Prague, Aug 25 (CTK) – Czech President Milos Zeman will attend the military parade in Beijing during his September visit to China that will celebrate the 70th anniversary of the end of the Pacific war as the sole Western president to do so, according to his schedule spokesman Jiri Ovcacek released to the media Tuesday.
The military parade on September 3 will be the culmination of the celebrations.
For fear of the Chinese expansion in the region, European and American representatives have refused to attend the ceremony.
However, some Western countries will send their foreign ministers and other senior officials to Beijing.
Earlier Tuesday, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe excused himself from the ceremony, too.
Zeman will go to China at the invitation of his Chinese opposite number Xi Jinping.
Most European politicians either have not accepted the invitation or have not received it.
The EU planned to adopt a joint position within which all of its members were to refuse their participation in the ceremony.
Czech Foreign Minister Lubomir Zaoralek and Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka (both Social Democrats, CSSD) have said they had no objections to Zeman’s journey.
Zaoralek said it was right to honour the war victims.
Sobotka said Zeman was contributing to the improvement in Czech-Chinese relations, one of the government priorities.
The opposition has criticised Zeman over his ignorance of human rights abuses in China.
Legendary Czech football player Pavel Nedved will fly with President Milos Zeman to China in September.
