The Model UN Post!

Before I begin this latest post, I just want to let you all know that when I told my co-workers at the LA Times that my blog had been blocked by the Chinese authorities, they all said, “Congratulations!” I guess it means I wrote something worth reading. Anyway, moving on…

So here it is, the moment I know you’ve all been waiting for: the Model UN post. First of all, I apologize for the delay in actually getting this post up – it was kind of a combination of being extremely busy with classes, trips around Beijing, and my internship and just not wanting to condense all of Model UN into a blog entry. But enough about that. A little over a week ago I participated in the Asian International Model United Nations (AIMUN) conference here at PKU. Now, I’ve competed in a number of Model UN conferences, but this one was by far the most interesting/slightly unusual one I’ve ever been to.

The conference started on Wednesday, March 14, and lasted through the following Saturday. In total, there were approximately 400 delegates, 300 of whom were Chinese. The remaining 100 were a mix of Japanese, Korean, Taiwanese (although there’s no differentiation between the Chinese and Taiwanese students here on the Mainland!), South East Asian, European, and American students. I’d say there were less than ten Americans. I represented South Africa on the Security Council along with my friend Michael, who’s also part of my study abroad program, and besides us, the only other Americans were part of a delegation from Columbia University. This automatically made the conference a whole lot more intriguing. It’s worth mentioning that despite the fact that an overwhelming majority of the participating students were Chinese, there were only two or three committees run in Chinese. The rest, including the Security Council, were run in English.

As I’ve already mentioned, Michael and I represented South Africa on the Security Council. Our topic was the nuclear advance of Iran. I always scan articles about these kinds of situations in newspapers or hear about them in the news, but I never really appreciate the difficulty of dealing with such matters until I actually have to try and come up with solutions to them, in this case as a delegate on UN Security Council. By the same token, I’ve read and listened to news reports that seem to demonstrate and/or discuss the ineffectiveness of the real UN, but it’s hard to really understand that ineffectiveness until you are forced to solve a dilemma of such magnitude within the framework of the UN. It is true that the UN has had accomplishments with regards to humanitarian issues, but there is still so much that it can’t do, especially when it comes to the Security Council. It has no way of enforcing its resolutions, relying solely on the will of member states to fulfill their obligations. I’m not advocating for the abolishment of the UN because I think it has great potential. However, it is in serious need of reform.

In case you might be interested in this issue, check out this feature article in the March 5^th edition of Newsweek, which is about why the UN in its current form is bound to fail: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17311792/site/newsweek/ .

I won’t bore you with all of the legislative details of our committee because I could go on and on about that, but by the session’s end on Saturday morning we had managed to pass a resolution. It was actually a pretty bad resolution, so Michael and I argued strongly against it, but since South Africa didn’t have much power on the committee, there wasn’t much we could do to prevent it from being passed.

There were several social events sponsored by AIMUN to promote friendship and whatnot between delegates. On Thursday night we took buses to an area of Beijing called the Hohai district, which has a number of restaurants, bars, and lounges surrounding a small lake. That night was kind of funny because I ended up being the only American who went to Hohai. Michael couldn’t make it because he had to do some work for some of our classes, and I’m not sure where the Columbia kids were. However, I had a great time. I spent most of the evening hanging out with a group that consisted of some Chinese students from my committee, a couple of Japanese students, a couple of Thai students, and some German students. It was a good thing they all spoke English, because we definitely had no shortage of conversation topics. Which reminds me: as it turns out, one of the German girls has actually been to Maine before! Usually I don't expect people here to know where Maine is, and I usually end up saying something like, "north of Boston," or "practically Canada". But this girl actually spent a couple summers up near Bar Harbor. Crazy! Also, many of the Germans that I met go to school near the Black Forest region of Germany, which is where my German ancestors are from. In fact, I looked so much like this one girl that a couple of Chinese students thought we were sisters!

On Friday night, AIMUN put on some sort of party (I say “some sort” because I honestly don’t know how to explain it – it was kind of like a talent show, party, and dance all in one, and to be honest, it was one of the strangest social events I’ve ever been to. Michael and I agreed that all we could really say to explain it was “T.I.C.”). There were a few acts – mainly people singing or dancing. Some Bangladeshi girls did a traditional (a.k.a. belly) dance from Bangladesh, and the European guys went wild. One of the committee chairs did a magic show. Our committee chair sang a stirring rendition of "Memories" from the musical Cats. Another guy sang Queen's "We Will Rock You" (now THAT was interesting), and my personal favorite was the guy who rapped in Chinese then wowed the crowd with his sweet basketball moves. The people who ran the party handed out glow sticks upon entering the room, and the Chinese kids went crazy with them. Afterwards, there was a dance to some circa-late 1990s American music and random Chinese pop music that probably lasted no more than an hour. I was surprised at how many Chinese students informed me that that was their first party or dance. One guy told me about how much he wished his school put on dances. When I asked him if he could ask the school’s administration about it, he said, “Oh, no, we could never do that. It’s been tried before. Dances like this are not allowed”. It’s not like anything vulgar was going on – in fact, it was probably one of the most innocent dances I’ve ever been to. It was funny though, because after the party ended, so many random Chinese students came up to me to have their pictures taken with me, even though I’d never met them before. Also, some of the Chinese guys I spoke with would usually say something like, “sorry if what I’m saying comes out confusing, but I'm kind of nervous because you’re the first American girl I’ve ever talked to in my life!”

One of the most amusing aspects of the conference were the various responses of the other delegates, especially the Chinese delegates, to my Security Council colleague, Michael. Michael, in fact, was born in South Korea and is ethnically Korean, however, his parents adopted him and brought him back to the US when he was a baby, and he was raised in Michigan (Mom – near Muskegon!). The Chinese delegates kept coming up to him and saying things like, “your English is so good!” Or they would be amazed that he didn’t speak Chinese or Korean. Even the Germans had an amusing reaction because Michael has a German last name, which gave them pause whenever he mentioned it. AIMUN’s daily newsletter even did a feature story on him! Our friends from the study abroad program got a kick out of that.

Throughout the entire conference, I was very impressed with the English abilities of the various delegates. Naturally, the Germans spoke very good English. However, the Chinese delegates’ English was also very good. I wish I could one day speak another language as well as they speak English.

One issue that has continued to register with me is the underlying sense of dramatic irony that I feel when around Chinese students. Dramatic irony is a literary and theater term that describes instances where the audience knows something that the characters don’t know. It’s true – I do know things that the Chinese students don’t know, mainly with regards to the true nature of their government and the modern history of their country, and the fact that I have this information and they have been unknowingly barred from learning about it is a little unsettling. It’s also just plain awkward if you let something about, say, Tiananmen Square slip in conversation, and the Chinese students immediately perk up and go, “what did you just say?” I think they know that they lack certain information because the government refuses to let them in on certain things, but most don’t know the specifics of that information. I'm pretty sure that would drive me insane.

All in all, Model UN was an eye-opening experience. Being one of the only Americans (or Westerners, at that) at an overwhelmingly Asian conference was fascinating. I’m so glad I decided to participate in AIMUN because in addition to making a ton of new friends, I was exposed to a more Asian outlook on world affairs. It was one of the most rewarding experiences I’ve ever had.

Here are some pictures from the conference (courtesy of Michael Wagner):

Opening ceremony...

I'm so excited to be representing South Africa at the Asian International Model United Nations Conference!

Clearly the coolest delegates at AIMUN: Michael and I, representing South Africa

Security Council chamber

The AIMUN Security Council in action, attempting to save the world from the nuclear advance of Iran

"Where are the operative clauses we wrote in Working Paper 1.6, and why are they not being integrated into this draft resolution?!"

South Africa probably had the most suave delegation (by the way, I'm wearing that scarf because it was St. Patrick's Day and that was the only green I could find, and everyone knows you have to wear green on St. Patricks Day!)...

Close Encounters with Jingjing and Chacha

Ladies and gentlemen, it's official: I have been censored. People in China no longer have the privilege of reading my blog. This is no doubt a result of my last post; human rights is one of the terms that the censors automatically look for when sifting through the vast expanse that is the internet in China. Those characters that you see above? That's Jingjing and Chacha (from the Chinese word jingcha, which means police), who were created by the Chinese government to act as constant reminders that on the internet, you're always being watched! Last spring semester at Maryland I wrote an extensive (soon to be published!) paper on censorship of the internet in China - I never would have thought I would experience it for myself! Oh well, like my friends and I always say: T.I.C. - this is China. Don't worry about not being able to read about my China adventures - because I work at the LA Times office in Beijing, I'm able to override the censors and continue to provide all of you with details and honest insight and analysis of my experiences here in the Middle Kingdom. So get psyched to read about how this Security Council delegate from South Africa saved the world from the nuclear advance of Iran in the upcoming Asian International Model United Nations post!

Also, I have provided some links to other China blogs. Some of them are funny and satirical, some serious and informative. All of them are worth checking out!

Cold War Mentalities?

First of all, I would just like to apologize for the recent lack of blog activity. I’ve been extremely busy lately (I'll explain later). In fact, this is the first day I’ve had completely free in a while. Anyway…

I didn’t know this, but apparently each year, when the US State Department releases its typically scathing report on human rights in China, the Chinese release their own, also scathing, report on human rights in the US. Two Fridays ago, the translated version appeared in the China Daily (China’s daily English newspaper). When I glanced at the paper after picking it up from the people at the front desk, I noticed that news of the report appeared on the front page under the headline, “US report on human rights ‘shows Cold War mentality’” (http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/cndy/2007-03/09/content_823143.htm). The opening paragraph states, “The United States is adopting a ‘Cold War mentality’ by pointing its finger groundlessly at the human rights situations in other countries, according to a report published by the Information Office of the State Council yesterday”.

I was intrigued by the article, which went on to mention that the report could be found in its entirety in section 2 of the paper, so me being the curious China watcher that I am, I immediately flipped to section 2. Sure enough, right after an extensive article about US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson’s visit to China and the global importance of Sino-US relations and right before the day’s feature sports articles on the “amazing golf legacy” of Tiger Woods and, of course, the latest news from around the NBA, was the Chinese report on human rights in the US, under the heading, “Are truth, justice the American way?” I’m going to provide a link to the page so you can see it for yourselves – it really is worth glancing over if you have the time... http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/cndy/2007-03/09/content_823215.htm

What I found somewhat surprising about this government-issued report was the fact that, as evidenced by the citation listed after each issue, all of the information comes from American news sources or various reports issued by a range of different US governmental agencies and NGOs. It’s as if someone did a LexisNexis (a search engine used to find articles from a wealth of news sources) or Google search for an assortment of problems that currently exist in the US and plastered it all together under the guise of a “Human Rights Report”. As I was perusing the report, I simply grew more and more baffled at what I was reading. My sense of bewilderment did not come from the fact that that the Chinese had listed false information. In fact, everything in the report is true, however unfortunate that is. I was bewildered because literally every issue listed was something I was already aware of, something I knew Americans read about regularly in books, magazines, newspapers, and the internet, or see frequently on feature nightly news segments, or hear discussed in the halls of Congress and various state and local governments – yet the Chinese government was reporting all of this as if it were new information. I’ll agree that the information in the report does not necessarily reflect well on the US, but at least it’s not hidden information, and at least people are working everyday for solutions to the problems listed. That’s the main difference between the two reports: The Chinese report on the US consisted of the reiteration of problems that are public knowledge and that people are constantly working to remedy, whereas the US State Department report on China consists of problems the Chinese government refuses to acknowledge and, in most cases, resolve. At any rate, it was an interesting read and was something I considered worth mentioning.

On a different note, I recently took some pictures of inside the subway station during rush hour on my way back from work to give you somewhat of an idea of what the Beijing subway is like…

Also, this past week/weekend I participated in the Asian International Model United Nations conference here at PKU. It was an amazing experience, and I’ll make sure to update all of you with a blog entry about it soon!

T.I.C. - This Is China

T.I.C. is my study abroad program’s latest catchphrase. It stands for “This Is China”. It originated after watching “Blood Diamond” (a GREAT movie that I highly recommend) on the long bus ride back from our spring break trip to Shanxi province. There is one scene during the movie when one of the characters, a South African diamond smuggler played by Leonardo DiCaprio is talking to another character, an American journalist played by Jennifer Connelly, and makes the remark, “T.I.A. – This Is Africa”, a phrase he uses to explain the harsh reality that is Africa, specifically the diamond trade. Well, by changing the A to a C, this acronym can easily be used to sum up China’s many idiosyncrasies. Seriously, there’s really no other way to explain the people doing aerobics outside of Worker’s Stadium in Beijing at midnight, or the fireworks that have been going off 24/7 for the past two weeks, or the funny English translations of signs, or the profusion of tacky Christmas decorations through March in a typically unreligious country, or the seemingly widespread lack of what we Americans like to call common courtesy – I could go on and on. There’s many a time where I’ve found myself muttering “T.I.C.” under my breath, as it’s the only way I’m able to explain whatever odd sight I’ve seen or strange situation I find myself in. I also use it in an attempt to keep my frustrations with Chinese culture to a minimum.

The subway is probably where I find myself most frustrated with Chinese culture. Beijing’s subway system is actually much cleaner and efficient than I had initially expected. However, it is also extremely crowded, usually reeks of body odor and bad breath, and it is on the subway and in the subway station that you experience some of the worst manners Beijing has to offer (granted, I will admit that this lack of manners is probably just Chinese culture in general, and I probably sound like some kind of arrogant American snob, and certainly people in the West are not perfect, but it can be quite irritating for someone who has always been accustomed to at least some common courtesy). If there is one thing that grosses me out the most in China so far (besides the bathrooms), it is the spitting. Everywhere you go (and I mean EVERYWHERE), you will hear people clearing their throats as loudly and conspicuously as possible before emitting into the air a huge wad of spit. Lovely, I know. So I was taking the subway back to Beida from the LA Times office one day, sitting there, reading the China Daily, minding my own business, when this woman holding a bag sits down next to me. I soon found out, much to my horror, that she was using this bag as something to spit in, as you’re not allowed to spit on the floor of the subway. Every couple of minutes or so, she would clear her throat and spit. I was lucky enough to deal with it all the way to my stop. Would you believe that it was so crowded I couldn’t even get up to move? Every time she spit, I would think to myself “T.I.C.”. Another time, I was standing near the subway doors when the guy squashed against the doors next to me was incessantly clearing his throat, getting ready for his grand exit from the subway car when he could de-board and spit like a camel into a subway station trashcan. The entire time, I thought to myself – you guessed it – “T.I.C.”.

Even the government realizes Beijing has a spitting problem, and they’re trying to get rid of it before the Olympics! Check out this China Daily article...http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/2008/2007-02/08/content_804333.htm

Another thing that I find funny about the Beijing subway is that you get to see the transformation of a normally tranquil people into a frantic mob. Honestly, I’ve never seen anything like it. People will be milling about the subway platform, reading the newspaper, talking on their cell phone, listening to music, when suddenly, the train arrives and chaos ensues as the subway doors open and there is a mad rush to find a seat. I’ve seen old women elbowed out of the way by greedy young adults scuttling to find a seat even though they’ll probably get off at the next stop. In DC I would get dirty looks if I even dared enter the metro car before everyone getting off the train had exited. Not so in Beijing. For those few seconds that the subway doors are open, you would think that these peoples’ livelihoods depended on getting a seat. You can see the red in their eyes as they show no mercy in ramming through young children, the elderly, the sick, and anyone else who gets in their way. It’s crazy. Then the doors close and everything is back to normal until the next stop when the process starts all over again. T.I.C.!

I guess the main reason why T.I.C. is such a great phrase is because most of the time, it’s really the only way to explicate certain things we’ve experienced in China. It’s a way to help soothe the culture shock. There are many times when I find myself uncomfortable, grossed out, frustrated, and yearning for the comforts of America like no other – and it’s during these times that it helps to remind myself, T.I.C. – This is China. It’s polluted, crowded, rough, unmannerly, and completely overrun by the government, but this is China, and right now all I can really do is deal with it. To be honest, despite all of China’s short-comings, this has proven to be one of the greatest experiences of my entire life, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I’m so glad I chose to test my limits by going to such a distant, curious place. In fact, no longer do I have the same desire that I once had to go to some of the more typically frequented areas such as Western Europe or the Caribbean. No, now I want to see some of the world’s more intriguing places – more of Asia, Russia, the Middle East, South America, Africa. One of my friends told me that once you have an experience like this, you get addicted. Well, I think I’m getting addicted. But in the meantime, I think I’ll just try to make it through the next two months in China!

Here are some examples of times when all you can say is..."T.I.C.!":