Summarised by Centrist
Former New Zealand prime ministers Helen Clark and John Key stood alongside China’s Xi Jinping, Russia’s Vladimir Putin, and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un at a Beijing military parade marking 80 years since Japan’s surrender in World War II.
The event in Tiananmen Square featured troops, flypasts and high-tech weapons, with Xi framed as the central figure flanked by Putin and Kim. More than 20 world leaders attended, including Iran’s president and leaders from Vietnam, Cuba, Malaysia and Belarus.
Clark said she paid her own way and suggested she and Key were invited because of their roles in the NZ-China free trade agreement. “Yes, there are some guests there who are not the ones we would invite to our country,” she said.
Key, in a written statement, said he was marking New Zealand’s role in the Pacific war effort. “I believe it’s important we mark and never forget the brave efforts of New Zealanders who fought for the freedom we enjoy today,” he said.
However, Canterbury University’s Anne-Marie Brady said the event was intended as an “affirmation of a China-centred authoritarian axis” and that Clark and Key’s presence risked validating a worldview at odds with New Zealand’s.
New Zealand diplomats represented the government formally, but no ministers were invited.
Foreign Minister Winston Peters said Clark and Key, as private citizens, are “free agents” to attend.
Clark also said the SIS is becoming “more politicised,” while Muslim leaders said its latest threat report had glaring gaps and ignored homegrown extremism.
