1,000 foreign troops to march in China's V-Day parade

BEIJING - Nearly 1,000 foreign troops from 17 countries will participate in China's military parade marking the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II on Sept 3, a military official said on Friday.

Although China has so far held 14 military parades to mark National Day, the parade next month will be the first commemorating the anniversary of the end of WWII and the victory in the Chinese People's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression. It is also the first time that foreign armies will participate in a military parade in China.

Belarus, Cuba, Egypt, Kazakhstan, Kyrghyzstan, Mexico, Mongolia, Pakistan, Serbia, Tajikistan and Russia have dispatched formations to march in the parade, said Qu Rui, deputy chief of the Operations Department of the General Staff Headquarters of the People's Liberation Army (PLA).

Each formation consists of around 75 people.

Another six countries -- Afghanistan, Cambodia, Fiji, Laos, Vanuatu and Venezuela -- sent teams of around seven people each, he said.

The troops will be grouped alphabetically according to their country names, and will follow PLA foot formations in the parade.

Thirty-one countries, including France and Republic of Korea, have also promised to send high-level military delegations.