政一B 邱科翰 (7)

姓名 : 邱科翰

班級 : 政一B

學號 : 07114248

[標題] I would be doing a special edition this week, with no specific headline, to commemorate the centennial of the armistice of the Great War. 

11 November, 2018. Lest We Forget. 

[內文] (節選自各大外電,本文寫作時典禮正進行中, 尚未結束)

World leaders gathered under driving rain in Paris on Sunday to lead global commemorations marking 100 years since the end of World War I, at a time of growing nationalism and diplomatic tensions.

Around 70 leaders including US and Russian Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin marked the centenary of the 1918 Armistice in the French capital at 11am local time (1000 GMT). After church bells rang out across France, the leaders sat together at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Arc de Triomphe for a memorial that included classical music and the reading aloud of letters by WWI soldiers.

French President Emmanuel Macron delivered a near 20-minute speech that called on his fellow leaders not to forget the lessons of the past and the hopes of people worldwide for peace.

"Ruining this hope with a fascination for withdrawal, violence or domination would be a mistake for which future generations would rightly find us responsible," Macron told them.

He added: "Let us build our hopes rather than playing our fears against each other."

The service concluded with the bugle call that was played at 11am on November 11, 1918 to signal the end of fighting on the Western Front.

Ceremonies in New Zealand, Australia, India, Hong Kong and Myanmar began a day of memorial events around the world for a conflict that involved millions of troops from colonised countries in Asia and Africa. (AFP)

Britain’s royal family was joined by German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Sunday to remember those killed and wounded in conflict, with millions falling silent for two minutes to mark 100 years since the end of World War One. Prince Charles led the nation in the day of remembrance, laying a wreath for his mother, Queen Elizabeth, who watched the ceremony at the cenotaph memorial in London from the balcony of Britain’s foreign ministry. Prince Philip was absent from the service. (Reuters)

Some 9.7 million soldiers and 10 million civilians died in World War One, which lasted from 1914 to 1918. The service (in France) ended with the bugle call that was played at 11:00 on 11 November 1918 to signal the end of hostilities on the Western Front. (BBC) 

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[相關憲法條文]

憲法第二條 : 中華民國之主權屬於國民全體。

憲法第五條 : 中華民國各民族一律平等。

憲法第十五條 : 人民之生存權、工作權及財產權，應予保障。

憲法第一百三十七條 : 中華民國之國防，以保衛國家安全，維護世界和平為目的。國防之組織，以法律定之。

憲法第一百四十一條 : 中華民國之外交，應本獨立自主之精神，平等互惠之原則，敦睦邦交，尊重條約及聯合國憲章，以保護僑民權益，促進國際合作，提倡國際正義，確保世界和平。

憲法第一百五十七條 : 國家為增進民族健康，應普遍推行衛生保健事業及公醫制度。

憲法第一百六十八條 : 國家對於邊疆地區各民族之地位，應予以合法之保障，並於其地方自治事業，特別予以扶植。

{相關法條}

The Covenant of the League of Nations, 前言 : In order to promote international co-operation and to achieve international peace and security

by the acceptance of obligations not to resort to war, 

by the prescription of open, just and honourable relations between nations, 

by the firm establishment of the understandings of international law as the actual rule of conduct among Governments, and 

by the maintenance of justice and a scrupulous respect for all treaty obligations in the dealings of organised peoples with one another,

Agree to this Covenant of the League of Nations.

The Covenant of the League of Nations, 第二十三條 : Subject to and in accordance with the provisions of international conventions existing or hereafter to be agreed upon, the Members of the League:

(a) will endeavour to secure and maintain fair and humane conditions of labour for men, women, and children, both in their own countries and in all countries to which their commercial and industrial relations extend, and for that purpose will establish and maintain the necessary international organisations;

(b) undertake to secure just treatment of the native inhabitants of territories under their control;

(c) will entrust the League with the general supervision over the execution of agreements with regard to the traffic in women and children, and the traffic in opium and other dangerous drugs;

(d) will entrust the League with the general supervision of the trade in arms and ammunition with the countries in which the control of this traffic is necessary in the common interest;

(e) will make provision to secure and maintain freedom of communications and of transit and equitable treatment for the commerce of all Members of the League. In this connection, the special necessities of the regions devastated during the war of 1914-1918 shall be borne in mind;

(f) will endeavour to take steps in matters of international concern for the prevention and control of disease.

United Nations Charter, 第二條 : The Organisation and its Members, in pursuit of the Purposes stated in Article 1, shall act in accordance with the following Principles. 

The Organisation is based on the principle of the sovereign equality of all its Members.

All Members, in order to ensure to all of them the rights and benefits resulting from membership, shall fulfill in good faith the obligations assumed by them in accordance with the present Charter.

All Members shall settle their international disputes by peaceful means in such a manner that international peace and security, and justice, are not endangered.

All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations.

All Members shall give the United Nations every assistance in any action it takes in accordance with the present Charter, and shall refrain from giving assistance to any state against which the United Nations is taking preventive or enforcement action.

The Organisation shall ensure that states which are not Members of the United Nations act in accordance with these Principles so far as may be necessary for the maintenance of international peace and security.

Nothing contained in the present Charter shall authorise the United Nations to intervene in matters which are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of any state or shall require the Members to submit such matters to settlement under the present Charter; but this principle shall not prejudice the application of enforcement measures under Chapter Vll.

United Nations Charter, 第三十三條 : The parties to any dispute, the continuance of which is likely to endanger the maintenance of international peace and security, shall, first of all, seek a solution by negotiation, enquiry, mediation, conciliation, arbitration, judicial settlement, resort to regional agencies or arrangements, or other peaceful means of their own choice.

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心得評論：

I mean, seriously, how can I NOT write about one of the most important event of the year? It is the centennial of the ending of the greatest conflict in human history (the Great War is considered to have more long-term, profound impact than the Second World War as debated by some historians)! No news is even close of its significance, PERIOD. Before getting into my actual writing, I want to say that I am honoured to participate in the commemoration by voluntarily adopting two minutes of silence in respect to those that died, and following the remembrance ceremonies live. This is my sixth time participating in the remembrance. Lest we forget.

The end of the Great War led to the creation of the League of Nations, which is the first “permanent” intergovernmental organisation in history. In its covenant, the League of Nations expressed clear support for basic human rights such as the right to fair labour, right to just treatment, check on human trafficking, freedom of communications and transit (for commerce purpose), and the right to health care. It also asked states to resolve conflict through peaceful practices. All of the rights mentioned above were covered in the Constitution of the Republic of China. The ROC Constitution also states that the purpose of its defence and diplomatic branches were to maintain international peace, a goal laid down first by the Covenant. 

The League of Nations was later replaced by the United Nations, and much of the UN charters’ concepts were extracted from the original Covenant, including the call for global peace, to name a few. In fact, numerous points listed in the Covenant later formed the basis for many treaties and conventions. The right of "self-determination" for nations is one of those principles ensured after the Great War, giving birth to some modern nation states. So while the organisation (the League itself) was very inefficient, its motives and aims were of certain importance. 

The end of the Great War also brought up a draft for the world’s first universal equal rights act, proposed by the Japanese Empire. Although it was not adopted by the conference, much of its concepts were also incorporated into UN charters. Hence, the Great War brought so many changes to the international legal order, and fundamentally redefined the meaning of “human rights.” I can only list a few here, because if I were to dive into all of its historical legacy, it would became an independent paper of its own. In short, several rights listed in the ROC constitution only became international law after the Great War, and thus its importance cannot be understated. 

This special edition was written with respect, and in memory of this event. Never forget.