On June 7th, The Tsinghua-SAIS program held its second student forum, featuring graduate students from Tsinghua and the wider Beijing academic community, who spoke about their diverse research and experiences.
Claire Groden, a Yenching Scholar at Beijing University, gave a presentation about the process of fact-checking in American media. Fact-checking is the fairly straightforward process of searching for primary or reputable secondary sources to verify the claims of a piece of journalism or those of a politician. An increasing amount of mass media contains fabricated claims, or misconstrues data and public statements, in order to push a particular agenda. According to polling, public trust in the both the government and the mass media has hit record lows. Claire stressed that people regardless of education level are proven to confirm facts which fit their worldview, leading to the current climate of political polarization. She also explained that despite the ease of modern search tools for fact checking, very few publications actually employ fact checkers, instead relying on journalists to verify their own information.
The second presentation was by Tsinghua CPFP student Ha Jeonghoon, who gave a historical overview of the 1975 decision to ratify the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in his home country of South Korea. Korea’s ratification was a unique case, as at the time, the country was successfully pursuing a clandestine nuclear weapons program. The combination of American pressure on Korea and American pressure on France and Canada not to transfer nuclear technology without ratification, convinced Korea to end its nuclear program and ratify the treaty. He thinks the diplomatic tactics used in the Korean case could be useful again for future countries who ignore or withdraw from the Non-proliferation treaty. Jeonghoon also gave amusing anecdotes from his work experience in his 20’s, and the range of jobs international relations students can find.
Ricardo Barrios, another Master’s student at Beijing University, spoke about his research on the special relationship between China and Cuba. From his research and interviews in both Beijing in Havana, he argues that the Sino-Cuban relationship is unlike some of China’s other economic partnerships around the world. Chinese firms have taken over large parts of the Cuban market since the end of the Cold War. The Cuban government values the relationship considerably, ensuring all its payments to Chinese firms are paid upfront to avoid jeopardizing it. Ricardo argued that even if Cuba is not China’s largest market in Latin America, it is one of the most interesting with high growth potential.
Finally, Cole Landfried, a Tsinghua-SAIS Master’s student, spoke about the strengths and weaknesses of international NGOs in Myanmar, from his experience working there for Action Aid. International NGOs are a relatively recent phenomenon in Myanmar, part of the opening up of the country since international outcry over Cyclone Nargis in 2008. The democratization process since 2011 also caused a flood of new INGOs into Myanmar. Some of these NGOs have been quite successful in areas such as disaster preparedness and strengthening civil society. Many, however, struggle with coordination problems, or poor communication with donors resulting in misplaced priorities. Others have issues of overambition, as even the most effective INGO will not noticeably boost the Burmese economy, and cannot address systemic issues such as infrastructure or national government inefficiency. Cole’s main suggestions for improving the current system focused on improving donor-NGO communication, having realistic goals, and diversifying the reach of INGO’s beyond their concentration in the central part of the country.
The success of all these presentations speaks for the wide range of expertise to be found in Beijing’s young academic community.
The second presentation was by Tsinghua CPFP student Ha Jeonghoon, who gave a historical overview of the 1975 decision to ratify the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in his home country of South Korea. Korea’s ratification was a unique case, as at the time, the country was successfully pursuing a clandestine nuclear weapons program. The combination of American pressure on Korea and American pressure on France and Canada not to transfer nuclear technology without ratification, convinced Korea to end its nuclear program and ratify the treaty. He thinks the diplomatic tactics used in the Korean case could be useful again for future countries who ignore or withdraw from the Non-proliferation treaty. Jeonghoon also gave amusing anecdotes from his work experience in his 20’s, and the range of jobs international relations students can find.
Ricardo Barrios, another Master’s student at Beijing University, spoke about his research on the special relationship between China and Cuba. From his research and interviews in both Beijing in Havana, he argues that the Sino-Cuban relationship is unlike some of China’s other economic partnerships around the world. Chinese firms have taken over large parts of the Cuban market since the end of the Cold War. The Cuban government values the relationship considerably, ensuring all its payments to Chinese firms are paid upfront to avoid jeopardizing it. Ricardo argued that even if Cuba is not China’s largest market in Latin America, it is one of the most interesting with high growth potential.
Finally, Cole Landfried, a Tsinghua-SAIS Master’s student, spoke about the strengths and weaknesses of international NGOs in Myanmar, from his experience working there for Action Aid. International NGOs are a relatively recent phenomenon in Myanmar, part of the opening up of the country since international outcry over Cyclone Nargis in 2008. The democratization process since 2011 also caused a flood of new INGOs into Myanmar. Some of these NGOs have been quite successful in areas such as disaster preparedness and strengthening civil society. Many, however, struggle with coordination problems, or poor communication with donors resulting in misplaced priorities. Others have issues of overambition, as even the most effective INGO will not noticeably boost the Burmese economy, and cannot address systemic issues such as infrastructure or national government inefficiency. Cole’s main suggestions for improving the current system focused on improving donor-NGO communication, having realistic goals, and diversifying the reach of INGO’s beyond their concentration in the central part of the country.
The success of all these presentations speaks for the wide range of expertise to be found in Beijing’s young academic community.
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