MACAU (UCAN) -- A Jesuit-run Church research center here has launched a journal aimed at exploring issues that affect Chinese people worldwide.

The Chinese and English quarterly, "Shenzhou Jiaoliu" or "Chinese Cross Currents," is published by the Macau Ricci Institute. It is the second journal of this type to be introduced since December by a Jesuit research center in a Chinese-speaking territory.

Jesuit Father Yves Camus, who is in charge of "Shenzhou Jiaoliu," told UCA News the institute decided to launch the publication after running some academic symposia in Macau. "We felt that the time had come to launch a scholarly and intercultural periodical as a platform for exchange between young intellectuals in and outside China," he said.

The priest noted that China's accession to the World Trade Organization in 2001 bore witness to the "intensification of exchanges between China and the rest of the world." According to him, these exchanges "are not exclusively commercial, and often lack the communicational dimension that information per se is unable to foster."

With this new bilingual journal, the research institute aims to contribute to these exchanges and offer a platform for contemporary Chinese thought to be presented to the Chinese world as well as the wider international community, Father Camus explained.

He added that the quarterly publication schedule "will neither be too heavy nor too lax for the editorial board and the readers."

The publication's director did not rule out the possibility of cooperating with "Renlai" (flute of humankind) launched in December by the Ricci Institute in Taipei. That magazine is billed as "the first magazine of cultural debate in Taiwan targeting all Chinese people around the world." Father Camus said "any plans are possible," including exchange of articles.

The first issue of "Shenzhou Jiaoliu," launched Jan. 14, includes contributions from scholars, artists and friends from China and abroad who were invited to the Macau institute's symposia. It comprises four sections: an editorial, five articles on culture and religion, features and book reviews.

Topics covered include a reflection on last year's SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) outbreak and public policies in Hong Kong, written by Eric Sautede, the journal's chief editor.

Another article, written by Wang Xiaochao, explores civic morality among Chinese citizens. The article by Wang, director of the Center for the Study of Morality and Religion at Tsinghua University in Beijing, was presented at an academic seminar in Macau in November 2002, according to Sautede.

Father Peter Choy Wai-man, president of Holy Spirit Seminary College in Hong Kong, wrote a book review on "The Categories of Christian Theology," authored by mainland Chinese philosophy scholar Zhang Qingxiong.

He told UCA News Feb. 12 that unlike other Church magazines, many of which discuss Church structure, "Shenzhou Jiaoliu" explores faith from a cultural perspective. It especially targets academics in mainland China, he added.

The themes of the next four issues have been set. They are: "Literature and society," "Culture, art and society," "The Chinese: demographic issues" and "Culture, law and order: Chinese and Western traditions."

Readers around the world can subscribe to the journal by mail at US$60 a year. It is also sold in secular bookstores, Father Camus said.

The Macau Ricci Institute was set up on Dec. 10, 1999, 10 days before China resumed sovereignty over Macau from Portugal, to promote cultural exchange in Macau, a meeting point of Eastern and Western cultures. Portugal controlled Macau for more then 400 years.