GA
General Assembly
Established on October 24, 1945, the General Assembly is one of the six main organs along with the establishment of the United Nations under the UN Charter (United Nations, n.d.). The General Assembly occupies a central position as the chief deliberative, policymaking and representative organ of the United Nations. The Assembly is empowered to make recommendations to States on international issues within its competence. In order to facilitate their goals, 6 subsidiary committees have been established to cope with issues regarding politics, economy, humanitarian, society, and legislation which are considered benefitting the lives of millions of people throughout the world.
Currently, the Assembly is composed of all 193 member states in the United Nations. Every year in September, all the Members meet in this forum at Headquarters in New York for the General Assembly session.
This time, we would like to invite the delegates of the General Assembly of 1972 to initiate the debate and discussion on the report made by Special Committee of Decolonization and its suggestion on the removal of Hong Kong from the Non-self-governing Territories List.
TOPIC
The Removal of Hong Kong from
UN Non-Self-Governing Territories List
Since the restoration of the sovereignty of China from the Republic of China (Taiwan) to the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in the United Nations, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has gradually shown their influence in the United Nations. Under the UN Charter, those who were listed as non-self-governing territories should receive assistance from UN to develop self-government and free political institutions. However, the People’s Republic of China declared that British Hong Kong and Portuguese Macau weren’t colonies but instead a Chinese territory ruled by foreign authorities,namely British and Portugal authorities.
In this conference, we would like to invite delegates to trace back to November 2, 1972, where the General Assembly initiated a discussion based on the “Non-self-governing Territories List” which included the Removal of Hong Kong from “UN Non-self-governing Territories List” and requires delegates to focus on the request of the removal of HongKong. Furthermore, delegates shall redeem segments regarding the removal of Hong Kong as a non-self-governing territory in Draft Resolution 2908 and eventually revote on the document.
Main Chair / Vivian Chen
Greetings! I am Vivian Chen. I studied in Chinese University of Hong Kong, and I am currently studying in NTU. I started to participate in MUN in 2015, and I served as Under-Secretary-General of Academics in HSNUMUN. In addition to MUN, I am an active participant in NGO work and civic society. In the two very different fields of MUN and civic society, I realized that our social responsibility needs to be fulfilled by understanding the issues and taking substantial actions. Therefore, I feel honored to serve as main chair in HSMUN 2020.
In the anti-extradition law movement, a lot of Taiwanese showed tremendous support to Hong Kong. I hope in today, 2020, we still remember Hong Kong as a courageous city, and further explore its past, status quo and future. Both Taiwan and Hong Kong are facing the severe challenge of Chinese factor. Therefore, our fate is in some degree inter-related. Understanding Hong Kong, is also understanding our future challenges.
I hope after this conference, delegates will be able to analyze Hong Kong issues on a deeper level. Hopefully, delegates will remain passionate about issues concerning Hong Kong and try to find their own unique position of understanding or supporting different Hong Kong agendas.
Co-Chair / Amber Cheng
Honourable participants of HSMUN 2020,
My name is Amber Cheng, a sophomore (G10) from I-Shou International School (IIS). It is my utmost honor to serve in HSMUN this year as the co-chair of the General Assembly and the forum. This marks my sixteenth conference as well as my sixth time chairing.
When I first knew about MUN as a seventh-grader, I didn't realise how powerful, or life-changing it could be. Being an active MUNer through these few years as a delegate, advocate, chair and advisor, I can feel how MUN cannot take actions to help the world directly. But through MUN, I am able to engage in more global issues and think critically, which prepares me to be a better global citizen. I hope this will be true for all of you as well.
Aside from MUN, I also enjoy playing the violin, piano, making speeches, going to debates, playing soccer, ultimate frisbee, as well as editing videos and filming.
I encourage all delegates to try their best in preparing and participating in the conference. Good luck, and I’m looking forward to meeting you all!
Co-Chair / Brian Chou
Greetings, my name is Brian Chou, currently a freshman majoring in Business and Law in the Chinese University of Hong Kong but will be transferring back to National ChengChi University for Accounting in the following semester. My Model United Nations journey started in the freshman year of my high school life. Throughout these years, what I have realized is that even though MUN may not embody the authentic world and there are definitely many things that the United Nations may not accomplish, our participation and what we do try to achieve is to get close to perfection. It is really my pleasure to serve as the co-chair of the General Assembly this time.
In the past, many MUN conferences tended to choose certain issues that are widely discussed and commonly seen. This time, we would like all delegates in the General Assembly to discuss a quite sensitive issue which is not common in MUN, which is the removal of Hong Kong from the NGSTs List. Also, the forum following the conference will focus on the current situation in Hong Kong and the future of Hong Kong, which is something we hope to be discussed and to understand why this once prosperous city has turned unstable and controversial today.