The RSVPs are In: Which Nations will Attend China's Victory Day Celebrations?

The RSVPs are In: Which Nations will Attend China's Victory Day Celebrations?
Aug 25, 2015 By eChinacities.com

Editor's Note: No nation wants to get on China's bad side, but how many will send their top leaders to Beijing's military parade for the 70th anniversary of the “Anti-Japanese War?” It seems that most countries outside of South Korea, are planning to send representatives and ambassadors rather than top leaders. The U.S.A. is still “undecided,” on who it will send, which should be interesting for Sino-U.S. relations. The debate over Abe's attendance however, has been settled as Japan's Prime Minister has stated that he will not attend.

South Korean president Park Geun-hye announced this week that she will travel to Beijing from September 2 to 4 to attend Beijing's celebration of the 70th anniversary of the end of the “Anti-Japanese War,” and “World Anti-Fascist War.” Japanese president Shinzo Abe, on the other hand, will officially not be attendance for the festivities.

Park has confirmed that she will visit Beijing for the holiday but has not said that she will attend the military parade held that day.

EU, India to Send Representatives

In an EU Summit, nations' leaders agreed not to attend the holiday, but many European leaders will send representatives to China to attend in their place. Czech Republic President Milos Zeman will attend in person and has accepted China's invitation to take part in celebrations.

British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said during a recent visit that British would send representatives to participate in the parade, but did not give further details. Hammond said Britain will participate to remember the many British soldiers killed in Asia during World War II.

The Embassy of France in China has reported that French President François Hollande will not attend the parade, but France will send a representative in his place, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Ambassadors from a few EU countries will attend including Denmark. The Ambassador to China from Switzerland, a non-EU country, will attend.

India will send its Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj to attend on behalf of the nation and participate in the parade, according to The Hindu. “New Delhi carefully weighed the impact on Indian-Japanese bilateral relations, and eventually accepted the invitation.”

U.S.A. Still Undecided

There has been no formal announcement from the United States on whether U.S. President Obama will attend the parade. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that, “the probability of Obama visiting to participate in the military victory parade is getting lower,” but added that according to his understanding, Obama was still undecided on the issue.

Ukraine is also still considering whether or not attend. Ukrainian media reported the President Petro Poroshenko has given much thought on the issue. Analysts believe that Ukraine hopes to take the opportunity to strengthen ties with China, but its worried that China and Russia's close ties would mean that Poroshenko would run into Putin at the celebrations.

North Korea has not decided who it will send to participate in the holiday. A North Korean representative stated during the ASEAN meeting of foreign ministers that the nation, “does not know who will attend on behalf of North Korea.”

The Abe Question

Whether Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will attend has been a topic of speculation for many weeks. Japanese media reported on August 18 that Abe was scheduled to visit China on the afternoon of September 3, but would not attend the military parade.

A spokesperson from Chinese Foreign Ministry told China Daily soon after that, “I have not heard anything about Prime Minister Abe's visit to China in September.

The question of Abe's attendance was finally answered yesterday when Abe confirmed that he will not be attending the anniversary.

Source: Mingjing News

 

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Keywords: China September 3 holiday China victory day military parade

10 Comments

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umzung

Interesting developments.

Sep 21, 2015 00:11 Report Abuse

seansarto

The chinese were LIBERATED by allied forces...

Aug 31, 2015 13:22 Report Abuse

silverbutton1

The Japanese SJAC will attend. For those who dont know what SJAC stands for. Sino-Japanese Apologetic Committee. Oops ! It has a new acronym. Now its the SJCDSAC. My bad. The Sino-Japanese Continuously Deeply Sincerely Apologetic Committee.

Aug 31, 2015 09:40 Report Abuse

seansarto

So much like the facists after WW1- Dolchstoßlegende

Aug 28, 2015 10:40 Report Abuse

tinanguyen

good article

Aug 27, 2015 12:30 Report Abuse

sorrel

this will be a great way to distract people from what is happening day to day in China.

Aug 25, 2015 17:18 Report Abuse

carlstar

victory parade with military hardware after 70 years? A bit late to the party. Maybe focus on the people of China instead and commemorate life, like grown up.

Aug 25, 2015 14:39 Report Abuse

Nessquick

I am so proud of our president Milos, hope he will make some deal with mr. eleven , and set up at least donation system for czech expats kids school fee. until now, we have nothing like many European countries, which subsidize their expats even here and pay up to 70% of the school fees... on the other hand, he is a kind of old fart with communist past, so no wonder he is coming

Aug 25, 2015 11:22 Report Abuse

Guest14237834

The japanese capitulated after the USA dropped two nukes on them.

Aug 25, 2015 09:28 Report Abuse

Englteachted

You're a dumb f@#$. And you know nothing about history. Two A bombs were dropped on Japan and that is how China 'defeated' Japan.

Aug 25, 2015 17:11 Report Abuse