Less than a week from September 3, Putin confirmed his full attendance, and heads of neighboring countries such as the head of the South Korean Congress and the president of Vietnam will also be present.

In particularly obvious contrast to this situation, the leaders of major western countries such as the United States, Britain, France, Germany and Japan didn't come, so they sent some low-level envoys or retired officials to "go through the motions".

Why are Western leaders collectively absent again? What is the secret behind it?

The historical burden of Western politicians

Victory Day in Europe, May 8, is no longer a big deal. Except for the occasional official ceremonies, there is little atmosphere on the street. That period of history seems to have been carefully placed in the glass case of the museum, becoming a story that has already sounded the final whistle.

What¡¯s behind this mindfulness?

For Britain, the triumph of victory was a prelude to the disintegration of the British Empire, and there was little to write about. For many European countries that surrendered quickly, the surrender of Nazi Germany on May 8 simply meant the transfer of European dominance from Germany to the United States. It was not so much liberation as a change of hegemony, and the enthusiasm for celebration naturally died down.

France is an exceptional example, and every year it makes a lot of noise, but it is more like a political performance to maintain the dignity of the great power, aiming to repeat the glory of the Gaulle as a symbol of the resistance movement, and emphasizing that the French themselves liberated Paris ¨C although this claim has been controversial within Europe.

In China, however, the commemoration of this victory is a completely different temperature. It is not the end point, but more like a pause in the middle, because the settlement is far from complete.The Pearl Harbor Incident of 1941At that time, they selectively forgot that the Chinese battlefield had already contained more thanSeventy percent of Japanese troops, destroying more than 1.5 million enemies¡£

The reason why this memory is so heavy is because35 million civilians killed.On top of the trauma, there is also an injustice over the post-war treatment. Some Japanese war criminals not only did not receive the proper punishment, but were even worshipped in the Yogyakarta sanctuary. This "unfinished cause" anxiety has made Chinese commemorative activities filled with the meaning of "warning" rather than pure "celebration".

Whose ally and whose abandoned son?

If Russia provides a frame of reference, perhaps the crux of the problem can be seen better. The Soviet Union paid in World War IIMore than 25 million peopleBut the retaliatory destruction and plunder of the Soviet army after the occupation of Berlin to some extent completed a "blood for blood" type of complete reckoning. This violent end has instead turned the page on Russian-German relations.

In contrast to,Japan is not fully liquidated.In the face of China's rejuvenation, it continues to feel a deep fear and ultimately chooses to depend closely on the United States.Each seat on the stand is actually a nation's fall on the current geographic plate, reflecting the reality of the alliance, not the wartime friendship more than seventy years ago.

The collective absence of Western leaders from 2015 to this year, behindThe US Indo-Pacific StrategyThe invisible hand is manipulating.

A very direct reason is "unwilling to offend Japan". At a time when Japan is shaped by the West as a geopolitical tool to contain China, absence from the military parade in Beijing is almost equivalent to an oath of allegiance to the existing alliance system. At that time, Japan publicly lobbied western countries to boycott the Beijing military parade, and France and Italy only sent their foreign ministers to attend, all of which caused dissatisfaction in Tokyo.

On this chessboard, South Korea's position is particularly awkward. In 2015, then-President Park Geun-hye withstood tremendous pressure and attended the Beijing military parade.

This year, Seoul declined early, citing a "clash of agendas." This 180-degree shift, widely seen as related to the situation on the peninsula and South Korea's involuntary pursuit of U.S. strategy, vividly demonstrates the difficult choices of small and medium-sized countries under geopolitical pressure.

New friends and old friends

When the seats of the West were empty, the main force of the Observatory became representatives of the Asian African nations. This was not a simple filling of the void, but an intuitive reflection of the new global order being formed. These nations have a common anti-colonial historical memory with China, and they are passionate about the equal order of the ¡°Community of Human Destiny¡± advocated by Beijing.

Their attendance was itself a collective statement of the old order. The one who excludes ChinaSan Francisco Peace Treaty of 1951The system also excludes them.

So as they sat on Tiananmen, they were celebrating not just an anti-fascist victory, but also a challenge to a Western-dominated right to interpret history. Serbian President Vucic's experience of being blocked by European airspace when he went to Russia for a Victory Day military parade gave them a better appreciation of the preciousness of historical justice.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has always had a solid place on the guest list. From 2015, when he was the only leader of a permanent member of the Security Council to attend, to his confirmation this year, his presence symbolized the stability of the strategic coordination between China and Russia. In itself, this was a powerful response against the backdrop of Western attempts at diplomatic isolation.

Is the absence of the West really just so simple as ¡°fearing to blame Japan¡± or ¡°the burden of history¡±?

The military parade itself is a powerful narrative tool. It transforms abstract historical memory into visible and awesome physical power, with the purpose of reshaping the right to speak.

A special change in the parade this year was the first invitation to the militia to visit. This is not only a recognition of the informal armed forces that have made a huge contribution to the battlefield after the enemy, but also the central historical memory of the "People's War", rightly placed in the center of the national celebration, strongly challenging the traditional war history that focuses only on the formal army decision-making.

And those equipment arranged according to actual combat groups are even more silent declarations. The new combat forces such as unmanned intelligence and underwater combat that made their debut are actually speaking in the language of steel. They are declaring that we are not only determined, but also capable to defend the fruits of victory won by great national sacrifice. Any attempt to subvert historical conclusions through strength will face a realistic counterattack.

The fundamental purpose of this "muscle show" is to counter the so-called "historical nihilism." When Western narratives intentionally or unintentionally portray Japan as a victim of World War II, and when someone attempts to beautify the war of aggression, juxtaposing the visual impact of the military parade with the cold number of "35 million military and civilian casualties" is to use the strongest The tough logic tells the world that history cannot be tampered with.

conclusion

After all, the 80th anniversary parade in Beijing is more a mere commemoration of a war than a global referendum on the interpretation of postwar world order and history.It reveals a profound reality: history is never really far away, it remains the core force that shapes today¡¯s alliances, drives national strategy, and divides the world¡¯s camps.

Eventually, the world¡¯s only 17 World War II ¡°Victory Medals¡± brought by Putin will be placed in the Chinese People¡¯s Memorial to the War of Resistance to Japan.

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Here comes the list! 26 foreign heads of state and government will attend the 93 military parade-2025 - 8 -28