China, Cambodia and Laos to Participate in Vietnam Reunification Day Parade

Soldiers from the Chinese, Cambodian, and Laotian armed forces will join Vietnamese troops on Wednesday to commemorate Vietnam’s Reunification Day.

According to Vietnam’s Minister of National Defense, General Phan Van Giang, a combined 13,000 soldiers will take part in the parade, scheduled for April 30 in Ho Chi Minh City, known as Saigon until 1975.

The holiday, which marks 50 years since the fall of Saigon and the defeat of the U.S.-backed South Vietnamese government, will feature a military march past Independence Palace—formerly the Presidential Palace of South Vietnam—where North Vietnamese tanks famously crashed through the gates on April 30, 1975, signaling the end of the Vietnam War and the victory of Hanoi.

Banners commemorating the historic event were prominently displayed during rehearsals last week ahead of the celebration.

In addition to Vietnam, the Western-backed governments of Cambodia and Laos also fell in 1975, marking the complete victory of communist forces across mainland Southeast Asia.

The symbolic participation of the four countries that fought against the United States and its allies during the 1960s and 1970s comes amid rising tensions between Beijing and Washington. The United States has long sought to drive a wedge between China and its Southeast Asian neighbors.

Chinese President Xi Jinping recently completed a five-day trip to Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam aimed at strengthening ties with the region amid the escalating U.S.-China trade war. China also recently established a naval facility at Cambodia’s Ream Naval Base, a development that has raised concern among U.S. officials and their allies in the region.