As the first Portuguese woman to lead a diplomatic mission in China, Ana Paula de Menezes Cordero is no stranger to breaking barriers. She proved it again on June 17 when she concluded her tenure as Portugal’s Consul General in Guangzhou by swimming nearly 30 kilometers across the Qiongzhou Strait, which separates Hainan province from mainland China.
In fact, Menezes Cordero made history by becoming the first European woman to swim across the channel, nicknamed the “Everest of the Sea” because of its fast currents, jellyfish and intense sunlight.
The swim was the culmination of an unforgettable journey for the diplomat, which began when she first assumed He became the Consul General of Portugal in Guangzhou in September 2021. During his three-year tenure, Comezes actively promoted extensive cooperation between China and Portugal in various fields in the consular districts of Guangdong, Hainan, Hunan, Fujian and Guangxi.
[See more: Portugal sees Greater Bay Area as unique opportunity to boost business presence]
Her tenure Finish June 27. Menezes Cordero will soon return to the Portuguese capital of Lisbon, where she will serve as Chief of Staff to the Portuguese Minister of Education, Science and Innovation. She took time out of her busy schedule to meet with Macau News Talking about her amazing swimming experiences and her achievements as her country’s Consul General in Guangzhou.
This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
First of all, how did your experience of swimming in the Hainan Strait happen?
I have always loved swimming and have always wanted to try open water swimming, though not necessarily that far.
Last year, I made an official visit to Haikou, Hainan Province. I met with representatives of a company that organizes cross-strait swimming events, and we discussed the possibility of my participation. The Portuguese were the first Europeans to arrive in China by sea, so I thought that swimming across the South China Sea would be a symbolic way for me to say goodbye to China.
But the swim this June felt appropriate, not only because I was leaving the country, but also because in 2024 we would celebrate the 500th anniversary of the birth of Portuguese poet Luís Vázquez de Camões, who linked Portugal to China in a special way, as he lived for a time in Macau and may have crossed the Hainan Strait himself. [laughs].
How did you prepare for the swim and what challenges did you encounter during the swim?
I didn’t do any special training. I just tried to swim at least three or four times a week, but that wasn’t always easy due to my job. Before I actually crossed the channel, the longest distance I had ever swum was only five kilometers.
The distance between the two sides [Haikou’s Meilisha to Guangdong’s Qing’an] It was 19 kilometers. But when you swim, it’s not a straight line because you have to try to avoid the current. It’s like a zigzag, and I ended up swimming 29.6 kilometers.
I had to swim for 13 hours and 5 minutes because I encountered a very strong current. For two hours, I couldn’t move. I was swimming but I couldn’t move forward because the current was really strong.
The hardest thing actually happened later: being in the water for so long and getting sunburned. I don’t think I put enough sunscreen on. The crossing was an incredible experience, but physically it was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life.
Now let’s talk about your experience as Consul General of Portugal. Please tell us about your most memorable experience in this position.
Being Consul General in Guangzhou has been so rewarding that it is hard to say what I like most about this job. But I can say that I really enjoy organizing the World Portuguese Language Day events every year together with the Consulates General of Angola and Brazil. We organize two events in Guangzhou and one in Hunan. The event involves several activities with students and teachers at universities in South China that teach Portuguese.
There was another event that I really, really enjoyed. That was the exhibition on the history of Fado that was held at the Cantonese Opera Museum last year. It was a very special event. The exhibition was on display at the museum for four months and attracted 620,000 visitors.
We also jointly organized a very special event with the AICEP Guangzhou Delegation and the Portugal Tourism Board in China to promote Portuguese tourism and gastronomy, called “Taste Portugal Moments”, which brought together many travel agencies from Guangdong and showcased Portugal as the “Best Tourist Destination in Europe”.
What were the key business initiatives during your tenure?
In 2021 and 2022, we organized e-commerce events to promote the Portuguese food industry in China. These events were called “Portugal Stories”. We estimate that this initiative reached more than 5.5 million consumers and industry professionals.
Over the past three years, we have also supported several Portuguese brands to enter the Chinese market, such as Sistrade, an IT company in Shenzhen, and Abyss Habidecor, a luxury linen company that opened stores in Shenzhen and Guangzhou.
This year we also assisted ViniPortugal [a major Portuguese wine industry association] Organized a wine tasting event called “Portuguese Wine Tasting-Guangzhou”. 16 Portuguese wineries participated in the event, presenting a total of 130 national wines. In 2023, we support Portuguese companies and national wine distributors at the “Interwine Expo” in Guangzhou.
What about academic initiatives?
Promote the signing of a memorandum of understanding between China’s Southern University of Science and Technology and Portugal’s University of Porto, and the signing of a new student exchange agreement between Portugal’s University of Coimbra and China’s Guangzhou University.
We participated as speakers at the China-EU International Forum on “Healthcare Reform and High-Quality Development” held in Guangzhou last November, a collaborative project between China’s Southern Medical University (SMU) and Portugal’s Instituto Superiore de Estudios Integral de Lisbon (ISCTE).
SMU has been jointly running a PhD programme in Health Services Management with ISCTE since 2009. To date, more than 300 health professionals and senior managers from all over China have participated in the programme.
We were also invited by Haikou University of Economics to participate in the “Hainan Cultural Tourism 2023 – International Forum on Sports Leisure and Sports Tourism Development” as guest speakers to introduce Portugal’s sports tourism.
We also held a number of events at South China University to promote the Portuguese language and culture. In particular, we held four exhibitions to commemorate the centenary of the birth of Portuguese writer José Saramago. [Saramago won the 1998 Nobel Prize in Literature] and two exhibitions celebrating the centenary of the birth of Portuguese writer Agustina Bessa-Luis.
How would you describe the current Sino-Portuguese relations?
This year marks the 45th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Portugal and the People’s Republic of China, a date of great significance. In 1979, the two countries formally established diplomatic relations, further consolidating a long-standing relationship of mutual respect and trust that dates back to the 16th century, when Portuguese explorer Jorge Álvarez landed on an island in the Pearl River Delta.
These relations are among the oldest between the East and the West. We have known each other for centuries, and this valuable tradition deserves to be emphasized.
The 25th anniversary of Macau’s return to the motherland will also be celebrated in 2024. This process proves that the relationship between the two countries is one of mutual trust and openness.
Nineteen years ago, we signed a global strategic partnership that still guides China-Portugal relations today. We hope that this partnership will not only promote political exchanges at all levels between the two countries, but also deepen economic and trade relations between the two countries, expand new areas of cooperation, and give full play to the respective advantages of the two countries.
What do you miss most about Guangzhou?
Guangzhou is a very modern and impressive city with many tall buildings and modern infrastructure. It is also a very green and pleasant city.
Of course, I will miss all the friends and colleagues I leave behind. I will definitely miss the city lights, the Guangzhou Tower, and the Liede Bridge, as I can see them every day in the office and at home. On a more personal note, I will miss milk tea!
I have travelled a lot in China, a country with a long and rich history, but there is still a lot to see and do, so I am sure I will return one day.
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