Sisi's attendance of parade in Beijing highlights Egypt-China close ties

CAIRO -- The anticipated visit of Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi to Beijing to attend a military parade marking the 70th anniversary of World War II reflects strong and close ties between Egypt and China, an Egyptian political expert told Xinhua.

"The attendance of President Sisi and the participation of a number of Egyptian soldiers in the military parade in China highlights the close ties and strong partnership between the two countries," said Yousri al-Azabawi, an expert at Cairo-based Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies.

Sisi is scheduled to attend a military parade in Beijing on the Sept. 3 to mark the 70th anniversary of World War II at the invitation of his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.

The Egyptian president arrived in Beijing on Tuesday as the second destination of his Asian tour that includes Singapore and Indonesia.

The visit is seen by experts as reflection of the closeness between Egypt and China, which has recently elevated their ties to the level of "comprehensive strategic partnership" to boost economic, political and cultural cooperation between the two countries.

Azabawi said that the move demonstrates that the two countries have started to comply with the comprehensive strategic partnership agreement signed in December when Sisi visited Beijing six months after he took office.

Over the past few months, Egypt has seen vivid presence of Chinese companies cooperating with the Egyptian government in various infrastructure projects.

In addition to vibrant economic cooperation, Egypt is keen on enhancing military ties with China, said Azabawi, analyzing it as one of the reasons the Egyptian leader is interested to attend the military parade.

"In the near future, there will be growing military cooperation between Egypt and China," Azabawi expected, noting that it will be in the best interest of both sides.

"Egypt also wants to tell the world that developing countries played an important role in the victory of WWII," Azabawi said, lamenting that some major powers often ignored the contributions made by many developing countries, like Egypt and China in the historical war.

Egypt's coastal El Alamein town witnessed a remarkable battle in 1942 where the Allied forces led by British commander Bernard Law Montgomery defeated the Axis German-Italian forces led by "Desert Fox" German general Erwin Rommel, marking the beginning of the decline of Fascism and Nazism.

Meanwhile, Chinese forces lost millions of soldiers while fighting against the invading Japanese troops, which exhausted the Japanese empire and weakened its military capacity against the United States and the Soviets in the 1939-1945 WWII.