China has officially announced that 26 foreign heads of state and government have been invited to attend the September 3 military parade. On August 30, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto cancelled his trip due to domestic protests in Jakarta; but in the end he still managed to go to China to attend the military parade.
Analysts highlight that a notable feature of this list is the absence of developed countries. Most attendees come from Asia and a few other regions, while major Western nations are collectively absent; Japan and South Korea are also not included. Indian Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit in Tianjin on August 31–September 1, but will skip the military parade, which most other SCO leaders will remain to watch.
Ongoing tensions between China and Western countries over trade, technology, the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and human rights likely influenced their decision to abstain from participating. Serbian President Aleksandar Vuči and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico are the only leaders from European countries, but their pro-Russia stance contrasts with mainstream Western positions. Only two African nations – Congo and Zimbabwe – are attending, marking a sharp departure from China’s historically strong engagement with Africa.
People’s Daily has listed the 26 foreign leaders as:
- Russia – President Vladimir Putin
- North Korea – Kim Jong Un, General Secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea and Chairman of the State Affairs Commission
- Cambodia – King Norodom Sihamoni
- Vietnam – President Luong Cuong
- Laos – Thongloun Sisoulith, General Secretary of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party Central Committee and President of Laos
- Indonesia – President Prabowo Subianto
- Malaysia – Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim
- Mongolia – President Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh
- Pakistan – Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif
- Nepal – Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli
- Maldives – President Mohamed Muizzu
- Kazakhstan – President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev
- Uzbekistan – President Shavkat Mirziyoyev
- Tajikistan – President Emomali Rahmon
- Kyrgyzstan – President Sadyr Japarov
- Turkmenistan – President Serdar Berdimuhamedov
- Belarus – President Alexander Lukashenko
- Azerbaijan – President Ilham Aliyev
- Armenia – Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan
- Iran – President Masoud Pezeshkian
- Congolese (Brazzaville) – President Denis Sassou Nguesso
- Zimbabwe – President Emmerson Mnangagwa
- Serbia – President Aleksandar Vučić
- Slovakia – Prime Minister Robert Fico
- Cuba – Miguel Díaz-Canel, First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba Central Committee and President of Cuba
- Myanmar – Acting President Min Aung Hlaing
Sources:
1. People’s Daily, August 29, 2025
https://paper.people.com.cn/rmrbhwb/pc/content/202508/29/content_30100885.html
2. Central News Agency (Taiwan), August 29, 2025
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202508290174.aspx