EU leaders unlikely to participate in China military parade ceremony: EU official
The European Union (EU)’s ambassador to Beijing says it remains “unlikely” that prominent statesmen and politicians from the 28-member politico-economic bloc would attend a major military parade through the Chinese capital in September.
“Given the situation in this region, in East Asia as a whole, which is quite different from both post-war Europe and present day Europe, we think it would be a good occasion to send a message of reconciliation,” Ambassador Hans Dietmar Schweisgut told journalists in Beijing on Friday.
A number of European leaders have been invited to partake in the September 3 parade, he said, but so far “no decisions or very few have been taken.”
“I cannot speak for others,” Schweisgut said, but he added that it was “unlikely” that leaders from EU institutions would attend the event, which is in commemoration of the end of World War II.
Chinese authorities say that thousands of troops from the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) will march in central Beijing during the huge parade, followed by dozens of tanks and weapons systems shown to the public for the first time.
China’s Defense Ministry has confirmed that Russian troops will take part in the September 3 parade.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has already confirmed he will be in Beijing for the march. Other world leaders from China’s BRICS partners are also expected to attend.
BRICS is the acronym for an association of the five major emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. They are distinguished by their large, fast-growing economies and significant influence on regional and global affairs.
Meanwhile, Tokyo has announced that the Japanese prime minister will not attend the ceremony.
“There is no way the prime minister would attend the anti-Japan military parade,” Japanese-language Asahi Shimbun newspaper quoted a senior government official as saying. Beijing says the parade commemorates China’s victory against Japanese aggression in 1945.
Relations between Beijing and Tokyo have plunged in recent years in the wake of maritime tensions over the disputed islands in the East China Sea.
MP/HSN/HJL
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