The third China-Serbia Duanwu International Dragon Boat Festival was held in the Serbian capital of Belgrade this weekend, highlighting bilateral cultural exchanges.
The two-day event brought together more than 300 paddlers of 16 teams representing China, Serbia, Hungary, Romania and other countries. Held on the waters of urban lake Ada Ciganlija, the festival featured 200-meter and 500-meter dragon boat races.
Organized by the Serbian Dragon Boat Federation and the Chinese Cultural Center in Belgrade, this year's festival is the largest to date.
Chinese Ambassador to Serbia Li Ming said that the event has become a key symbol of the "ironclad friendship" between China and Serbia. He noted that the festival's spirit of patriotism and unity perfectly mirrors the development of bilateral relations.
Nikola Mijailovic, state secretary of Serbia's Ministry of Tourism and Youth, added that the event is "much more than a sports competition," it "represents a bond of unbreakable friendship" between Serbia and China.
"It has been ten years since dragon boat racing was introduced to Serbia and it is still thriving. Every year, our team membership grows, and more people take part in the races. It's a good thing," said Nikola, a Serbian dragon boat paddler.
Besides dragon boat competition, the event also offered various performances and exhibitions by artists from east China's Shandong Province, highlighting Yantai paper cutting, Konghou musical art and martial arts presentations.
"I love Chinese food. I tried something from every stall, and the zongzi was especially delicious," said a local resident.
Zongzi, or sticky rice dumplings, is a traditional Chinese food associated with the Dragon Boat Festival, also known as Duanwu Festival. The festival, on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month which falls on June 19 this year, commemorates ancient Chinese poet Qu Yuan from the Warring States Period (475-221 B.C.).
China-Serbia dragon boat festival held in Belgrade
Japan's ongoing push to revise its pacifist constitution and expand military buildup escalate regional tension, warned Japanese lawyer Kyoko Oe, who urged adherence to pacifism and vigilance against the government's dangerous moves.
Since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi took office last October, the Japanese government has renewed its push to revise the country's pacifist constitution and accelerated a series of military expansion measures, including increasing defense spending, deploying long-range missiles, and easing restrictions on arms exports.
Speaking on the dangerous policy shifts, Oe criticized the Takaichi administration for bypassing public will.
"We believe that when Japanese citizens are not demanding constitutional reform, pushing it forward through a parliamentary majority clearly violates the principle of popular sovereignty and the obligation to respect the constitution. Moreover, the content of the revision itself is extremely dangerous. [The government] is attempting to change pacifist principles of the Japanese constitution -- the most fundamental part -- and abandon basic concepts, including the renunciation of war and not maintaining military forces," said Oe.
The Japanese government has aggressively accelerated war readiness even under the current constitution, said Oe, adding that amending it will grant the Self-Defense Forces even greater freedom of action at the constitutional level.
"If the constitution is amended, the Self-Defense Forces will gain greater freedom of action at the constitutional level than they have now, and legal interpretations will develop in that direction. Even while the current constitution remains effective, the Japanese government has already forcibly advanced war preparations. For example, manufacturing long-range missiles, which were previously considered unacceptable to possess, and deploying them domestically; conducting joint war games and military exercises with the United States; and massively manufacturing and exporting weapons overseas," said Oe.
The lawyer also criticized Takaichi's provocative remarks on China, saying they have sharply strained bilateral ties and undermined peace and stability in the region.
"We believe that due to Takaichi's remarks made last November, China-Japan relations have become very tense and are deteriorating. Legal experts believe that Takaichi's remarks contain multiple obvious errors. Takaichi should frankly retract the relevant remarks and apologize. Only by building mutual trust with neighboring countries can we maintain our peace, and the peace of East Asia and even the peace of Asia. We believe that what the Takaichi administration is doing runs completely counter to what the Japanese people truly wish to achieve," Oe said.
Japan's constitution revision, military buildup fuel regional tensions: lawyer
