On the morning of August 28, the Press Center for the Commemoration of the 80th Anniversary of the Victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War held the first press conference at the Press Release Hall on the second floor of the Media Center.
Hong Lei, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs; Lu Yingchuan, Vice Minister of Culture and Tourism; Wu Zeke, Deputy Director of the Parade Leading Group Office and Major General Deputy Director of the Operations Bureau of the Joint Staff Department of the Central Military Commission; and Xia Linmao, Member of the Standing Committee of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China and Executive Vice Mayor of Beijing, introduced the preparations for the Commemoration of the 80th Anniversary of the Victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War, and answered questions from reporters.
At the invitation of Xi Jinping, President of the People’s Republic of China, 26 foreign heads of state and government will attend the commemoration event. They are: Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation; Kim Jong-un, General Secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea and Chairman of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea; Norodom Sihamoni, King of the Kingdom of Cambodia; Liang Qiang, President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam; Thongloun Sisoulith, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party and President of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic; Prabowo Subianto, President of the Republic of Indonesia; Anwar Ibrahim, Prime Minister of Malaysia; Khurelsukh Ukhnaa, President of Mongolia; Shehbaz Sharif, Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan; KP Sharma Oli, Prime Minister of Nepal; Mohamed Muizzu, President of the Republic of Maldives; Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, President of the Republic of Kazakhstan; Shavkat Mirziyoyev, President of the Republic of Uzbekistan; Emomali Rahmon, President of the Republic of Tajikistan; Sadyr Japarov, President of the Kyrgyz Republic; Serdar Berdimuhamedov, President of Turkmenistan; Alexander Lukashenko, President of the Republic of Belarus; Ilham Aliyev, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan; Nikol Pashinyan, Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia; Ebrahim Raisi, President of the Islamic Republic of Iran; Denis Sassou Nguesso, President of the Republic of the Congo; Emmerson Mnangagwa, President of the Republic of Zimbabwe; Aleksandar Vučić, President of the Republic of Serbia; Robert Fico, Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic; Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and President of the Republic of Cuba; and Min Aung Hlaing, Acting President of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar.
At the invitation of the Chinese government, speakers of parliaments, deputy prime ministers, high-level representatives from some countries, heads of international organizations, and former political figures will also attend the commemoration event.
The speakers of parliaments and deputy prime ministers are: Kim Ui-jeong, Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea; Fernanda Borges, Speaker of the National Parliament of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste; Jorge Rodríguez, President of the National Assembly of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela; Lawrence Wong, Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Singapore; Hussein Mohamed Abdel-Hamid El-Wazeer, Special Envoy of the President and Deputy Prime Minister of the Arab Republic of Egypt; and Korneliya Ninova Zafirova, Chairperson of the Bulgarian Socialist Party and Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Bulgaria.
The high-level representatives are: Celso Amorim, Chief Special Advisor to the President of the Federative Republic of Brazil; Geraldo Alckmin Filho, Representative of the Brazilian Government and Ambassador of Brazil to China; Laureano Ortega Murillo, Representative of the Government of the Republic of Nicaragua and Advisor to the President; Péter Szijjártó, Representative of the Government of Hungary and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade; Haji Muhammad Haszaimi bin Bol Hassan, Commander of the Royal Brunei Armed Forces; Tarique Ahmed Siddique, Representative of the Interim Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh and National Security Advisor; Laid Rebigua, Minister of National Moudjahidine of the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria; and Jaromír Štětina, Member of the European Parliament.
The heads of international organizations are: Li Junhua, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations; Qu Dongyu, Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; Dilma Rousseff, President of the New Development Bank; Jin Liqun, President of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank; Zhang Ming (Note: The original text mentions “Yermekbayev”, which may be a transliteration error; the correct Secretary-General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization as of 2024 is Zhang Ming), Secretary-General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization; Ruslan Edelgeriev (Note: The original text mentions “Sharsheev”, which may be a transliteration error; the correct Director of the Executive Committee of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure as of 2024 is Ruslan Edelgeriev), Director of the Executive Committee of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure; Kairat Sarybay, Secretary-General of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia; Sergei Lebedev, Secretary-General of the Commonwealth of Independent States; Stanislav Zas (Note: The original text mentions “Tasmagambetov”, which may be a transliteration error; the correct Secretary-General of the Collective Security Treaty Organization as of 2024 is Stanislav Zas), Secretary-General of the Collective Security Treaty Organization; and Mikhail Myasnikovich (Note: The original text mentions “Sagintayev”, which may be a transliteration error; the correct Chairman of the Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission as of 2024 is Mikhail Myasnikovich), Chairman of the Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission.
The former political figures are: Yukio Hatoyama, Former Prime Minister of Japan; Ueli Maurer, Former President of the Swiss Confederation and Former Federal Minister of Finance; Yves Leterme, Former Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Belgium; George Papandreou, Former Prime Minister of the Hellenic Republic; Massimo D’Alema, Former Prime Minister of the Italian Republic; Adrian Năstase and Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu, Former Prime Ministers of Romania; Helen Clark and John Key, Former Prime Ministers of New Zealand; Bob Carr, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Australia; and Daniel Andrews, Former Premier of Victoria, Australia.
In addition, foreign ambassadors to China, military attachés, and representatives of international organizations in China have also been invited to attend.
Hong Lei stated that we have also specially extended invitations to representatives of international friends who have made contributions to the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression or their family members. Fifty representatives from 14 countries including Russia, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and Canada will attend the event as invited guests.
Hong Lei said that the foreign guests attending this year’s commemoration event have three main characteristics. First, they are of high ranks. The large number of foreign heads of state and government attending reflects the high attention that various countries attach to this commemoration event held by China and their friendly feelings towards the Chinese people. Second, they are highly representative. The attendees cover all five continents of the world, demonstrating the international community’s universal recognition of the historical contributions and global significance of China’s War of Resistance. Third, their participation is extensive. There are not only government officials but also people from non-governmental sectors. Many international friends and their family members are well-known to the Chinese people. We warmly welcome them to China.
Source: Xinhua News Agency (Verbatim Report)
Editor: Wu Beibei
Reviewer: Wei Yuan
Chief Editor: Song Fangcan
