Learning to peel eggs, the female president who came across the ocean

"Peru should learn more from China and strengthen cooperation.

"The high-speed rail is so fast!" Peruvian President Boruarte couldn't help but exclaimed after taking the high-speed rail from Hong Kong West Kowloon Station to Shenzhen Futian Station. On the evening of June 25, she arrived at Shenzhen, the first stop of her visit to China. Accompanying her on her visit to China were the Peruvian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Economy and Finance, Minister of Transport and Communications, Minister of Construction and Water, Minister of Health and other cabinet members.

This is her first visit to China. Peruvian Foreign Minister Olachea said in a statement that this visit is "a very important visit in a very important year." This reminds people of the time eight years ago in 2016 when then-Peruvian President Kuczynski chose China instead of the United States for his first foreign visit. At the time, this was called a "sign of the times" by the media.

On the morning of June 26, Boruart visited the special exhibition "Children of the Sun - Inca and the Four Directions of the Empire" at the Nanshan Museum in Shenzhen. 168 cultural relics from Peru were exhibited here, each of which carries the glorious history of the Inca Empire and Andean civilization. "I feel honored to be invited to a museum that exhibits Inca and pre-Inca civilizations." She wrote in the guestbook. The curator of the museum presented her with a book from the collection, "A Study on Bronze Weapons of the Ancient Yue Tribe", and she gave her a book about the knotted cord writing of the ancient Peruvians in return.

Afterwards, she went to Huawei. "Has Huawei's 5.5G network technology been put into use?" She showed great interest in Huawei's technological innovation. After experiencing the naked-eye 3D technology in the "3D Museum" exhibition area, she gave a thumbs up. At Huawei, she witnessed the signing of a cooperation agreement between the Peruvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Huawei Peru, and the two sides will cultivate talents for Peru's scientific and technological development through high-tech training. Before leaving, she also got into a Wenjie M9 to experience the riding experience of a Chinese electric car.

Afterwards, Boruart and his party came to BYD. "How long is the service life of an electric car?" She asked as she listened, and also walked into the Yunba in the exhibition hall to experience the feeling of using BYD's public transportation. During the visit, BYD President Wang Chuanfu also presented Boruart with a Yangwang U8 car model.

During her visit to Shanghai and other places, she met with representatives of many companies. Among them, COSCO Shipping is the main shareholder of the Chancay Port project, a landmark project of the "Belt and Road" jointly built by China and Peru. She appreciated the group's introduction of remote-controlled automated loading and unloading equipment and related communication technologies in the construction of Chancay Port, and hoped to build Chancay Port into a low-carbon, green, digital and intelligent landmark port in South America.

When she visited a series of medical achievements at Ruijin Hospital, including surgical robots, proton therapy devices, and digital medicine, she experienced using a surgical robot to peel raw quail eggs. She blurted out, "I am shocked by China's scientific and technological progress. I really want to bring two robots back from Shanghai. Peru should learn more from China and strengthen cooperation, especially in the field of science and technology."

Boruarte was born in 1962 in a working-class family in Chalhuanca, southern Peru. She is a Quechua native of South America and speaks fluent Spanish and the indigenous language Quechua.

Recalling her childhood, what impressed her most was that her mother was always so busy, managing the lives of the whole family. To supplement her life, Boruart worked part-time at the age of 18 and worked as a substitute teacher in school. Although she was the youngest of 14 brothers and sisters, Boruart was very good at academics. She was admitted to the University of Saint Martin de Peres to study law. After graduating from undergraduate studies, she obtained a master's degree in law and obtained a lawyer's certificate.

Boruarte speaks slowly and softly. She has two sons, the elder studying economics and the younger studying music. She worked as a lawyer for many years and also worked as a consultant for Peru's National Identification and Citizenship Registry, becoming its director in 2007.

In 2018, as a candidate of the Liberal Peru Party, Boruart ran for mayor of a district in Lima, the capital of Peru, but failed. At that time, she was in her 50s, but she was still a newcomer in the political arena. In 2020, she again represented the Liberal Peru Party in the special parliamentary elections, but also failed to win a seat. It was not until 2021 that Boruart finally ushered in the first highlight of her political career.

In the presidential election that year, Boruart was the running mate of Castillo, who was also an indigenous candidate. At that time, social inequality in Peru was worsening, and this "grassroots indigenous" combination gave Peruvian voters a fresh look and won the support of rural women, teachers, indigenous people and other groups, eventually standing out among the candidates.

After winning the election, Boruarte became vice president and served as Minister of Social Development and Inclusion of Peru, responsible for promoting social welfare and poverty reduction projects.

During Castillo's 16 months as president, he was repeatedly accused of "moral defects". On December 7, 2022, Castillo issued an order to dissolve Congress, and Congress immediately passed an impeachment motion to remove him from the presidency on the grounds of "moral defects". According to the Peruvian Constitution, when the president is unable to perform his duties, the vice president should take over. That afternoon, Boruart was sworn in as the new president, and Peru welcomed the first female president in history.

In his first speech as president, Boruart called on the government and Congress to stop fighting and for all parties to strengthen dialogue and consultation to form a more representative and united cabinet. "I will lead the Peruvian government and Congress to continue to fight corruption to prevent the country from falling into chaos and crisis."

Boruarte did not come to power through traditional elections, but because her predecessor lost in a political struggle with Congress, she took over the presidency as vice president. This atypical regime change made Boruarte face many challenges as soon as she took office. Peru lacks a unified and strong mainstream political party, and the struggle between political parties is fierce, and political turmoil occurs frequently. Boruarte has to act cautiously in domestic and international exchanges.

"In recent years, Peru's political situation has been turbulent. From 2015 to 2022, Peru has had seven presidents in power, and ministers have changed more frequently. The fragmentation of Peru's political situation may pose greater challenges to the president and the ruling party in the long run." Han Han, a researcher at the Institute of Latin American Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that in this context, Boruarte faced many internal crises and had difficulty promoting consensus. Her governing style is quite different from the obvious left-wing color during Castillo's presidency, and she is considered to be more conservative center-left.

In March this year, the Peruvian prosecutors launched a preliminary investigation into Boruart, accusing her of not declaring the multiple expensive watches she used as public officials. In response, Boruart said that these watches were legal property purchased with her own savings before she became president. In May, the Peruvian National Prosecutor's Office charged her with suspected bribery and other crimes. However, even if Boruart is prosecuted, the relevant departments must wait until her term ends in July 2026 or she is impeached before they can hear the case.

It is worth mentioning that any overseas visit by the President of Peru must be approved by Congress. The fact that Boruarte’s visit to China is a result of a consensus reached between the Peruvian government and the parliament, both of which agree to strengthen cooperation with China.

Peru is the country with the largest number of Chinese people in South America. Peruvians like to call Chinese people "fellow countrymen". Since the first batch of Chinese people arrived in Peru in 1849, they have thrived on this land. Today, one in 10 Peruvians has Chinese ancestry. Not long ago, the Peruvian Congress also passed a resolution to designate February 1 of each year as "Peru-China Friendship Day".

"In traditional Chinese culture, the dragon represents strength, nobility, good luck, optimism and great ambitions." This Spring Festival, Boruarte expressed New Year's greetings to the Chinese people and the Chinese government from Peru, wishing the Chinese society a harmonious and prosperous life and the people a healthy life in the Year of the Dragon. "I extend my special and brotherly greetings to you, wishing you all a happy Lunar New Year and hugs to everyone."

From June 17 to 19, the seventh round of negotiations on the upgraded China-Peru Free Trade Agreement was held in Beijing. The two sides held in-depth consultations on many areas including customs procedures and trade facilitation, and trade in services.

"Faced with external uncertainties, this female president seeks stable economic development." Han Han said that Boruarte's visit to China has undoubtedly promoted the stable development of China-Peru economic and trade relations. Cooperation in mining, high-tech, automation and information became the focus of her talks. Her focus on technological cooperation reflects the deepening understanding of China in all aspects by the new generation of Latin American leaders.

In the past few decades, China-Peru trade has mainly consisted of China exporting electromechanical products, high-tech products, textiles and clothing to Peru, and importing fish meal and mineral products such as copper and iron from Peru. In the field of investment, China has mainly undertaken projects in Peru such as energy and infrastructure. In particular, in terms of minerals, China has become the largest source of investment in Peru's mining sector.

In November this year, Peru will host the APEC summit. Both China and Peru are important members of the organization. Peru hopes to gain China's support in setting relevant topics and reaching consensus. Analysts believe that Boruart's visit will help China and Peru enhance political mutual trust, economic and financial cooperation, and cultural exchanges.