Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will chair a United Nations Security Council high-level meeting in New York next Tuesday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun announced on Friday.
"As the rotating president of the UN Security Council for May, China will hold a Security Council high-level meeting on May 26. The theme of this meeting is 'Upholding the Purposes and Principles of the UN Charter and Strengthening the UN-centered International System.' Member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and Foreign Minister Wang Yi will chair the meeting in New York. He will also attend the meeting of the Group of Friends of Global Governance in New York on May 28, and will have meetings with the UN Secretary General and the foreign ministers from other countries," Guo told a press conference in Beijing.
"In today's world, changes unseen in a century are unfolding at a faster pace, transformation and turbulence are intertwined, wars and conflicts keep flaring up, and the international system centered on the UN is facing unprecedented shocks and challenges," Guo noted.
"As the rotating president of the UN Security Council for May, China proposed to hold this Security Council high-level meeting, which will focus on the relevance of the UN Charter, upholding and practicing the purposes and principles of the Charter, strengthening the authority and efficacy of the UN and its Security Council, and other issues of common concern to the international community. The meeting will be chaired by Foreign Minister Wang Yi and open to all UN member states. Foreign ministers and high-level representatives from many countries have confirmed their attendance. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will attend the meeting and deliver a report," said the spokesman.
"We hope the participants will take this meeting as an opportunity to revisit the lofty goals set in the Charter, reaffirm their firm commitment to multilateralism, revitalize the status and role of the UN with greater solidarity and sense of responsibility, and build a stronger synergy for reforming and improving global governance," Guo said.
Chinese FM to chair UN Security Council High-Level Meeting next week
Amid the rising fuel costs and airline surcharges linked to the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran, Caribbean tourism officials gathered at the 44th Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association Forum this month and expressed cautious optimism, citing resilient visitor demand, strategic marketing adjustments, and strong seasonal performance as foundations for continued recovery.
The U.S.-Israeli war against Iran is already affecting Caribbean economies as fuel prices surge and airlines pass costs on to passengers. This not only pressures the region's tourism-dependent economies but also raises the cost of imported food, electricity, and transportation.
Since the start of the conflict, the price of Brent crude has surged nearly 50 percent, prompting airlines to find the ways to share the burden with travelers.
"The impacts are unfolding in stages. In the first place, when the uncertainty, or the disturbance occurred in the Middle Eastern region, it actually cut the supply chain to some extent to the Pacific, and people started to look at the region in particular. We amplified out marketing presence, to ensure that when people are looking for an option or places to rebook, that St. Lucia would turn up. And we've actually seen some of that result," said Louis Lewis, chief executive officer of the Saint Lucia Tourism Authority.
During the International Monetary Fund's Spring Meeting, the international financial institution expressed its concern for Caribbean tourism, warning that it could see a decline as ticket prices increase.
Lewis acknowledged the potential for longer-term disruption.
"The second thing is that if the conflict continues as a prolonged activity, we anticipate that it could impact us. We will have to diversify from our major source markets, hence the reason why we are looking at Latin America," he said.
But some of the region's top tourism officials are seeing positive signs. The region is coming off another successful year, where tourism arrivals grew by 2.5 percent, adding an additional 900,000 visitors over 2024.
"The region has been witnessing a very good winter season, and I have no doubt whatsoever that the forecast that we have for the summer will continue to be very strong," said Ian Gooding-Edghill, minister of tourism of Barbados.
Still, structural vulnerabilities remain. As an import-dependent region, the Caribbean is highly exposed to global price fluctuations. Concerns are mounting that rising prices in the United States could trigger sharper inflationary pressures, including higher operating costs in the tourism sector.
"In Saint Lucia, we just saw the cost of energy increase about 20 percent, and that's having an impact now going into the summer when our rates are lower. It rallies points to the importance of us building a bit more resilience into Caribbean tourism," said Sanovnik Destang, president of the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association.
Caribbean tourism shows resilience despite Middle East tension challenges
