From November 12-13, the 20th East Asian Seminar on the United Nations System was virtually held by the Japan Association for United Nations Studies (JAUNS). The Seminar focused on global governance in the age of COVID-19, leaving no one behind, community-education nexus, environment and resources, and non-state actors. About 50 experts and scholars from China, Japan and the Republic of Korea (ROK) participated in the Seminar, led respectively by Ms. HU Wenli, Vice-President and Director-General of United Nations Association of China, Dr. Takahiro Shinyo, President of the JAUNS, and Dr. LEE Shin-wha, President of Korea Academic Council on the United Nations System.


In the opening remarks, Ms. HU Wenli said, China, Japan and the ROK are geopolitical neighbors and culturally connected. The three countries’ cooperation has covered politics and diplomacy, economy and finance, hygiene and health, culture and education, disaster prevention and reduction, and sub-national exchanges etc. Ms. HU stressed that the world now is facing the combined impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and changes unseen in a century. The international community must beat COVID-19 and win this decisive fight crucial to the future of humanity; revitalize the economy and pursue more robust, greener and more balanced global development; strengthen solidarity and promote mutual respect and win-win cooperation in conducting international relations; improve global governance and practice true multilateralism.


Scholars from China, Japan and the ROK said, as the important actors of the international community, the three countries should strengthen coordination, work together to safeguard the stability of the international order, and enhance cooperation in public health and climate change to promote sustainable development and green recovery.


The East Asian Seminar on the United Nations System is an annual academic exchange mechanism of UN issues among China, Japan and the ROK, which is held on rotation.