She said Clark and Key’s attendance risked validating a worldview at odds with New Zealand’s.
Former prime ministers John Key and Helen Clark Photo / Audrey Young
Clark told The Post she was paying her own way to Beijing, and added accepting the invitation was “really a line call”. She had anticipated there would be such world leaders in attendance.
“I think engagement with China as our major trade partner is very important, while obviously acknowledging that we have significant differences in political systems.”
Millions of Chinese people were killed during a prolonged war with imperial Japan in the 1930s and 40s, which became part of a global conflict following Tokyo’s attack on Pearl Harbour in 1941.
Leaders were arriving on Wednesday before the massive parade to cap a week of diplomatic grandstanding by Chinese President Xi Jinping and his allies against the West.
In unprecedented scenes, Xi shook both Putin and Kim’s hands and chatted with the pair as the trio walked down a red carpet towards Tiananmen Square.
China will showcase its military prowess with troops marching in formation, flypasts and displays of high-tech fighting gear at the showpiece extravaganza to mark the eight decades since the end of World War II.
Meanwhile AFP reported all eyes would be on how the trio of Xi, Putin and Kim – who rarely leaves North Korea – interact with each other in a highly choreographed photo opportunity seen as a coup for China on the world stage.
–RNZ