Wu Jianmin Foundation initiates a Visiting Program for Youths – Experience the United Nations

The closing ceremony of the "Beijing International Model United Nations" and launching ceremony of the "Experience the United Nations" Visiting Program for Youths (EUNP) was held in the auditorium at the Shahe Campus of CFAU on May 13, 2018. The 4-day MUN was hosted by CFAU and co-sponsored by the Beijing Wu Jianmin Foundation (WJF) under the joint guidance of the MOF, MOE, CCCYL and UNA-China, and attended by over 700 young students from 176 universities and high schools in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao and other countries.

Chairman of the WJF Ambassador Shi Yanhua, WJF Senior Advisor and Chief Expert of the EUNP Ambassador Sha Zukang and WJF Secretary-General Feng Wei attended the ceremony.

Ambassador Wu Jianmin devoted his life to China's diplomacy and dedicated his life to safeguarding the interest of the country and its people. As a diplomat of the PRC, Ambassador Wu had a deep-rooted connection to the United Nations. When China resumed its legal seat in the UN in 1971, he became a member of the first Chinese delegation to the UN. Since 1987, he served as head of the research team and a member of the party committee of the Permanent Mission of the PRC to the UN. From 1996 to 1998, he served as the representative of the Permanent Mission of the PRC to the UN Office at Geneva and other international organizations in Switzerland.

As Ambassador Wu said, "I worked in the UN for nearly a decade consecutively. I grew from someone who knows nothing to getting the hang of it, from a translator to the director of several topics, to carrying out researches and analysis of major events and the global climate. I gradually realized the role and significance of diplomacy, and learned to enjoy the fun of communicating with others despite a tight schedule."

The United Nations is a window for diplomats of all countries, a university for diplomats, and the most important multilateral diplomatic arena in the world. Here, outstanding diplomats demonstrate their wisdom, greatly benefiting everyone engaged in their work. Here, you can learn how to use the procedures and rules to handle multilateral international affairs, listen to the wonderful speeches of diplomatic legends, understand the principles and arts of diplomatic negotiations and rhetoric battle over foreign affairs, and broaden your vision and hone your ability. Here, you can witness the ferocious debate at meetings and experience the deliberation for major resolutions.

In view of this, WJF launched the "Experience the United Nations" Visiting Program for Youths, aiming to provide outstanding young students willing to engage in foreign affairs an opportunity to go out and directly observe international affairs, broaden their vision and deepen their roots, so as to lay a better foundation for becoming good diplomats.

CFAU has been hailed as "the cradle of Chinese diplomats." In 1995 it introduced model UN activities to China for the first time. With efforts made over the years, BIMUN has become as one of the most famous MUN activities in China and the Asian-Pacific region, demonstrating the top academic and commercial level of China's MUN as a banner of MUN activities nationwide. This year, the BIMUN fully applied the Beijing Rules of Procedure (BRoP) initiated by the CFAU Model United Nations Association to create a more rigorous academic atmosphere, exposing the delegates to a more realistic meeting setting.

Since 2018, WJF will working with the CFAU to set up the "Ambassador Wu Jianmin Award," which will be granted to 10 students, 5 from the BIMUN delegates and 5 from the CFAU Model UN Association. Interested candidates should apply by submitting a thesis, which will be reviewed by a panel of experts consisting of senior advisors from the WJF and CFAU. Finalists will be invited to participate in a study tour in Switzerland in July for exchange and dialogue with officials of international organizations there.

At the opening ceremony, WJF Chairman Ambassador Shi Yanhua delivered a speech, praising CFAU for introducing MUN in 1995 and nurturing it over the past 23 years. The time-honored event has been popular among students, cultivating generations of talents for multilateral diplomacy. The sense of on-site experience at the MUN makes every attendant feel engaged, while the topics selected are closely correlated with international hotspots. Thus, the attendants will be able to understand the UN operation model, the opinions of each country involved and the realities of the countries they represent.

The WJF works with the CFAU. From 2018 onwards, the BIMUN will set up the "Ambassador Wu Jianmin Award," which will be granted to 10 outstanding candidates, supporting them to pay a study tour to Switzerland. This is an opportunity for students to go from model conference to real life, to put theory to practice. “I hope that the award winners will cherish the opportunity and get a deep understanding of the UN and other international organizations. Learn, observe, listen, and share with your peers what you’ve learned, and I believe this experience will be conducive to building your diplomatic capacities and to creating a future in diplomatic and foreign affairs.”

Ambassador Sha Zukang, WJF Senior Advisor and Chief Expert of the EUNP said, “Ambassador Wu Jianmin was my former leader and close comrade in arms. We fought side by side and I learned a lot from him. I want to take this opportunity to ask you to learn from Mr. Wu in the following three aspects. First, his devotion to China and China's diplomacy; Second, his endurance and perseverance as a bridge and messenger connecting China and the UN. I hope that you will follow suit to tell the China story to the rest of the world, and to tell the story of the world to China; Last but not least, I hope that you can cherish and make the best of this opportunity to visit Switzerland, hone your skills and improve yourselves, so that you will become elite multilateral diplomats as soon as possible.”

Later, Chairman Shi, Ambassador Sha, VP Sun and SG Feng came to the podium and pressed the kick-off bar together, which marked the official launch of the EUNP; They also granted the "Ambassador Wu Jianmin Award" to the winners.

Feng Wei, Secretary-General of the Beijing WJF, told reporters that it was his first close contact with the MUN and he was impressed with how “real” it was. “I have worked in the UN, and I find this MUN to be not only true to the form of the UN but also to its content. Their topics were real, as were their concerns and the rules of procedure and methods of consultation,” “I am particularly impressed that all the students have been well prepared and are very knowledgeable. They have a practical understanding of some of the issues, and some of their suggestions and proposed solutions also have real potential. To a certain extent, the MUN is the ideal version of the UN. These outstanding participants constitute a reserve force for China's future engagement in multilateral diplomacy. I congratulate them on their achievements, and I am more convinced that it is the right decision to set up the "Ambassador Wu Jianmin Award" to add to the successful learning model of the MUN, paving their way to the UN, where they can perfect and test the knowledge and skills they have learned and become better prepared for their future in multilateral diplomacy.

As the 4-day MUN assembly is about to conclude, Vice President of CFAU Sun Jisheng said in her closing remarks that it has been a fruitful event where delegates improved their visions and developed their abilities. She congratulated the students on their outstanding performance. She commented that the EUNP program co-sponsored by CFAU and WJF would help the young people to broaden their perspectives, put their skills into practice and develop their capabilities in multilateral diplomacy. “I would like to thank Ambassador Shi Yanhua and President Wu Jiansheng. Dear students, you are embracing a brand-new world, and the future is yours. I hope that you will study hard to become higher-caliber talents so as to contribute to building a community with a shared future for mankind,” she said.

The award winners will go to Geneva, Lausanne and Zurich in mid July 2018 for a 10-day visit, where they will meet the leaders of the Permanent Mission of the PRC to the UN Office at Geneva and other international organizations in Switzerland. They will also visit the UN headquarters in Geneva (Palace of Nations) for exchange and dialogue with UN officials as well as officials from other international organizations, and they will have the opportunity to sit in on meetings of the relevant international organizations and participate in discussions if possible.