A panda statue is seen with a mask on its face, as a reminder that the COVID-19 pandemic is not over, in Chengdu, Southwest China's Sichuan province, on August 17. (Photo: IC)

A flower installation is seen in central Brussels, Belgium, on August 17, 2021. A floral event "Brussels in Bloom" was held from August 15 to September 5 this year in the streets around the Grand-Place in Brussels, as The Flower Carpet was moved to August 2022. (Photo: Xinhua)

Screen image taken at Beijing Aerospace Control Center on August 20, 2021 shows Chinese astronauts Nie Haisheng and Liu Boming waving their hands after conducting extravehicular activities (EVAs) out of the space station core module Tianhe. (Photo: Xinhua)

Tourists enjoy the fascinating sunset scenery of Dianchi Lake, known as the "Sparkling Pearl Embedded in a Highland," in Haiyan village in Kunming, Southwest China's Yunnan Province, August 19, 2021. (Photo: IC)

A Taliban member stands guard in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan, August 21, 2021. (Photo: Xinhua)

People light candles during a prayer for Afghanistan in the Helsinki Cathedral in Helsinki, Finland, on Wednesday, August 18, 2021. (Photo: CFP)

Pupils attend a grand gathering to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the peaceful liberation of Tibet at the Potala Palace square in Lhasa, Southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, August 19, 2021. (Photo: Xinhua)

The Rainbow Bridge in Tokyo is lit up in purple on August 19, 2021, ahead of the August 24 opening ceremony of the Tokyo Paralympics. (Photo: CFP)

A medical worker administers a dose of COVID-19 vaccine to a girl student at the Hangtian Campus of the Beijing Yuying School in Beijing, capital of China, on August 21, 2021. (Photo: Xinhua)

A person cycles along St Kilda beach on August 21, 2021 in Melbourne, Australia. Lockdown restrictions are currently in place across Melbourne as Victoria continues to record new cases of the highly infectious COVID-19 Delta variant. (Photo: CFP)