Position Paper Policy Well-prepared and successful delegates all have used position papers as a way to get through MUN conferences. Well-written position papers consolidate your research and ensure that you will be an able participant in quality debate. Consequently, debate will be more rewarding and resolutions will be more realistic and thorough. For your staff, the position paper illustrates your grasp of the topics and your overall ability to support your ideas. The submission of position ​ papers is mandatory in order to qualify for awards. ​ Formatting All papers should not exceed 1 page - 12 point font and in Times New Roman with 1.15 spacing - Country Name, Delegate Name, Committee Name, and Topic clearly labeled on the top left-hand corner in that order - APA citation style Paragraph I - TOPIC SUMMARY Introduction to your main topic Explain the significance of the problem from your country’s position. ● You should discuss your country’s perspective on the problem as it manifests itself at a national and international level. ● Refer back to the Historical Analysis in the background Guide for insight. Select some key points that your country believes the committee debate should focus on. Paragraph II - PAST SOLUTIONS ● Identify and discuss past actions from your country and the international community. Discuss the implications of those actions in addressing the problem. Paragraph III - PROPOSED SOLUTIONS ● Identify and discuss some of your country’s proposed solutions. ● What country blocks will support or not support your proposed solutions? Why or why not? ● How can your country or the international community realistically initiate your solutions? ● What are some of the key elements that must be included in a new resolution on the topic? Please send all papers in PDF format with the subject title as “Position Paper: Country Name, First and Last Name” (Ex. Position Paper: United Kingdom, Theresa May) Please Submit your Position Paper before midnight on March 29th to [email protected] ​ Delegates who would like to receive feedback on their position paper must have them submitted before March 27th. 1 Staff Introduction: Hello delegates and Welcome to the HK LegCo Committee! Our names are Justin Look and Gordon Kean. We will be co-directing the HK LegCo Committee of the ShawMun Conference, 2020. We are permanent residents of Hong Kong and have always been passionate about the ever polar political climate of Hong Kong. In particular Hong Kong’s complicated relationship with China as a Special Administrative Region (SAR). Amongst ourselves, we often discuss possible solutions and similarities that could avoid polarization between the two heated parties. Our objectives for these upcoming committee sessions are to help beginner delegates understand the systems of how committee sessions work and prepare delegates for future conferences. Additionally, we would like to encourage the experienced delegates to create stimulating and rousing debates, whilst trying to maintain a fair extent of organization and diplomacy in order to move things forward. We will be working alongside Melody Lin to give you the best MUN experience possible. Melody has been involved in the MUN community internationally; she has been to conferences in the Philippines, Canada, and other countries. We believe working with someone with such great international exposure will widen our perspectives and help us look at things in the greater picture. Furthermore, being from Taiwan, a country that has received independence and is operating with its own resources and government systems, she can give great insights in terms of Hong Kong’s potential independent future. Sincerely, Justin Look & Gordon Kean Directors of LegCo // ShawMun 2020 2 Table of Contents 1. Overview 4 a. The extradition treaty 4-7 b. What fuelled the protest’s continuation? 7 c. Hong Kong’s complicated relationship with China 8 2. Polarization between the two Parties (Protesters V. Government) 9 a. Protester’s stance 9 i. 5 Demands 10 ii. The Basic Law (Brief) 11 b. Police aggression and protester aggression 11-12 c. Government’s stance 12 i. Carrie Lam- Chief Executive of Hong Kong 13 ii. Reaction based government and lack of proactiveness. 13 d. Polarized Media i. Western media representation 14 ii. Eastern media representation 14 e. Solutions 14 3. China and Hong Kong’s dissolving borders 15 a. One country two systems 15 b. 2047 July 1st 15-16 c. Actions led to a dissolving border 16-18 d. China’s tightened grip of Hong Kong 19 e. Xi Jinping’s ideology 19 i. Communism and Socialism 19 ii. Prosperity and wealth gap 19 f. Solutions 19 4. Sources Cited 20 3 Questions to Consider: 1. What are the main factors contributing to polarization between the Hong Kong Government and protesters? 2. What are the impacts politically and economically if the 5 demands are met? 3. How does the government’s stance on the protest differ from that of the protester’s stance? 4. As a legislative member, what are some of the foreseeable solutions that can minimize polarization and increase commonalities? 5. What does your job in the Legislature feel about this polarization (What’s your character’s stance?) 6. How do Hong Kong and China dissolving borders act as a benefit or cost to Hong Kong’s political and economic structure? 7. What does Hong Kong’s democratic index indicate, in terms of the dissolving borders? 8. Does your character’s stance support the dissolving borders before the year 2047? 9. What’s the significance of Basic Law after 2047? Overview: The 2019 Hong Kong Anti-ELAB protests are the culmination of years worth of frustration with the Hong Kong and Mainland Chinese government among the general Hong Kong populace. The protesters originally exclusively sought the full withdrawal of the extradition bill introduced by the Hong Kong government, but have since grown to five demands; - Fully withdraw the extradition bill - Set up an independent inquiry to probe police brutality - Withdraw a characterization of early protests as "riots" (Gu Liping, 2019) - Release those arrested at protests 4 - Implement universal suffrage in Hong Kong With no solution in sight, delegates will represent members of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong (LegCo) and attempt to establish commonality in the ever-hostile political climate that LegCo entails. This is a specialized agency focusing on Hong Kong’s political and economic issues regarding the ongoing protest. The LegCo is going to be split 50/50, one half being pro-Beijing and one being pro-Hong Kong. Furthermore, this agency will attempt to analyze and resolve issues such as police brutality and the dissolving border of this special administrative region. The Hong Kong specialized agency will provide an especially unique and valuable experience that will test delegates’ negotiation skills while behaving diplomatically as well as their ability to abide by their assigned LegCo members’ standpoint on the issue. The ultimate goal of these committee sessions will be to search for common ground and not to form polarized parties, as that will lead to more tensions within the Hong Kong Legislative Council. In order to tackle these issues with an in-depth level of detail, we will narrow down to two specific topics. These topics are: 1. Polarization between Hong Kong Protesters and the Hong Kong Government 2. Gradual erosion of Hong Kong's autonomy from China before 2047 Timeline: 1839- 1860 - the Opium War took place, which led to Hong Kong’s special administrative status. ​ The wars were fought in the mid 19th century due to England's attempted distribution of opium to the Chinese populace. The war resulted in a Chinese loss with the consequence being the concession of Hong Kong to the British Empire. July 1997 - Hong Kong is Handed over back to China as a Special Administrative region with ​ terms and conditions listed under the basic law. 2014 - The umbrella movement was founded, a movement asking for one person one vote. ​ 5 February 2019 - Hong Kong’s Security Bureau proposes amendments to extradition laws that ​ would allow extraditions to countries, including mainland China, beyond the 20 states with which Hong Kong already has treaties. March 31 - Thousands take to the streets to protest against the proposed extradition bill. ​ April 3 - Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam’s government introduces amendments to the extradition ​ laws that would allow criminal suspects to be sent to mainland China for trial. April 28 - Tens of thousands of people march on the Legislative Council to demand the ​ scrapping of the proposed amendments. May 11 -Protests break out in the legislature between pro-democracy lawmakers and those loyal ​ to Beijing. May 30 - Concessions to the extradition bill introduced but critics say they are not enough. ​ June 6 - More than 3,000 Hong Kong lawyers dressed in black take part in a rare protest march. ​ June 9 - More than half a million people take to the streets. ​ June 12 - Police fire rubber bullets and tear gas during the city’s largest and most violent ​ protests in decades. Government offices are shut. June 15 - Lam indefinitely delays proposed extradition law. ​ July 1 - Protesters storm the Legislative Council on the 22nd anniversary of the handover from ​ British to Chinese rule, destroying pictures and daubing walls with graffiti. July 9 - Lam says the extradition bill is dead and that government work on it had been a “total ​ failure”. July 21 - Men in white T-shirts, some armed with poles, storm a train at rural Yuen Long station, ​ attacking passengers and passers-by, after several thousand activists surrounded China’s representative office. July 30 - Forty-four activists are charged with rioting, the first time the charge has been used ​ during the protests. Aug. 9 - China’s aviation regulator demands Hong Kong flag carrier Cathay Pacific suspend ​ personnel who have taken part in the protests.