Diplomatic Pouch | Mike Peters

Lithuanian Ambassador Lina Antanaviciene (pictured) hosted a reception on July 8 to celebrate the national day of Lithuania and the opening of her country's presidency of the European Union Council. The festivities also featured the opening of the photo exhibition Forests around the Baltic Sea by Jonas Danauskas and a concert by the famed Baltic Guitar Quartet at the National Center for the Performing Arts. See video at chinadaily.com.cn/video.

The Beijing events were followed by the Lithuanian-Shandong Friendship Days in Jinan, Shandong province, on July 10 and 11.

Cambodia's Ambassador to China Khek M. Caimealy has hosted a banquet to celebrate 55 years of diplomatic relations between Phnom Penh and Beijing. After dinner, the Royal Corps Ballet of Cambodia entertained guests with a performance in a ballroom at the Legendale Hotel.

Danish Ambassador Friis Arne Petersen recently moderated a panel at the second World Peace Forum, held at Tsinghua University in Beijing. Themed Non-Traditional Security Issues, the panel addressed issues including terrorism, food security, drug trafficking and climate change. Panelists were George Yeo, former Singaporean foreign minister, Jorge Taiana, former Argentine foreign minister, and Li Junru, vice-president of the Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.

The Russian-born widow of an early Chinese Communist leader received France's Legion of Honor in Beijing on Monday, as a witness and survivor of a tumultuous 20th century, Agence France-Presse reported.

Lisa Kishkin (pictured), a frail 99-year-old, accepted the award in a hospital room as the French ambassador praised her character.

Kishkin experienced frequent turmoil, including eight years in prison during the "cultural revolution" (1966-76), as the wife of Li Lisan (1899-1967), one of the key leaders of China's revolution. Kishkin, known as "Li Sha", was jailed and held in solitary confinement for eight years until 1975. But she was rehabilitated five years later by paramount leader Deng Xiaoping .

French Ambassador Sylvie Bermann called her a "living emblem of resistance to extraordinary forces that throughout the 20th century sought relentlessly to deny the sacredness and dignity of the human being".

Kishkin, born in 1914 to an aristocratic Russian family and a student and translator of French, married Li in Moscow in the 1930s.

US Ambassador to China Gary Locke offered condolences to the families of the Chinese citizens who were killed in the July 6 crash of Asiana flight 214 in San Francisco.

"As a father myself, I feel great sorrow for the families of the two students from Zhejiang province who passed away in these tragic circumstances," he said, adding that the embassy had expedited visas for the families of the victims so they could travel to the US immediately.

The Danish consul-general in Shanghai, Karsten Ankjaer Jensen, and Chinese pianist Li Yundi participated in the opening of Danish brand Bang & Olufsen's new flagship store in Shanghai late last month.

US artist Ellsworth Kelly, 90, received one of the 2012 National Medal of Arts awarded last week in Washington. Kelly was recognized in part for his contributions to the Foundation for Art and Preservation in Embassies, which included two works he donated for the opening of the new US embassy in Beijing in 2008.

Wu Chuanjing and Agence France-Presse contributed to this report.

Send embassy news to michaelpeters@chinadaily.com.cn.