Barrister Harun ur Rashid
Current leaders reportedly attending the parade include Russian President Vladimir Putin, The military parade through Beijing’s Tiananmen Square on Sept. 3 marks the first time China is commemorating the allied victory in 1945 with such a high-profile event. Top leaders from 30 countries, including Russia, Venezuela and Sudan, will attend, and 17 countries will contribute troops to the spectacle, senior Chinese officials told a news conference Tuesday.
Nearly 1,000 foreign troops will take part in the parade in all, said Maj. Gen. Qu.Belarus, Cuba, Egypt, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mexico, Mongolia, Pakistan, Serbia, Tajikistan and Russia were sending the largest contingents of about 75 troops each, he said. Another six countries — Cambodia, Fiji, Laos, Vanuatu and Venezuela — were contributing.
Murayama accused Abe
Current leaders reportedly attending the parade include Russian President Vladimir Putin, Sudan’s President Omar Hassan al-Bashir and Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Several Western countries, including the U.K., France and Australia, will send government ministers, while the U.S. is among nations that will be represented by their diplomatic envoys in China.
While India will not reportedly take part in the parade, officials say that Minister of State for External Affairs, General (Retd) V K Singh will join along with other dignitaries to watch the parade and participate in the reception.
It is reported that retired leaders attending include former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair and former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and former Japanese Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama. As prime minister in 1995, Murayama delivered an apology for Japan’s World War II aggression, and this year he has accused current Japanese Prime Minister. Abe of trying to go back on past government statements.
Absent from the guest list are leaders or troops from the U.S. or other major Western powers that fought alongside China in World War II. It also doesn’t include Kim Jong Un, the leader of North Korea, China’s only military ally.
Japan & China: Differences
Chinese officials say the commemoration isn’t aimed at Japan or any other country. Still, the parade will feature 10,000 Chinese troops and some of China’s most advanced weaponry, including fighter jets, attack helicopters and ballistic missiles.
“Victory in the Chinese People’s War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression was not only a victory for the Chinese people, but also for people from around the world,” Chinese officials said. “The participation of foreign formations, representative teams and military delegations manifests the international nature of the war. We firmly believe that the commemoration activities will cement trust between the PLA and foreign troops participating in the parade,” he added.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has expressed “deepest remorse” and “sincere condolences” to Japan’s wartime victims but China says that it falls short of apology. Japanese government has scotched rumours that Abe may be visiting China on September 3. A Japanese official said in Tokyo that there is no such proposal.
All foreign troops have already arrived at the parade training base and are training with their Chinese counterparts. They participated in parade rehearsals on Thursday and Saturday last week. Rui shrugged off concern over the absence of troops from the US, Japan and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, saying that “history would not be changed by the attitude of certain countries.”
“We respect countries’ choices over whether to come or not, and we will extend our warmest welcome for all foreign troops and delegations that have decided to come,” he said. The parade will include more than 10,000 Chinese troops, who will pass the giant rostrum in central Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, either on foot or in vehicles, while close to 200 military aircraft fly in formations overhead. China will also showcase its military sophistication by rolling out 27 armament formations. Most of the weaponry and equipment has never been shown to the public before.
‘Attitude can’t change history’
“What this shows is the countries which are keen to send a message that they want a strong relationship with China,” said Steve Tsang, senior fellow at the University of Nottingham’s China Policy Institute. “It doesn’t represent the people most actively involved in fighting the Japanese.”
The U.S. Embassy didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment but it has urged China to hold “a forward-looking event that promotes reconciliation and healing.”
Qu Rui, deputy chief of operations for the Chinese military’s general staff, shrugged off the decision by the U.S. and certain other countries not to send high-level delegations. “We respect countries’ choices over whether to come or not, and we will extend our warmest welcome for all foreign troops and delegations that have decided to come,” Maj. Gen. Qu said at the news conference. He later added: “History would not be changed by the attitude of certain countries.”
North Korea will be represented by Choe Ryong-hae, secretary of the ruling Workers’ Party, Mr. Zhang said.Choe is thought by analysts and diplomats to be close to Mr. Kim, the North Korean leader.
North Korea’s Kim’s absence is likely due to a cooling of ties with Beijing, which has grown closer to Seoul in recent years, as well as concerns about his own domestic standing, especially given a recent exchange of artillery fire with the South, analysts said.
It remains unclear whether South Korean President Park Geun-hye will attend China’s parade.
But a South Korean presidential spokeswoman reportedly said that President Park hadn’t decided yet and a decision would be announced at an “appropriate time.” A spokesman for South Korea’s Defense Ministry said that it would send three military observers.
The Chinese government is also considering amnesty for criminals who fought against Japanese invasions in WWII. But it has also rolled out a long list of public controls, from traffic restrictions in Beijing to online censorship nationwide, that are irritating its own citizens. China’s leadership appears to be focused on right now is a massive military parade.
Will the parade burnish Beijing’s image at home, and inspire patriotism abroad? That remains to be seen.
The writer is former Bangladesh Ambassador to the UN, Geneva
Source: Weekly Holiday
