Chapter 13: Neglected and Noticed (1)
Chen Ying never knew why the school attached so much importance to this department-level event held during the winter break. But when she walked into the building of the School of International Relations in a formal suit, wearing a name tag, and carrying the conference materials, her previous anxiety and worries were swept away, and a wave of enthusiasm poured out in her heart for some reason, and she began to hope that every day here could be spent to the fullest.
The venue of the event was the newly completed building of the School of International Relations, where all the facilities are compared to the best universities abroad. Not only are the seats in the classroom covered with red velvet cushions, but even the wooden chairs are placed with cushions. The seating positions and desks are set up in the form of round tables, and in each classroom, the chairs are arranged in two concentric circles with notches against the lectern. The lectern is tall and light-coloured wooden, with three microphones side by side and a device in the upper left corner of the table that controls the projector next to it. There are laser pointers and volume adjusters in the table drawer as aids when speaking. Each classroom has bright grey-framed floor-to-ceiling windows, and the upper floors overlook the entire campus. The classrooms are covered with gray chemical fiber carpets, and the floor of the corridors is almost unpatterned white marble. There is white heating on the walls, and the entire building is equipped with six elevators even though it is only five floors. There is also a two-metre-wide barrier-free passage next to the steps of the ordinary staircase. At the corners of each floor, bilingual signs and road signs are placed in English and Chinese to indicate where meetings will take place.
Chen Ying arrived neither early nor late. She followed the flow of people into the building and followed the direction of the sign into the venue. This is probably the largest meeting room in the building, and there are also two rows of concentric round tables with notches, but the notches in the circles are facing a total of nine rows of parallel seats. The speaking position in the center of the circle is square, and the speaker can face any angle. On each side of the wall, there are two large ultra-clear flat screen TVs, which can be displayed on the screen if anyone is speaking. Rows of small lights overhead illuminate the entire classroom very clearly. Each seat of the parallel seat is equipped with a microphone, and there is a speech button next to the armrest of the seat, which can remind the host at any time that he has opinions to express. The whole room was also covered with a gray carpet, and walking on it did not make a sound.
The entire meeting was modeled after the United Nations Constitution, but in practice, the official language of the conference was Chinese. The students were seated according to the number of countries represented by their name plates, and the delegates were seated by geographical division, with the exception of the permanent members and the representatives of the countries to be spoken. Chen Ying sat in the European seat with more than 20 other delegates. Her seat was right next to the African seat. Sitting next to her was a muscular boy with a straight nose and a wide mouth and a pair of black-rimmed glasses.
"What is the EU's biggest concern this time?" He asked Chen Ying quietly, his eyes still looking ahead.
"This is an internal secret of the Alliance, and I have nothing to say." Chen Ying whispered.
"This committee will last more than an hour, and we need to listen to the representatives of the six countries before deciding on the topic to be discussed first. Are you the representative of the EU? ”
"No, it's France."
"Okay, let's take turns."
After he finished speaking, he spread out his notebook and looked at the big screen with Chen Ying. A long-haired girl, who was the representative of France, stepped up to the podium and began to state her views. When she had finished, the representative of Sweden took the podium. This is an international student from Africa, and unlike most Africans in my impression, he has a round head and a round head, and his whole body is chubby. He spoke Chinese fluently and clearly, and Chen Ying sincerely admired it in her heart. As soon as he had finished speaking, the representative of Spain would follow up. The tall, lanky girl repeatedly talked about environmental pollution, and the more she talked, the more energetic she became, and finally the chairman had to remind her that she was about to run out of time. As soon as the views were presented, the members of the African and Asian delegations took turns to speak.
"Europe has always been holding on to carbon emissions." The boy was whispering again.
"Aren't environmental issues important?" Chen Ying said as far as her lips could not move.
He was about to argue something, when the President of the General Assembly asked for a vote on the choice of the item just now. They refer to the issues on the big screen and press the corresponding button on the corner of the table.
This is followed by the transition to the list of speakers. Representatives of countries wishing to speak pressed the speak button in front of them to remind the President. There is a random selection software that scrolls the names of countries quickly and randomly on the big screen, and the chairman of the meeting randomly presses the stop button, and the representatives of the countries who remain on the screen can turn on the loudspeaker in front of them to speak.
"I would rather like to start with the EU representative's issue on global warming, which is crucial for the survival and development of coastal states and multi-island states. We are suffering from the vast majority of disasters such as rising sea levels, decreasing territorial areas, and the impermanence of climate change caused by global warming, but the cause of global warming is the collective consumption of fossil raw materials by countries around the world, so the United Nations should put this issue at the top of the discussion. "The representative of Singapore made a statement.
"I call for Africa aid programs to be at the top of the agenda, as they are really relevant to the economic development and future social makeup of these countries." The representative of Zambia said. She is an international student from Vietnam and wears braces in her mouth.
"I think we should first discuss the regulation of nuclear weapons, especially the reports of some sensitive countries and regions manufacturing weapons of mass destruction, which will always cause panic in the world." The representative of the Republic of Korea proposed. He was a tall and thin boy from Slovakia, with blue eyes on a freckled face and a strand of blonde hair hanging down in front of his eyes.