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On October 22, 2025, a dialogue was held at Universidad del Pacifico with the distinguished professor Evelyn Hu-DeHart, a renowned scholar from Brown University and a leading expert on the study of Asian diasporas in the Americas. The event was co-organized by the Department of Humanities of the university and the Center for China and Asia-Pacific Studies (CECHAP), and featured remarks by Dr. Nifta Lau, professor at Universidad del Pacifico.

Under the title “The Chinese diaspora and other Asian diasporas to the Americas: a historical perspective from the 16th to the 21st century”, professor Hu-DeHart offered a broad and dynamic historical overview of the presence of Asian communities in the Americas. In her presentation, she addressed the migratory processes of Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Filipino, and Indian communities, analyzing how, over the centuries, they integrated into and contributed to the historical and cultural memory of their host countries.

Hu-DeHart emphasized the participation of prominent figures of Asian descent in various fields such as the arts, literature, and politics. Among them, she mentioned the Afro-Chinese Cuban painter Wilfredo Lam, the Peruvian-Chinese entrepreneur Aurelio Pow San Chia, and political leaders such as Arthur Chung, the first president of independent Guyana; Cheddi Jagan, prime minister of Guyana; Alberto Fujimori, former president of Peru; and Miguel Angel Osorio Chong, former governor of Hidalgo, Mexico.

In the literary field, she highlighted the contributions of writers such as Ryoki Inoue, a Brazilian novelist of Japanese descent; V. S. Naipaul, an Indo-Trinidadian writer and winner of the 2001 Nobel Prize in Literature; Jose Watanabe, a Peruvian-Japanese poet; Pedro Shimose, a Bolivian poet of Japanese origin; and Sui Kam Wen (Jose Siu), a Peruvian-Chinese novelist.

Hu-DeHart also reflected on the history of Asian communities in Mexico, their participation in the independence movements, and the challenges they faced amid contexts of discrimination and violence. Finally, she connected this history with new contemporary migratory patterns influenced by China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which has fostered a new wave of migration, as well as economic and cultural exchange in Latin American countries such as Mexico and Brazil.

Offering her perspective, Dr. Nifta Lau highlighted the personal and academic value of this dialogue, reflecting on her own Asian heritage and the role that communities of Asian origin have played in the history and culture of Mexico. In her remarks, she emphasized the importance of recognizing and revaluing these contributions within the framework of Latin American and global studies.

The event offered an enriching and deeply reflective historical overview that invites the audience to rethink the place of Asian communities in Latin American history and their contribution to the region’s cultural diversity.

At CECHAP, we celebrate this type of collaboration with other departments, such as Humanities, that promote academic spaces for dialogue among students, professors and researchers, and foster a broader understanding of the shared history and cultural ties that unite Latin America and Asia