JOURNALISM AT
THE G20 SIMULATION
On November 25th, 2017, the CLE hosted EdUHK’ s first simulation of the G20 Summit. The event brought EdUHK students from a variety of programmes together for a full day of debate on different international issues, including terrorism, the refugee crisis, carbon emissions, and international educational standards. Our keynote speakers were Dr. Mark Michaelson and Professor Christine Halse.
A group of students acted as journalists representing different international news outlets. Their real-time“ tweets” during the conference can still be seen @ G20EdUHK. In this edition of the newsletter, we are publishing two of their articles: one from the“ United Nations News Centre,” the other from“ Fox News.”
Will the dream of global collaboration finally come true?
Discrepancies related to“ global collaboration” on the refugee crisis were a cause for concern at the G20 summit. Janice Ng reporting from the summit.
On the 25th of November 2017, leaders from around the world came together with the same goal – to solve world crises. Witnessing all the heated debates turn into peaceful agreements, one cannot help but to stop and contemplate the unity of our world. As a representative from the UN News Centre, I was inspired by the diverse perspectives on this headline-worthy issue, the refugee crisis.
The refugee crisis has long been a global conundrum. With the flood of asylum seekers, countries are struggling with the resettlement of refugees. At the G20 summit, during the sector meetings, the representative of the European Union stated that European countries need help to relieve the pressure on Europe for the placement of refugees. Other nations are now offering a helping hand. Countries including the U. S used the word‘ collaboration’ multiple times throughout the meeting, giving opaque statements on the measures they will take in near future. However, Russia and the U. S strongly asserted the need to differentiate between refugees according to religious backgrounds, as reported from the G20 meetings.
When asked why this was such an important factor, the U. S Minister of Foreign Affairs repeatedly stressed that the U. S is suffering immense pressure from the influx of refugees. He mentioned,“ It would be reasonable for us to prioritize Christian refugees as the U. S has more Christians than Muslims.” Refugees of different religions leave their homelands because of equally horrendous living conditions, so is religious bias by the U. S, a country that promotes cultural diversity, an act of discrimination?
Additionally, there has been controversy caused by differing stances on the repatriation of displaced people. The U. S Minister of Foreign Affairs proclaimed,“ We have military grounds around their countries. Retaliation will be considered if countries are uncooperative about accepting their citizens back.” Is this a threat to other countries? If the U. S proposes military intervention in war-torn countries, will it trigger more terrorist attacks? The United States’ impulsive comment may create an embolden countries such as Russia to join in this type of intervention.
The Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sandy Ho, during debate. She later won Best Delegate.
9 DECEMBER 2017