2015年CRI China's V-day Parade Shows Respect to History: Foreign Experts（在线收听）

Michael Seslavinsky, head of Federal Agency on Press and Mass Communications of Russia, says the commemorative activities have expressed a respect for history.

"China suffered huge losses during the WWII. We should remember and respect the history and recall those who lost their lives with Chinese people. Without contributions made by China, the second world war could not have finished so rapidly."

He says the battlefield in the East was very huge, as the region affected by the war was much larger than that in Europe.

Pavel Negoitsa, President of Russian newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta, says the military parade is of great significance, as some countries and politicians have tried to weaken the role of former Soviet Union and China in fighting against Japanese aggressors and German fascists during WWII.

"From such perspective, it is appropriate and necessary to hold the military parade so as to prove to the world the indelible contribution made by China for the victory of the WWII."

Two formations of the veterans representing the resistance war forces led by both the Communist Party and the Kuomintang participated in the military parade on Thursday in Beijing.

Along with families of those soldiers who gave their lives in the war, they were reviewed by Chinese President Xi Jinping as they rode in open-air buses through the square.

Michael Miagkov, professor of Moscow Institute of International Relations said that people who still have fresh memory of the history of WWII are becoming fewer and fewer.

"For those veterans in China and former Soviet Union, this might be the last memorial day in their lifetime, and we should remember them and show our respect to the veterans who experienced the war."

Mya Than Than Nu, secretary of Myanmar's Democratic Party, says the military parade China held on the 70th anniversary of the World Anti-Fascist War has a special meaning.

"Through the parade, China shows to the world that it will stick to the path of peaceful development, and it has the ability to keep world peace. To prevent further wars, many countries gathered in China and participated in this parade for world peace."

Ahead of the epic V-Day parade on Thursday, President Xi Jinping announced to cut China's troops by 300,000.

The cuts, which are scheduled to be completed by the end of 2017, will be China's 11th military reduction since the founding of New China on October 1, 1949, and the fourth one since the 1980s.

In 1985, China downsized its army by more than 1 million, the largest cuts ever. After the recent move, China's troop levels will stand at 2 million, compared with 6.27 million in October 1949.