More than 400 delegates from 20 countries and 100 universities convened at Peking University (PKU) for the 2013 Asian International Model United Nations (AIMUN) conference to discuss the topics ranging from international security to developmental issues. The opening ceremony for the four-day event was held at Yingjie Exchange Center on March 28, 2013.
The keynote speaker for the ceremony was Professor Michael Kim, Chair of International Studies and Associate Dean of the Underwood International College at Yonsei University, Korea. Also in attendance are His Excellency Siamelie Latu, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Tonga to China, Mr. Wisnu Edi Pratignyo, Minister Counselor at Indonesian Embassy in China and Dr. Buslig Szonja Andrea, First Secretary of the Embassy of Hungary in China. In his opening address, Professor Zhang Qingmin from PKU School of International Studies encouraged the participants to share their views with an open mind. “The future is yours and the future of the world depends on your wisdom and strong sense of responsibility. With globalization comes fragmentation, with people around the world emphasizing on difference between each other. So the meaning of MUN goes far beyond this short discussion. I hope that this conference can help you to be better prepared to solve the problems we human being need to solve in the future.”
Mr. Pratignyo, emphasized the importance of cooperation in addressing global challenges, in particular the role of the UN. “The world has to move forward, and we will need to ensure all nations stand united in addressing and anticipating the challenges ahead. We need to convert global challenges to opportunities. Multilateralism within UN is an important way for us to do so.”
Next, Dr. Andrea shared her experience as a diplomat. “Model United Nation is a wonderful stage for students as it provides new insight to challenges and problem. It is events such as this that will prepare you for the future, to understand the world outside of China and of different perspective. Therefore, your responsibility is great” Dr. Andrea also provided valuable suggestions to the delegates about the importance of their role as diplomats and how to effectively defend the interest of the nation they represent.
Secretary General of AIMUN 2013, Zeng Qifei, a senior student at PKU School of International Studies, looked forward to active participation and great performance of the discussion at the beginning of her speech. Then she declared that, in order to make AIMUN a better conference, the organizing committee had taken three initiatives, namely establishing a research institution to support the committees, aiming at improving the academic level; reforming MPC by giving national position to the journalists; prize linkage system to make the conference even more interesting. At the end of her speech, she gave thanks to all the delegates, faculty advisors for joining us in this wonderful event and announced the AIMUN 2013 formally open with the gavel.
In his keynote speech, Prof. Kim shared his view and experience about United Nations and East Asian states. “What we observed is that the UN has become incredibly bureaucratic and it is increasingly difficult to achieve consensus, leading many to seek alternatives.” On the other hand, his experience of frequent travel to different East Asian countries have impressed him a lot, especially the emergence of a multi-lingual Asia, with increasing communication and joint cooperation between youth. Though there are remarkable changes took place in East Asia and many troubles appeared, Prof. Kim still expressed his hope and expect. And he said that “new voice and new dynamism can be found in Asia, in order to find new solution to rejuvenate UN, solve the problems which the world faces is the urgent affairs and all of us should learn about from each other and work together for future discussion. We all would like to see positive changes taken place.”
There followed a question-and-answer session after the speech, and gave a profound recommendation to the questions about the current situation and the complex relationship between China, Korea and Japan those East Asia countries. Prof.Kim also gave a neutral opinion about the future development of the UN. During the four-day conference, delegates will be allocated into eight different UN organs to discuss pertinent global issues.
Written By: Heng Kang Wei
Edited By: Shi Dingli, Yao Henan, Chen Bo, Hu Chen
Background Information: Organized by the PKU MUN Association, AIMUN has consistently been a platform for youths around the world who share a common interest in understanding global problems and finding enduring solutions, to gather together in Beijing to debate issues close to their hearts. AIMUN is a greatopportunity for delegates learn about respecting differences, building and negotiating consensus, while making friends from around the world. For more information
