We organized a virtual conference in collaboration with the Confucius Institute of the University of Costa Rica (ICUCR). Delia Salazar Anaya, director of the Directorate of Historical Studies (DEH) of the National Institute of Anthropology and History of Mexico (IHAH). presented her talk “Chinese immigration under the lens of the confidential agents of post- revolutionary Mexico” on August 23, 2023 via the ICUCR Facebook Live. It was moderated by ICUCR director Kuok Wa Chao Chao.

Two members of PREMEHCHI, Ricardo Martínez and Lai Sai Acón, went on an academic tour in Mexico from September 8 to 22, 2023 to attend three conferences. Their first stop was the First academic meeting “Freemasonry: between orientalisms and esotericisms”, organized by the International Chair History of Freemasonry Latin America and the Caribbean “José Antonio Ferrer Benimeli” at the University of Aguascalientes with the support of the University of Zacatecas (Mexico). Then, they went to the seminar “The undulations of the dragon: views on China between Mexico and Costa Rica”, organized by El Colegio de San Luis, San Luis Potosí (Mexico). And finally, they attended the First Congress in Mexico of Studies on Western Esotericism in Latin America at the Autonomous University of Mexico.

The II International Congress of Studies on China (CIECH for its acronyms in Spanish) was held at the Rodrigo Facio branch of the UCR in San Pedro de Montes de Oca and at the Arnoldo Ferreto Pacific branch in Puntarenas from September 26 to 29, 2023, bringing together 9 local experts and 15 international experts from Mexico, the United States, Argentina, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Ireland, Spain, Italy and China. This time, the congress focused on religiosities, literature and contemporary China and Latin America relations. The activity was co-organized by the Latin and Hispanic Americanist Academic Network on Sinological Studies, the International Journal of Asian Studies at UCR, the Project for the Recovery of the Historical Memory of Chinese Migrations to Costa Rica (PREMEHCHI) and the Confucius Institute, all initiatives of the UCR.

During the XVIII International Congress of the Latin American Association of Asian and African Studies (ALADAA), “Asia and Africa and their contemporary challenges in the globalized world”, held from November 20 to 24 in San José and coordinated by the University of Costa Rica and the Universidad Latina de Costa Rica, two members of PREMEHCHI—Ronald Soto and Lai Sai Acón—coordinated the panel “Human mobilities from China to Latin America and the Caribbean: representations and policies of biopower (19th-21st centuries).” It took place on November 23 with scholars on Chinese migration from Peru, Mexico, China and Costa Rica Alexandra Arana Blas, Fredy Cauich Carrillo, Greta Alvarado Lugo, Arturo Gutiérrez del Ángel, Yong Chen and Ricardo Martínez Esquivel, who discussed literature, Chinese Freemasonry and associations. The book by Cauich, Hongmen: Chee Kung Tong, Migration, xenophobia and Chinese freemasonry in Mexico City 1880-1947 (Palabra de Clío, 2023), was also presented inthis Congress. Prominent members of the Zhigong Party, heirs of the historic Chee Kung Tong branch of Limón (Costa Rica), attended the presentation of the book.

Also, to end the year 2023, PREMECHI organized – in collaboration with the Benemérita Biblioteca Nacional de Costa Rica Miguel Obregón in San José (Costa Rica) – a documentary exhibition and photographic, based on the historical research and curatorship of Lai Sai Acón Chan and Ronald Soto-Quirós, and whose title was “Sesquicentennial of the second migratory wave of Chinese to Costa Rica: From coolie Chinese to overseas Chinese. Between transnationalism and localism. This exhibition was held at the headquarters of the National Library, as part of PREMECHI’s work of cultural dissemination to the national and international community, between November 6 and 30, 2023 and was inaugurated with the conference “Costa Rica and the era of the coolie enslaving system: attempts and completed projects to bring Chinese workers (1850- 1873)” dictated by Soto-Quirós.

The fourth volume of the series Los chinos de ultramar / Overseas Chinese, subtitled Movilidades, traditions y memorias / Mobilities, Traditions, and Memories – a work with articles in Spanish and English – was edited by three members of PREMEHCHI (Acón, Soto, and David Ibarra) and by the Editorial de la Pacific Headquarters of the University of Costa Rica. This volume disseminates the works of researchers affiliated with universities in the United States, China, Costa Rica, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina and France. The book presents a dozen chapters that revolve around the international mobilizations of Chinese immigrants to various regions of the globe: Southeast Asia, Europe and America.

Finally, in December 2023, a book on the problems of inclusion in Latin American and Caribbean societies entitled Expériences et politiques d’inclusion en Amérique latine et les Caraïbes. Quelles mutations? (XXème et XIXème) (Éditions Orbis Tertius, 2023) was published in France. This book features an article titled “Construction of symbolic spaces for the Costa Rican Chinese community: legislation, anniversaries and political wills,” authored by Lai Sai Acón Chan.