The United States on Wednesday celebrated the 70th anniversary of the formal end of World War II in the Pacific theater with President Barack Obama calling the wartime adversary Japan a "steadfast" ally and the current alliance with Tokyo a model of reconciliation, with the praise coming on the eve of both nations' Pacific rival China's pomp and parade of military might.
"The end of the war marked the beginning of a new era in America's relationship with Japan," Obama said in a statement. "Seventy years ago this partnership was unimaginable."
The statement came as China was poised to hold Thursday a massive military parade commemorating the 70th anniversary of Japan's defeat in World War II. The parade is expected to feature hundreds of tanks and other armored vehicles rumbling through Tiananmen Square as fighter jets fly in formation overhead, amid concerns by China's neighbors and the United States over the country's rapid military expansion and aggressive territorial claims.