Tuesday, January 26, 2010

CHINA's COUNTRY PROFILE

Country Profile
Physical Geography
Official Name of Country-People's Republic of China
Climate-extremely diverse; tropical in south to subarctic in north
Political Geography
Type of government, names of the officials, and major political parties- Communist, Hu-Jingtao
Capital-Beijing
International Organization participation-
ADB, AfDB (nonregional member), APEC, APT, ARF, ASEAN (dialogue partner), BIS, CDB, EAS, FAO, G-20, G-24 (observer), G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, LAIA (observer), MIGA, MINURSO, MONUC, NAM (observer), NSG, OAS (observer), OPCW, PCA, PIF (partner), SAARC (observer), SCO, SICA (observer), UN, UN Security Council, UNAMID, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNITAR, UNMIL, UNMIS, UNMIT, UNOCI, UNTSO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC
Size of armed forces-
Fit for military service.
Males age 16-49: 314,459,083
Females age 16-49: 296,763,134 (2009 est.)
Available for military service
males age 16-49: 375,009,345
females age 16-49: 354,314,328 (2008 est.)
Cultural Geography
Official language, and other languages spoken, ethnic composition, and major religions-
Standard Chinese or Mandarin (Putonghua, based on the Beijing dialect), Yue (Cantonese), Wu (Shanghainese), Minbei (Fuzhou), Minnan (Hokkien-Taiwanese), Xiang, Gan, Hakka dialects, minority languages (see Ethnic groups entry)
Population, population growth rate, and population distribution
Population-1,338,612,968 (July 2009 est.) Population growth rate- 0.655% (2009 est.)
Major cities-Shanghai, Tianjin, Shenyang, Beijing.

Infant mortality rate and average life expectancy
total: 20.25 deaths/1,000 live births
country comparison to the world: 103
male: 18.87 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 21.77 deaths/1,000 live births (2009 est.)
Economic Geography
GNP (Gross National Product) and GDP (Gross Domestic Product)
GDP
$8.767 trillion (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 3
$8.088 trillion (2008 est.)
$7.42 trillion (2007 est.)
note: data are in 2009 US dollars
Percent of arable land used for agriculture- arable land: 14.86%
Natural resources
coal, iron ore, petroleum, natural gas, mercury, tin, tungsten, antimony, manganese, molybdenum, vanadium, magnetite, aluminum, lead, zinc, uranium, hydropower potential (world's largest)
Major agricultural and industrial products
rice, wheat, potatoes, corn, peanuts, tea, millet, barley, apples, cotton, oilseed; pork; fish
Major exports and imports
EX: electrical and other machinery, including data processing equipment, apparel, textiles, iron and steel, optical and medical equipment
IM: electrical and other machinery, oil and mineral fuels, optical and medical equipment, metal ores, plastics, organic chemicals
1.00 CNY
=
4.69229 TWD
Currency (include exchange rate vs. TWD)


Balance of trade (include amounts in TWD currency of total exports and imports)
IN: $921.5 billion (2009 est.) =29,506,845,735,456.78 TWD
EX: $1.194 trillion (2009 est.)= 38,254,048,191,573.66 TWD


Historical events (Timeline format from 1980 to present; give your teacher 10 major events)

E
1980: Special Economic Zones in Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Shantou (Guangdong), Xiamen (Fujian), and the entire province of Hainan.

M
1980: Stop of the surface test program of nuclear bombs near Lop Nor in Xinjiang province after 23 tests.

P
1980: Early 1980s: Debates between "Reds" who favour ideological correctness and "Technocrats" who promote pragmatic reform.

E
1980-1990: Great improvement of China's food security. Significant reduction of rural poverty.

T
1980, June: Timothy Berners-Lee writes "Enquire" - a program that became the conceptual basis for the World Wide Web (www).

E
1980, Aug.: First Special Economic Zones are established in Shenzhen.

T
1981, Sept.: Successful launch of three satellites (SJ-2, SJ-2A, SJ-2b) on one rocket into orbit.

S
1982: China's population surpasses 1 billion people.

L
1982, Dec.: The Fifth National People's Congress adopts a new constitution for China.

E
1984: 14 coastal cities are completely opened to foreign investment.

P
1984, Jan.: China joins the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)

P
1984, April: State Council authorizes Yangtze Valley Planning Office to draft feasibility report for Three Gorges Dam project.

D
1985: Free higher education is abolished and replaced by academic scholarships based on academic ability.

P
1985-1988: "Cultural Fever": Intellectuals identify China's "feudal" traditions as reason for backwardness.

D
1986: Legislation concerning compulsory education (usually 6 years).

P
1986: Thousands of students all over China are demonstrating for greater intellectual freedom.

I
1986: Foudation of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC)

E
1986: Deng Xiaoping boosts "Open-door" policy to encourage Foreign Direct Investments.

L
1986: The Sixth National People's Congress adpots new Civil Law of the People's Republic of China.

L
1986-1995: Addministrative regulations of 1986 and 1996 allow forced labor camps for re-education (laodong jiaoyang).

S
1987: Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) comes to China. Introduction of Western-style fast-food to China.

P
1987, Jan.: The too "liberal" General Secretary of China's Communist Party, Hu Yaobang, is forced to resign

P
1988: By mid-1988 the CCP annouces that its membership has increased to the all-time high of 47 million.

E
1988: Excessive economic growth with rampand corruption and out-of-control inflation of 18.5%.

C
1988-1993: Chinese movie directors win important international competitions.

T
1988, March: China successfully launches the DFH-2A fully operational communication satellite into earth's orbit.

C
1988, Nov.: TV series "River Elegy" is criticized as "wholesale Westernization" and banned.

C
1989: France’s Hachette Filipacchi starts to publish a Chinese version of the fashion magazine "Elle".

V
1989: Revision of the environmental legislation from 1979.

P
1989: Jiang Zemin replaces Zhao Ziyang as CCP General Secretary.

P
1989, April: Hu Yaobang dies.

P
1989, June: Crack down of Tiananmen Square demonstrations with military power (official death toll: 200)

P
1989, June: In Madrid (Spain), the European Council of Ministers agrees to an EU-wide arms embargo against China.

E
1989, Dec.: Stock markets are opened in Shanghai and Shenzhen.
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January 27th - January 29th

Ni hao,

OK, everyone should be paired up with a partner. The schedule is listed below. Read it and ask either Mr. Barker, Mr. Poole, or myself if you have any questions. Please note that some of the countries have been changes. Maldives is now Seychelles. Norway is now Germany.

Jia you!

The Staff
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Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Model UN Winter Course Outline

Model UN Winter Course Outline


 

Day One (Thursday)

  1. We will discuss environmental problems throughout the world.
  2. You will be assigned your countries.
  3. You will be paired up with another student.
  4. We will see some movie clips and read look for news articles about global warming.


 

Day Two (Friday)

  1. Begin to research.
  2. You will create a country profile.
    1. follow the country profile outline
  3. Complete the worksheet about your country
    1. This will help you figure out where your country stands on the issue and who your "friends" will be during the conference.
  4. When you finish that, begin writing a position paper.
    1. follow the position paper outline
    2. make sure you cite your sources.
    3. Use the following sources…
      1. Internet
      2. Magazine
      3. Speeches from youtube.com


 

Day Three (Wednesday)

  1. You and your partner will finish researching how climate change and other environmental problems are affecting the world.
  2. You and your partner will also finish writing a position paper
    1. follow the position paper outline
    2. make sure you cite your sources.
    3. I also suggest that you split up the research to save time.
  3. After you write your position paper, write out a caucus outline
    1. A caucus outline will help you prepare what you will say during the caucus part of the conference
  4. After you do that, write out your opening remarks that you will make during the conference.
    1. Each person in your group must read half of the speech.
    2. Read loudly and confidently.
    3. Don't give out any plans or strategy during this speech. Just tell everyone what you think about the problem.


 

Day Four (Thursday)

  1. You and your partner must finalize your plan and figure out what you are going to do for the conference.
  2. As a class we will have an overview of what will happen during the conference.
  3. Make sure you have…
    1. a position to fight for
    2. a position paper
    3. a caucus outline
    4. a plan


 

Day Five (Friday)

  1. CONFERENCE
    1. Open Conference
      1. Chair will take role to see who is at the committee and we will begin.
    2. Opening Remarks
      1. Each country will read its' opening remarks.
        1. This should take no longer that two minutes.
    3. Caucus
      1. Each group member runs around the room and talks to other countries and tries to persuade them to vote for your resolution.
    4. Debate
      1. Each country makes arguments in front of the entire committee
    5. Write Resolutions
      1. Write out a plan of how to fix the problem
      2. Remember that you will need other countries to vote for it later.
    6. Vote
      1. Each coutry has one vote.
      2. In order for a resolution to pass, it needs 50% +1 of the countries to vote for it.
    7. Close Conference
      1. Bye bye!
    8. Awards
      1. Certain people will receive awards.


 

Country Assignments

Person

Position

Eric

CHAIR

Kelly and Julia

United States

Murielle and Judy

Nigeria

Danny and Joseph

Maldives

Catherine and Junior

Kuwait

Tiffany and Sabina

Bangladesh

Jason and Dean

Denmark

Lynn and Erin

Bolivia

Liam and Benny

China

Christine and Sarah

Indonesia

Peggy and Rebecca

Burkina Faso

Sebastian and Roger

Singapore

"If you have to compromise, compromise up."

Eleanor Roosevelt
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Important Links for Your Research

Important Links for Your Research


 


 
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Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Resolution Writing – 1-6-2009

Here is an example of a resolution that passed the Security Council.


 

"Topic: Resolution on Restoring the Rights of the PRC, 25 October, 1971

Committee: The Security Council

Sponsored by: China, France, The United Kingdom, The Soviet Union, The United States


 

Preambulatory Clause

    ***This is where you write an entire paragraph that gives a brief overview of what you're doing and why you are voting that way.


 

The General Assembly,

Recalling the Principles of the Charter of the United Nations,

Considering that the restoration of the lawful rights of the People's Republic of China is essential both for the protection of the Charter of the United Nations and for the cause that the United Nations must serve under the Charter,

Recognizing that the representatives of the Government of the People's Republic of China are the only lawful representatives of China to the United Nations and that the People's Republic of China is one of the five permanent members of the Security Council,

Decides to restore all its rights to the People's Republic of China and to recognize the representatives of its government as the only legitimate representatives of China to the United Nations, and to expel forthwith the representatives of Chiang Kai-shek from the place which they unlawfully occupy at the United Nations and in all the organizations related to it. "

Source: 25 Yearbook of the United Nations, 1971, p. 136.

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Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Check it Out - Iran

Ni hao,

In case you (and by "you" I mainly mean Annie) were wondering why Russia changed its' mind, here is a brief overvie courtesy of NBC (American) news. Check it out. Question your sources. Find other sources if you don't believe it or can't afford to believe it.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/32920361#32920361

Mr. Gibson
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Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Agenda for tomorrow

Ni hao,

First off, I know you guys are frustrated, but it is paying off. You are doing much better than you were last conference. Keep it up!

Tomorrow, each of you will have a partner from Whitney High School. Each of your partners will help you during with your strategy and during caucus time. Make sure you have a good position paper and a good caucus outline ready for your partner so they can help you. Also, make sure that you can explain your strategy to them.

During the first hour, we will "break the ice" and you will be assigned your partner. After that, you will spend some time with your partner preparing for the conference and explaining your strategy. During the second hour, we will begin our conference. We will start by taking roll and giving each delegate a chance to speak. After that, we will have a caucus until the end of the period.

I encourage all of you to prepare a strategy for what to say to each country! If you know what each country wants, you are more likely to be successful.

Also, if you are worried about your speech, just think "What would ___________ (your person) say if he/she were speaking?

Wan an,

Mr. Gibson


PS - Here is an example of what this will look like. Everyone just speaks in alphabetical order.

http://www.undemocracy.com/securitycouncil/meeting_5706
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