BEIJING: At the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping, 26 foreign leaders will attend China’s V-Day commemorations in Beijing, Assistant Foreign Minister Hong Lei announced on Thursday.
China will hold a large military parade on September 3 to mark the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War.
Foreign leaders invited to attend the commemorations include Russian President Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong Un, general secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea and president of the State Affairs of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni, Vietnamese President Luong Cuong, General Secretary of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party Central Committee and Lao President Thongloun Sisoulith, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, Mongolian President Ukhnaa Khurelsukh, Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, Nepali Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov, Turkmen President Serdar Berdimuhamedov, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, President of the Republic of the Congo Denis Sassou Nguesso, Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, Miguel Diaz-Canel, first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and Cuban president, and Min Aung Hlaing, acting president of Myanmar.
At the invitation of the Chinese government, heads of parliaments, deputy prime ministers, high-level representatives from various countries, leaders of international organizations, and former political dignitaries will attend the V-Day commemorations.
Meanwhile, China has extended invitations to foreign friends who contributed to the victory in the Chinese People’s War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, as well as to the family members of those who have since passed away, to attend China’s V-Day commemorations, said Hong.
According to Hong, a total of 50 people, including the friendly figures and representatives of these family members, will attend the commemorations. They come from 14 countries, such as Russia, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and Canada.
China will also hold a gala at the Great Hall of the People on the evening of September 3 as part of the commemorations. According to Lu Yingchuan, vice minister of culture and tourism, the final integration of the art performance is underway, he said.
Lu said that leaders of the Party and state, veterans and individuals who contributed to the War of Resistance, honorees, representatives from the general public, and other guests from all walks of life will attend the event.
