing residents in many areas to leave their homes. It has also launched what it describes as a "limited" ground operation in Lebanon.

Countries facilitate citizens' evacuation from Lebanon as fighting intensifies