At the invitation of Costa Rica's government, Chinese President Xi Jinping's Special Envoy Chen Xiaodong attended Costa Rica's presidential handover ceremony at the National Stadium in San José on Friday.
Costa Rican President Laura Fernandez on Thursday met with Chen, who is also chairman of the China International Development Cooperation Agency.
Chen conveyed Xi's cordial regards and best wishes to Fernandez, saying that over nearly 19 years since the two countries established diplomatic ties, China-Costa Rica relations have made significant progress and brought tangible benefits to the people of the two countries.
He said the Chinese government has always viewed China-Costa Rica relations from a strategic and long-term perspective, adding that China is willing to push for the sustained, sound and steady development of bilateral ties.
Fernandez thanked Xi for sending a special envoy to attend the ceremony and asked Chen to convey her sincere greetings to Xi.
She said that Costa Rica-China relations are in good shape and that with a vast market, China offers great opportunities.
Costa Rica welcomes Chinese enterprises to invest in the country and is willing to strengthen practical cooperation with China in infrastructure, education and health, expand exports to China and deepen the two countries' traditional friendship, so as to push for a steady development of bilateral relations, she said.
Xi's special envoy attends presidential handover ceremony in Costa Rica
Any attempt to falsify the World War II history and to glorify Nazi and collaborators must be resolutely stopped, Russian President Vladimir Putin stressed at a reception marking the Victory Day on Saturday.
According to a transcript posted on the website of the Kremlin, Putin underscored the decisive contribution made by the people of the Soviet Union to the "defeat of Nazism" in his speech addressing the reception.
"We have never divided this great victory into 'ours' and 'theirs.' That is why we honor the contribution of all soldiers of the anti-Hitler coalition, members of the resistance, partisans and underground fighters," said Putin, adding that "we will always preserve the memory of our wartime alliance, of our brotherhood in arms."
"It is important to firmly counter attempts to falsify the events of the Second World War and to glorify Nazis and collaborators. They bear responsibility for the unbearable suffering and deaths of millions of civilians," Putin said.
He stressed that "it is our duty to prevent" any effort to justify the genocide of Soviet citizens and other atrocities committed by Nazi criminals. "These crimes were unequivocally condemned by the verdict of the Nuremberg Tribunal and have no statute of limitations," he said. On November 20, 1945, the United States, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and France established an international military tribunal in Nuremberg, Bavaria in southern Germany, to reckon with the heinous crimes committed by Nazi Germany against humanity.
Putin vows to firmly counter attempts to falsify WWII history
