The Chinese Foreign Ministry has confirmed in an official statement that Mr Antonio Guterres, the newly elected United Nations Secretary-General, will arrive China today 28 November. The former Portuguese Prime Minister [1995-2002] is said to be on a 2-day visit in honor of an invitation from the Asian nation’s authorities.
According to the news update, Guterres will be hosted by president Xi Jin Ping alongside other top members of his cabinet which include Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
Among topics scheduled for discussions with the UN official are: ties between Beijing and the UN; regional and international agenda as well as; the future of the international organization.
Apart from his earlier role as the leader of his country’s Socialist Party, Guterres also served as President of the Socialist International from 1999 to 2005.
He was the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees from June 2005 to December 2015.
Earlier in October 2016, the United Nations General Assembly elected him by acclamation to become the next United Nations Secretary-General, a position previously held by the retiring Ban Ki-moon.
Antonio Guterres was born and raised in Lisbon, the capital city of Portugal.
As a secondary school student, he graduated from the prestigious Liceu de Camões in 1965, where he won the Prémio Nacional dos Liceus as the best student in the country.
He later studied Physics and Electrical Engineering at Instituto Superior Técnico in Lisbon, where he graduated in 1971 before taking up an academic career as assistant prof teaching Systems Theory and Telecommunications Signals though, a position he left to pursue an amazing political career.
Image shows Ban Ki-moon and Antonio Guterres.
On his appointment as the UN Secretary-General earlier in October, the 67-year-old politician spoke with the press on his five-year term which will last between Jan. 1, 2017 and Dec. 31, 2021, according to the UN resolution.
Guterres said he “felt gratitude and humility as well as a profound sense of responsibility,” adding that “he is fully aware of the challenges the UN faces and the limitations surrounding the secretary-general.”
“The dramatic problems of today’s complex world can only inspire a humble approach – one in which the Secretary-General alone neither has all the answers, nor seeks to impose his views,” the Portuguese said.
“One in which the secretary-general makes his good offices available, working as a convener, a mediator, a bridge-builder and an honest broker to help find solutions that benefit everyone involved,” he added.
Image: Antonio Guterres and Ban Ki-moon.Newsdrift
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