The president of the Czech Republic became the first EU leader to confirm attendance at the commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II in Beijing on September 3, while uncertainty remained about the participation of more Western powers.
Czech President Milos Zeman is so far the only EU member to participate in the anniversary, Prague-based newspaper Hospodarske Noviny (HN) reported Tuesday.
"EU wants to avoid the celebrations due to the tension between China and Japan, among others," said the report, adding that the trip will be a good opportunity to enhance relations between the Czech Republic and China.
Chen Zhimin, a professor with the Center for European Studies at Fudan University, told the Global Times that Czech Republic is a relatively independent country in the EU and has always kept a good relationship with China.
Analysts pointed out that the EU may take the anniversary as an opportunity to keep the pressure on Russia due to the Ukraine crisis.
Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed in March that he will attend the September 3 celebration, while the EU has already avoided the WWII celebration in Moscow on May 9.
Zhang Shengjun, an international relations expert from Beijing Normal University, noted that the EU might also have misunderstood the intention of the celebration, which has been widely misinterpreted as a way for China to pressure Japan on historical issues.
"However, their absence, should it happen, will not affect the relations with China, as it would not outweigh the large trade and close cooperation between the two sides," Zhang told the Global Times.
Meanwhile, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said he has not heard about Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit to China in September and that US President Barack Obama is temporarily uncertain whether he will attend the event, the China Central Television reported Wednesday.
"The US is hesitating because they want to strike a balance between China and Japan. As a victorious nation in WWII, it should attend the celebration, but at the same time, it needs to take into consideration Japan, which is a close ally," Zhang said, adding the US may send a lower-level official instead.
Presidents of Kazakhstan, Kyrghyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan have said they would attend the anniversary in Beijing.
