Picture this: United States delegates being the first to agree
with their counterparts from arch rival Cuba on an environmental
concern.
Impossible? Not for participants of the Soundgroup Cup 2007
Beijing Model United Nations (MUN) Conference on Saturday.
Participants at the mock UN
conference raise their cards for the chance to speak. (photo:
China Daily)
The three-day event, organized by the China Foreign Affairs
University (CFAU) and opened last Friday, saw more than 200
students from close to 40 universities and high schools in the
country acting as delegates from different countries to debate on
global issues.
Under the theme of "One Earth, One Family", topics of the mock
debates ranged from the rise of sea levels to sustainable
development.
The president of the CFAU Model UN Association and a master's
student in international relations, Kong Feifei, singled out
raising environmental awareness as a key goal of the event.
"As a major topic of discussion, environmental protection is
critical in fast-developing countries such as China," Kong
said.
"We hope all the delegates get a deeper understanding of how to
increase their awareness of environmental protection and put their
knowledge into practice."
Beijing Normal University master's student Cheng Xiangdong, who
was "representing" the Netherlands, said "such event provides a
good opportunity to raise awareness of environmental protection
among all Chinese university students".
Wen Yibo, the chairman of Beijing Sound Environmental Group LTD
which co-hosted of the event, said countries still disagreed on
what global warming meant and how to deal with it, and it was an
opportune time to address these issues.
Kishan Khoday from the United Nations Development Program told
China Daily the conference almost seemed like an extension
of the General Assembly meeting held in New York City last month,
where global climate was also a key concern.
Khoday cited the importance of the event with China now being
one of the key partners in the UN to address the issue.
"Today's topic of climate change in particular will allow young
Chinese and future leaders to form their own solutions and let them
think creatively to balance the interests of different
countries."
(China Daily November 12, 2007)
