China to hold parade, invite leaders to mark end of World War Two

People's Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers wave a Chinese national flag during a rehearsal of celebrations for the National Day, at a stadium in Beijing September 25, 2009. REUTERS/Kevin Zhao

BEIJING (Reuters) - China will hold a military parade to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of World War Two this year and invite the leaders of major countries involved in the war to attend, the foreign ministry said, events probably aimed at Japan.

Sino-Japan relations have long been poisoned by what China sees as Japan's failure to atone for its occupation of parts of the country before and during the war, and Beijing rarely misses an opportunity to remind its people and the world of this.