Japan urges nations to shun China’s WWII anniversary parade

Japan has urged countries in Europe and Asia not to take part in the large-scale commemorations that China is planning next month to mark the end of World War II, diplomatic sources revealed on Sunday.

Beijing is preparing a military parade on September 3 in Tiananmen Square, along with related ceremonies, to celebrate what it calls victory in the “War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression” (1937–1945) and the global fight against fascism.

Tokyo, however, has warned other governments through its embassies that these commemorations carry anti-Japanese implications and has advised that leaders carefully weigh the political message of their attendance.

The Chinese events will be preceded by the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit, scheduled for September 1–2 in Tianjin, near Beijing. Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to attend both the summit and the anniversary events.

When China staged a similar parade in 2015 for the 70th anniversary, President Xi Jinping stressed that later generations must hold the “correct” view of history and remember its lessons.

His remarks followed comments by then–Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who argued that people born after the war should not be bound to a perpetual cycle of apology. Abe, along with other major Western leaders, declined to join the 2015 parade.

Despite current tensions over historical interpretation, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said last November that he and Xi agreed to pursue “stable” and “mutually beneficial” relations when they met for the first time in person in Peru.