00:00Perry Brown is director of the Lao China Institute at King's College London.
00:05Great to have you on the programme.
00:06Look, all of these bilateral meetings that have happened ahead of what will be
00:09one of the largest military parades ever staged,
00:13how important is the roll call of leaders attending?
00:19Well, I mean, obviously for China it's important for, you know,
00:23showing that this event in Beijing, the military parade,
00:27is not just a domestic but a global event.
00:30I mean, it's after all about China's role in modern history,
00:34defeating fascism with other allies.
00:37Although the allies now are different,
00:38I think the point is that this is China saying that it is a global power
00:43and that it's important, therefore, that other countries send leadership.
00:48Of course, there are some countries that are not present.
00:50I mean, there's representation from quite a wide range of different countries,
00:54not just at head of state or head of government level.
00:58So it would have been an international event anyway.
01:01But obviously having significant countries such as Russia,
01:06you know, kind of present is very, very important
01:09and shows it's a global event for China.
01:11Well, President Xi and President Putin also highlighted their history during World War II, didn't they?
01:17Indeed, and it's an important history.
01:23I mean, you know, China was an ally certainly of the west of UK and the United States during the war.
01:32But of course, so was Russia as the Soviet Union.
01:35And the Russian sort of casualties then were many millions.
01:41You could almost argue that the Second World War, you know, decisively was changed
01:45because of the USSR fighting against the Nazis,
01:49just as China fighting against the Japanese decisively won the Pacific War.
01:54So in some ways they have, for different reasons, you know, a common cause.
01:58And this is an event that allows them to remember and integrate that memory.
02:03Kerry Brown, I'm afraid we're going to have to leave it there.
02:06Kerry Brown, Director of the Lao China Institute at King's College London.
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