Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi discussed China-Uganda relations with Ugandan Foreign Minister Jeje Odongo in New York City on Tuesday.
China is ready to work with African partners to build a just and equitable global governance system and make joint efforts for world peace, stability, development and prosperity, said Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee.
China appreciates Uganda's positive role during its rotating presidency of the Non-Aligned Movement and congratulates Uganda on becoming a BRICS partner country, said Wang, noting that China is ready to collaborate with Uganda to promote solidarity and cooperation in the Global South and uphold international equity and justice.
Wang said that China and Uganda have always respected, trusted, and supported each other, and China will always be a sincere friend and reliable partner to Uganda in its development and revitalization endeavors.
China is ready to work with Uganda to implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state and the outcomes of the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, enrich the China-Uganda comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, and build an all-weather China-Africa community with a shared future in a new era, said Wang.
Odongo, for his part, said China stood by them in times of hardship in Uganda's struggle for national independence and provided invaluable support in Uganda's pursuit of autonomous development.
Uganda regards China as a reliable and trusted partner, said Odongo, noting that Uganda fully endorses China and the BRICS countries' adherence to principles such as mutual respect, sovereign equality, fairness and justice, and is ready to stand with the BRICS countries on the right side of history.
Both sides exchanged views on the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Chinese, Ugandan FMs meet to discuss bilateral ties
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
