China condemns the attack on the Chinese Consulate-General in Myanmar's Mandalay and urges the country to thoroughly investigate the incident, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said at a daily press briefing on Monday .
He also urged Myanmar to fully strengthen security measures for the Chinese embassy, consulate-general, institutions, projects and personnel in Myanmar, when commenting on reports which said that an unidentified attacker threw a grenade at the Chinese consulate in Mandalay in Myanmar on Sunday. "At about 17:00 on October 18 local time, an office building of the Chinese Consulate-General in Mandalay close to the street was attacked with an explosive device. There was no casualty, but part of the premise was damaged. China is deeply shocked at the attack and strongly condemns it," Lin said.
"The Chinese Foreign Ministry and Embassy and Consulate-General in Myanmar activated the emergency response mechanism right away and quickly started handling the incident. China has lodged serious protests to Myanmar and urged the Myanmar side to get to the bottom of the incident, make all-out effort to hunt down the perpetrators and bring them to justice in accordance with law, fully strengthen security measures for Chinese Embassy, Consulate-General, institutions, projects and personnel in Myanmar, and prevent similar incidents from happening again," Lin said.
"The Myanmar side expressed shock and pain over the incident and said they have taken a number of necessary measures and will fulfill their commitments and obligations under international law and take up their major responsibility to protect the safety and security of Chinese personnel and institutions in Myanmar. The Chinese Consulate-General in Mandalay has recently issued a security alert, urging all Chinese nationals, businesses and institutions in Myanmar to continue to keep a close eye on the local security situation, strengthen security measures and take every precaution to keep themselves safe," Lin said.
China condemns attack on Chinese consulate in Myanmar's Mandalay
Axis powers during World War II should offer sincere reflection and apology, a Greek mayor said after Greece successfully repatriated a rare collection of 262 World War II-era photographs.
Greek officials traveled to Belgium to negotiate with the seller and brought the photographs back to Greece, after they were put up for sale online by a Belgian collector, said the Greek Culture Ministry.
The images were taken by Wehrmacht lieutenant Hermann Heuer, who served in Greece from 1943 to 1944, during World War II, and part of the collection documents the mass execution of Greek communists by Nazi troops in Kaisariani, east of Athens.
During World War II, German occupation in Greece met with fierce resistance. On May 1, 1944, German forces executed 200 Greeks at the Kaisariani firing range in retaliation for the killing of a German general by resistance fighters.
A memorial and a museum were set up after the war in Kaisariani to commemorate those who died in the mass execution.
"The photos really shocked us all because they were real documents from the day of the execution. We are shocked for many reasons. An important reason is that the 200 communists were singing with their heads held high before the execution in the photos, and they were not mourning because they were fighters," said Ilias Stamelos, mayor of Kaisariani.
The newly recovered photographs have drawn renewed attention to the historical trauma still felt in the community, as the images provide a direct visual record of the final moments of those executed.
In 1987, then German President Richard von Weizsaecker visited Greece and made a special stop in Kaisariani, reflecting on the profound suffering inflicted on the Greek people by Germany during World War II.
Ilias said that, like Germany, Japan, another Axis power during the war, should also be held accountable for the massive harm it caused to multiple countries and should offer sincere reflection and apology for its wartime aggression.
"And I think it's a common demand, because those responsible for the deaths in the World War II need to pay for what happened. It's known to all that back then it was Germany, Japan and Italy, the allies in this war, that each played different roles in the war, yet they do have common responsibilities," said the mayor.
Historic photos of Nazi mass execution of Greeks returned to Greece, mayor calls for historical accountability
