HONG KONG — On the way to the airport in early 1990, I saw a strange face among the profusion and confusion of election posters. Not a European grandee, or indigenous Indian, or mestizo, or mulatto. It was more like Chinese, but surely not in this heart of Latin America.

Who is that? I asked Mario, the front-runner in the presidential race. Oh, just one of the many candidates who are opposing me, he declared loftily — no one to be interested in.

Others in the entourage called the candidate "El Chino" or "Chinaman," a term of affection as well as disparagement.