English Media

Celebrity Media Special Report: “America’s 250th Anniversary: Gratitude, Responsibility, and Contribution” Special Prayer Gathering

Details

Category: English Media

Published: Monday, 29 June 2026 07:14

Written by Eager

In preparation for the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States, a special Chinese cross-church and interdenominational prayer gathering will be held on Saturday, July 4, 2026, from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at Harvest Church of New York. With the theme “Watchmen for America, Crying Out for Revival,” the event invites Chinese friends from different churches, denominations, and community backgrounds to gather together on this meaningful Independence Day to pray, watch, and reflect, offering blessings for America’s future while responding to the responsibility and mission of the Chinese community in this land.

The 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States is not only a historic moment of commemoration, but also an important opportunity to reflect again on the nation’s foundations, faith values, and civic responsibility. Since the founding of the nation, America’s faith tradition has deeply influenced its public life, understanding of liberty, and national identity. Expressions such as “In God We Trust” and “one nation under God” have long reminded people that the strength of a nation lies not only in its economy, military, or institutions, but also in whether it fears God, respects life, upholds the family, cherishes freedom, and assumes responsibility for the next generation.

The historic moment of America’s 250th anniversary also provides the Chinese community in the United States with an opportunity to rethink its own role. Many Chinese families have put down roots in America; their children are growing up here, their careers are developing here, and their education, faith, family, and community life are closely connected to this land. Therefore, commemorating Independence Day should not merely be about celebrating a holiday, but should also be a shared reflection on gratitude, responsibility, and contribution.

In recent years, President Trump has also repeatedly emphasized the importance of America’s faith tradition in public settings, calling on America, as it moves toward the next 250 years, to recommit itself to being “one nation under God.” This expression of faith also echoes the theme of this special prayer gathering: when the nation faces challenges, churches and believers are not merely bystanders, but should become watchmen, intercessors, and builders.

Pastor Xiao Mudao of Harvest Church of New York, the host church, stated that America’s future is closely connected to everyone who lives here. Today, American society is facing many challenges, including social division, moral confusion, pressure on families, difficulties in youth development, and tensions in community relationships. In the face of these realities, the Chinese community should not merely observe, complain, or remain silent, but should seriously ask: What can we do for this country? What kind of social environment do we hope to leave for the next generation? And how are we willing to participate in building America’s shared future?

 Pastor Gu Qiwei, chairman of the New York Chinese Pastors Fellowship and organizer of this special prayer gathering, emphasized that a mature community should not only care about its own interests, but should also be willing to take responsibility for the well-being of the country in which it lives. Chinese Christians can begin by caring for their communities, participating in public life, supporting families and the next generation, and promoting understanding among different ethnic groups, responding to the needs of the times through practical action. Prayer is not merely a religious ritual; it is also a form of commitment to the nation, the community, and the next generation.

 Rev. Chen Zhi, General Director of Chinese Christian Herald Crusades and co-organizer of the special prayer gathering, also emphasized the need to pray for New York. It is reported that more than 20 pastors will participate that day, praying together for America’s future, social harmony, family restoration, youth development, church revival, and understanding and unity among different ethnic groups. The organizers hope that through this cross-church and interdenominational gathering, the faith strength of the Chinese community will be brought together, encouraging more people to view the opportunities America has given immigrant families with gratitude and to participate in community building with a responsible attitude.

At this important moment as America marks the 250th anniversary of its founding, this prayer gathering is not only a commemorative event, but also a call. It reminds the Chinese community that we are not only beneficiaries of this land, but can also become a blessing to it; we not only live here, but should also contribute our part to its future.

This special Chinese cross-church and interdenominational prayer gathering, “America’s 250th Anniversary: Gratitude, Responsibility, and Contribution,” warmly invites Chinese friends who care about America’s future, families and the next generation, and community harmony to participate, joining together as watchmen for America and crying out for revival.

Celebrity Media News Commentary: The Selection of the Next UN Secretary-General Enters the Stage of Real Political Bargaining

Details

Category: English Media

Published: Friday, 19 June 2026 19:18

Written by Eager

Celebrity Media News Commentary: The Selection of the Next UN Secretary-General Enters the Real Stage of Political Negotiation

  UN Secretary-General António Guterres (Celebrity Media file photo). He will step down in 2026 after completing two terms as Secretary-General.

The selection of the next United Nations Secretary-General has moved beyond the launch of procedures and entered a more substantive stage of public scrutiny. Following the first round of interactive dialogues with candidates on April 21 and 22, a second round of hearings was held on June 15 and 18. At present, six individuals nominated or supported by Member States have come into public view: former President of Chile Michelle Bachelet, Argentine Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency Rafael Grossi, former Vice President of Costa Rica Rebeca Grynspan, former President of Senegal Macky Sall, former Foreign Minister of Ecuador and former President of the UN General Assembly María Fernanda Espinosa, and Guyana’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett.

On the surface, this is a process in which candidates publicly present their visions and respond to questions from Member States and civil society. But after two rounds of hearings, what truly deserves attention is not who appeared more composed at the podium, but who can find the minimum level of consensus among the five permanent members of the Security Council. The UN Secretary-General is not chosen through a public election. The candidate must first be recommended by the Security Council and then appointed by the General Assembly. In other words, public hearings allow the world to see the candidates, but closed-door consultations determine who truly has a chance to reach the final stage.

The Six Candidates

The six candidates come from different backgrounds. Some have experience as heads of state, some have long worked within the United Nations system, and others come from the fields of nuclear security, trade and development, human rights diplomacy, or small-state multilateral diplomacy. Yet almost all of them are speaking about the same issue: reforming the United Nations. That alone says a great deal. Today’s United Nations does not lack issues; it often lacks the ability to implement decisions. It does not lack principles, but when major powers are divided, it struggles to turn principles into action. Whether on war, refugees, climate, development financing, or human rights, the United Nations faces the same question: can it still truly function?

This is also the most realistic aspect of this selection process. Candidates can speak about vision, values, and reform in public hearings, but the real difficulty of the Secretary-General’s position is not proposing slogans. It is maintaining the UN’s most basic capacity for action in a deeply divided international environment. Especially when the five permanent members of the Security Council are sharply divided, the Secretary-General can neither replace major-power decision-making nor completely avoid major-power politics.

Looking at the current field of candidates, Latin America and the Caribbean have a particularly strong presence. Among the six candidates, Bachelet, Grossi, Grynspan, Espinosa, and Rodrigues-Birkett all come from Latin America or the Caribbean, while only Sall comes from Africa. The United Nations has no written rule requiring the Secretary-General to be chosen by regional rotation, but regional balance has long been an important political consideration. The large number of Latin American candidates shows that the region has significant momentum in this round of selection; however, too many candidates may also lead to divided support.

Sall represents another possible political path. As former President of Senegal and former Chairperson of the African Union, he has head-of-state experience and can also respond to Africa’s demand for greater representation. His current weakness, however, is that his nomination does not appear to show unified endorsement at the level of the entire African Union. If Latin American candidates fail to form a consensus among themselves, and African countries can consolidate a more unified position, Sall may still become an important variable in later consultations.

Among all the candidates, María Fernanda Espinosa’s remarks are especially noteworthy. She stated that the United Nations needs to “right-size responsibly.” The phrase may sound sharp and could even be understood as a call to shrink the UN. But viewed in the context of her overall remarks, what she is expressing is not the weakening of the United Nations, but the need to free it from duplication, delay, and inefficiency so that it can return to a position where it is able to deliver results.

Secretary-General Candidate María Fernanda Espinosa: Reforming the United Nations, but Not Weakening It

Espinosa has served as Ecuador’s Foreign Minister and Defense Minister, and also as President of the United Nations General Assembly. Precisely because she is familiar with the UN system, her remarks on reform sound less like complaints from an outside critic and more like reflection from within the institution. She did not avoid the declining credibility, financial pressure, and weak implementation capacity the United Nations currently faces, nor did she reduce reform to an empty slogan. What she emphasized was reducing duplication, improving efficiency, strengthening accountability, and restoring the UN’s ability to deliver results.

The subtlety of her remarks lies in her attempt to address two different concerns at the same time. For major financial contributors, the size of the UN system, overlapping programs, and high costs have long been points of criticism. For many developing countries, however, there is concern that so-called reform may ultimately become a reduction of resources, a weakening of the development agenda, or even make the United Nations more subject to the influence of a few major powers. Espinosa’s formulation seeks a path between these two concerns: the United Nations must become more effective, but it must not lose the core mission of multilateralism as a result.

  María Fernanda Espinosa, photographed by Celebrity Media at IPI on September 12, 2018.

Her handling of the issue of women’s leadership is also quite careful. In more than 80 years since the founding of the United Nations, no woman has ever served as Secretary-General. Today, four of the six candidates are women, which is already symbolically significant. Espinosa also acknowledged that the international community has indeed reached a point where it should seriously consider women’s leadership. At the same time, however, she stressed that the key is not “any woman,” but “the right woman, the right leader.” In effect, this statement tells Member States and the Security Council that she wants to be seen as a candidate with governing capacity, not merely as a historical symbol.

This is exactly where the complexity of this selection process lies. The United Nations may indeed have reached the moment to choose its first female Secretary-General, and Latin America and the Caribbean clearly hold an advantage in the structure of the candidate field. But the selection of a Secretary-General has never been determined by moral appeals, regional rotation, or personal credentials alone. Whether a candidate can ultimately pass the test still depends on whether he or she can be accepted simultaneously by the United States, China, Russia, the United Kingdom, and France.

Bachelet’s situation illustrates this point. She has heavyweight credentials as a former president and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and she also enjoys high international recognition. But the heavier the political profile, the more controversy it may bring. Human rights issues are inherently sensitive for major powers, especially when a candidate’s past public positions are reexamined by different blocs. What appears to be an advantage may also become a burden.

Grossi represents another type of candidate. He has long led the International Atomic Energy Agency and has had high visibility on issues such as the Iran nuclear file and the safety of nuclear facilities in Ukraine. His strengths are technocratic governance and crisis diplomacy, and his image is relatively pragmatic. But the UN Secretary-General must handle not only technical issues, but also development, human rights, climate, refugees, and the demands of the Global South. Whether a more technocratic candidate can build trust across a broader political agenda remains to be seen.

Grynspan’s strengths lie in development, trade, and Global South economic issues. She has long focused on development financing, economic inequality, and trade structures. For many developing countries, these issues are more closely connected to reality than abstract institutional reform. The question is whether, in an environment marked by major-power conflict and acute security crises, a development-oriented candidate can be regarded as capable of handling high-intensity political crises. This will also be part of the Security Council’s consideration.

Rodrigues-Birkett appears as a representative of small-state diplomacy and a defender of multilateralism. She emphasized the shared responsibility to preserve the United Nations as a “global force for good.” This formulation is relatively steady and may resonate with some small and medium-sized states. However, in the final screening of major-power politics, moderation does not necessarily equal advantage. Sometimes it means a candidate is easier to accept; at other times, it may suggest a lack of a distinctive breakthrough point.

Therefore, what this selection process is now entering is not merely a phase of public presentation by the candidates, but a phase of political screening within the Security Council. Public hearings have increased transparency and allowed Member States and the international public to observe the candidates’ ideas and styles. But what will truly determine the outcome is whether different parties can form a minimum political compromise around one candidate.

The test facing the next Secretary-General is also clear: he or she must not only manage a vast international institution, but also preserve the UN’s minimum capacity for action in a divided world. It is easy for reforming the United Nations to become a slogan. The real challenge is to make the UN effective, credible, and relevant again without weakening multilateralism.

After two rounds of hearings, all six candidates have tried to prove that they understand today’s crises and have the ability to advance UN reform. But from this point forward, the focus of the selection process will increasingly move away from public speeches themselves and toward the judgments, probing, and bargaining among major powers. Whether the next Secretary-General can change the United Nations first depends on whether he or she can be accepted by a deeply divided international system.

     Celebrity Media file photo.

UN Women: Supporting Women Peacebuilders in Sustaining Peace

Details

Category: English Media

Published: Friday, 26 June 2026 16:27

Written by Eager

名人媒体联合国妇女署专题报道:支持女性和平建设者维护和平

رئيسة المفوضية الأوروبية Ursula von der Leyen: «لسنا مضطرين إلى قبول وسائل التون.»

Celebrity Media Special Report on UN Women: Supporting Women Peacebuilders in Sustaining Peace

Reportage spécial de Celebrity Media sur ONU Femmes : soutenir les femmes bâtisseuses de paix dans le maintien de la paix

Специальный репортаж Celebrity Media о «ООН-женщины»: поддержка женщин-миротворцев в сохранении мира

Informe especial de Celebrity Media sobre ONU Mujeres: apoyar a las mujeres constructoras de paz en el mantenimiento de la paz

 

 

 

 

 

 

▶

 

中文 العربية English Français Русский Español

Celebrity Media: Dr. Jonathan Brewer Discusses the Next UN Secretary-General and Sanctions on North Korea and Iran

Details

Category: English Media

Published: Thursday, 18 June 2026 09:44

Written by Eager

Celebrity Media special report from the Korean Society of New York: In a special exchange on the United Nations sanctions mechanism, international security, and global governance, former UN sanctions expert Dr. Jonathan Brewer answered questions from the audience on issues including the next UN Secretary-General, the role of the UN Security Council, the nuclear issues involving North Korea and Iran, sanctions monitoring mechanisms, and unilateral sanctions.

When discussing possible candidates for the next UN Secretary-General, Dr. Brewer said that among the names currently being mentioned, Rafael Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, is one figure worth watching. He noted that if Grossi were to become UN Secretary-General in the future, his technical background at the IAEA and his experience in handling nuclear issues could bring professional advantages to the UN in addressing the nuclear challenges involving North Korea and Iran.

Dr. Brewer said that Grossi has long dealt with matters related to nuclear oversight, verification mechanisms, and IAEA procedures. From the perspective of technical experience, he said, Grossi’s background “would be very interesting.” He also noted that other potential candidates may not have similar technical experience in the nuclear field, but the UN system and the IAEA themselves possess substantial professional expertise, which a future Secretary-General could rely on to advance these issues.

On the issue of UN reform, Dr. Brewer said he did not have many specific comments, but he hoped to see the UN General Assembly play a more active role in matters of international peace and security. He said that, given the current lack of consensus among the permanent members of the Security Council, the General Assembly may become an important platform for moving such issues forward.

An audience member asked whether the UN Security Council had become ineffective in name only, or whether its authority was declining, especially in the context of some veto-wielding countries no longer supporting sanctions against North Korea, and how the Security Council could continue to play its role.

In response, Dr. Brewer said that the Security Council still plays an important role in today’s international system because it remains the core institution through which the international community addresses issues of peace and security. He said the existence of the five permanent members makes Security Council decision-making complex, and that current divisions may be temporary, or they may last for some time.

He further noted that if the five permanent members of the Security Council are unable to reach consensus, the UN General Assembly may be able to play a more active role to some extent. He mentioned that after the work of the UN Panel of Experts on North Korea came to an end, there had been discussions about establishing some kind of alternative mechanism to continue sanctions monitoring, but those ideas ultimately did not make substantive progress. He said he would like to see the General Assembly play a greater role in such matters, particularly when the Security Council is unable to provide unified leadership, by encouraging broader participation among UN member states.

Another audience member asked what role middle powers such as Australia, India, and Japan might play in multilateral sanctions monitoring, and whether Taiwan had any intention of participating. Dr. Brewer said that, if referring to existing multilateral sanctions monitoring mechanisms, Taiwan and India are not members of those mechanisms. He also said he was not aware of whether India or Taiwan had any specific plans to join such mechanisms or establish alternative arrangements.

However, he pointed out that countries such as India have significant influence in the UN General Assembly and may be able to help build momentum for alternative sanctions monitoring mechanisms, providing new impetus for sanctions implementation and oversight within the UN system.

When discussing which think tanks conduct in-depth research on sanctions involving North Korea and Iran, Dr. Brewer mentioned that the Royal United Services Institute in London has long focused on sanctions-related issues. He also noted that the Open Source Centre in London is skilled at using open-source imagery and vessel-tracking data to analyze issues such as oil shipments to North Korea and shipping activities involving Russia.

He also mentioned that in Washington, several institutions continue to focus on sanctions, nuclear nonproliferation, and North Korea, including the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, the Center for a New American Security, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and 38 North. He said that research capacity in this field is mainly concentrated in London and Washington, with relatively less work being done elsewhere. Some French strategic research institutions also work on sanctions, but overall, there are not many organizations worldwide that specialize in sanctions implementation and monitoring.

Regarding the relationship between U.S. unilateral sanctions and UN sanctions, an audience member noted that the U.S. Congress often turns to unilateral sanctions when it cannot find other policy tools, and asked whether this weakens the UN sanctions mechanism.

Dr. Brewer responded that unilateral sanctions are a reality that must be accepted. He said the strength of UN sanctions lies in the fact that they are collectively authorized through the Security Council. However, precisely because Security Council members must reach agreement, UN sanctions are usually set at a relatively low common standard. Many countries, after implementing Security Council sanctions, go further by adopting stricter national sanctions of their own.

He noted that the United States is particularly active in this regard and often cites Security Council sanctions as a basis within its own sanctions framework. For UN sanctions work, he said, when gathering evidence of sanctions evasion, the focus remains on Security Council sanctions themselves, rather than on sanctions imposed by the European Union or individual countries.

Dr. Brewer also said that, on the North Korea issue, both the UN mechanism and U.S. unilateral sanctions have played important roles. Because both parties in the U.S. Congress place strong emphasis on human rights in North Korea, there is a close connection between U.S. unilateral sanctions and humanitarian and human rights issues related to North Korea. He pointed out that if future denuclearization negotiations with North Korea involve sanctions relief, differences could emerge between Congress and the White House, because Congress would likely require North Korea to make major progress on humanitarian and human rights issues as one of the conditions for easing unilateral sanctions.

At the end of the Q&A session, Dr. Brewer addressed humanitarian issues. He said that Security Council sanctions documents usually mention humanitarian concerns in their preambular paragraphs, and that in recent years the UN has paid increasing attention to the humanitarian impact of sanctions implementation. The former Panel of Experts on North Korea had also dealt with such issues, and its reports usually included content related to humanitarian concerns. Questionnaires were also sent to relevant organizations in an effort to better understand the impact of sanctions on humanitarian assistance and practical implementation.

Dr. Brewer’s responses showed that, against the backdrop of divisions within the Security Council, challenges facing sanctions monitoring mechanisms, and the growing use of unilateral sanctions, how the UN maintains the authority, professionalism, and humanitarian balance of its sanctions system will remain an important issue in international security governance.

It is worth noting that Dr. Brewer’s analysis of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the Iran nuclear issue, and the UN sanctions mechanism also resonates with the recent signing of a U.S.-Iran agreement. After the U.S. President signed the relevant U.S.-Iran agreement, public attention has focused not only on whether the agreement can bring short-term de-escalation, but also on how verification, monitoring, sanctions relief, and accountability for violations will be implemented afterward.

From this perspective, the U.S.-Iran agreement is both a phased result of diplomatic negotiations and a test of the international system’s capacity for implementation. The Iran nuclear issue has long been complicated precisely because it involves not only political trust, but also highly specialized technical nuclear verification, IAEA access, the handling of enriched uranium stockpiles, the conditions for lifting sanctions, and differences among the parties in interpreting the agreement.

Dr. Brewer mentioned during the Q&A session that if Rafael Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, were to become one of the candidates for the next UN Secretary-General, his technical background in handling nuclear issues would carry special significance. The recent U.S.-Iran agreement once again shows that, on the Iran nuclear issue, political commitments must be fulfilled through technical mechanisms; at the same time, technical mechanisms cannot function effectively without international political support. Therefore, the IAEA’s professional verification work, the authorization mechanism of the UN Security Council, and the possible supplementary political role of the UN General Assembly will together influence whether the agreement can truly be implemented.

This also gives greater practical significance to Dr. Brewer’s views on the role of the UN General Assembly. If the five permanent members of the Security Council find it difficult to form a stable consensus, whether the General Assembly can provide broader political support on issues of international peace and security will become an important question for future international governance. For the U.S.-Iran agreement to move from a “signed document” to an “enforceable arrangement,” it will require not only sustained political will from both the United States and Iran, but also a transparent, credible, and verifiable oversight framework provided by international institutions.

From the perspective of sanctions, the U.S.-Iran agreement also highlights the tension between UN sanctions and U.S. unilateral sanctions. UN sanctions are usually built on multilateral consensus and tend to be more cautious in standard-setting, while U.S. unilateral sanctions are often more flexible as a policy tool and more forceful as a means of political pressure. After the agreement is signed, whether sanctions are eased, when they are eased, and under what conditions they are eased will directly affect the credibility of the agreement. If sanctions relief comes too quickly, it may raise security concerns; if it comes too slowly, it may weaken Iran’s incentive to comply. This is precisely the practical dilemma described by Dr. Brewer: multilateral sanctions, unilateral sanctions, and diplomatic negotiations can reinforce one another, but they can also constrain one another.

Therefore, the recent U.S.-Iran agreement has not ended the Iran nuclear issue; rather, it has opened a more complex phase of implementation. It reminds the international community that the truly difficult part is often not reaching a framework agreement, but establishing a verifiable, sustainable, and enforceable mechanism in an environment of limited trust. Dr. Brewer’s analysis also shows that the future interaction among the UN Secretary-General, the International Atomic Energy Agency, the Security Council, the General Assembly, and major countries will continue to profoundly shape the development of nuclear proliferation and sanctions issues involving Iran, North Korea, and beyond.