Tokyo said Monday it has complained to the United Nations over Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's plan to attend a huge military parade in Beijing to mark the 70th anniversary of Japan's defeat in World War II.

Top government spokesman Yoshihide Suga called on the UN to be "neutral", after Tokyo issued a complaint to the 193-member body on Friday.

"We want to encourage member countries to look to the future and not to unnecessarily focus on particular events in the past," Suga told a press briefing Monday.

The display planned for Thursday, a show of strength which comes as China takes a more assertive stance regionally, will see 12,000 soldiers and 500 pieces of hardware roll through Tiananmen Square, with almost 200 aircraft flying overhead.

Chinese officials listed two dozen heads of state and government as attending, with Russian President Vladimir Putin, South Korea's Park Geun-Hye and South Africa's Jacob Zuma among the most prominent.

The UN's Ban is also on the list, while Japanese officials, including Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, are staying away.

Tokyo previously said the nationalist Abe had decided to put off a visit to China around the time of the parade owing to opposition at home over his controversial bid to expand the role of Japan's military.

But local media said the government was concerned about the anti-Japanese nature of the display.

Abe had previously expressed a desire to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in early September, but the talks had not been confirmed.

"The Japanese government's 'concern' about UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's visit to Beijing betrays the narrow-mindedness of the Shinzo Abe administration and its obstinacy in clinging to wrong perceptions of history," the China Daily newspaper said in an editorial Monday.

"Such an open display of displeasure is against diplomatic etiquette, not to mention that Japan's concerns are ill-grounded as well as unreasonable."

Former Japanese prime minister Tomiichi Murayama -- who issued a landmark apology for the war in 1995 -- will be present at the commemorations in a personal capacity.

France and Italy will send their foreign ministers, officials said, but the governments of the US, Germany and Canada will be represented only by their resident ambassadors.

China has struggled to attract global interest for the parade as world leaders are wary of the tone of the event, and the risk of lending it legitimacy.

Beijing is becoming increasingly assertive in the region and regularly accuses Tokyo of failing to show sufficient contrition for Japan's 20th-century invasion of China.

The conflict is officially known in the country as the "Chinese People's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War".

US warns China over Bashir trip
Washington (AFP) Aug 31, 2015 - The United States expressed concern Monday that Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir plans to visit China, despite his International Criminal Court indictment for alleged war crimes in Darfur.

The Sudanese foreign ministry said Sunday that Bashir would travel to meet his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping and attend September 3 celebrations marking Japan's defeat in World War II.

Speaking in Washington, US State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters the United States continues to believe Bashir should not be welcome to travel until he faces justice.

"As you know, he's been charged by the ICC -- the International Criminal Court -- with war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide," he said.

"Warrants for his arrest remain outstanding and we strongly support the ICC's efforts to hold accountable those responsible for those acts," Toner added.

"We oppose invitations, facilitation or support for travel by persons subject to outstanding ICC warrants."

The International Criminal Court indicted Bashir over war crimes and crimes against humanity in 2009 and on genocide charges in 2010, all relating to the conflict in Sudan's Darfur region.

He has since regularly travelled to Sudan's neighbors but rarely makes long-distance trips that could see him exposed to possible arrest.

He last travelled to China, which has significant interests in Sudan's oil sector and supports his government, in 2011.

China and the United States are not signatories to the ICC but both are permanent members of the UN Security Council, which referred the Darfur case to the court.

The Darfur conflict erupted in 2003 when ethnic insurgents rebelled against the Arab-dominated Khartoum government, complaining of marginalization.

It has left 300,000 dead and some 2.5 million displaced, according to UN figures, and Bashir's forces have been accused of large-scale atrocities against civilians.

Tens of thousands protest at military bills outside Japan parliament
Tokyo (AFP) Aug 30, 2015 - Tens of thousands rallied outside Japan's parliament Sunday to protest against planned new laws that could see troops in the officially pacifist nation engage in combat for the first time since World War II.

A growing number of people, including university students and young parents, have joined a swelling opposition against the controversial bills as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's ruling party gears up to pass them before the current session ends late next month.

Holding placards reading "No war," "Peace not war" and "Stop the security bills", chanting demonstrators filled the street in front of the Diet building in downtown Tokyo despite drizzly weather.

A huge banner reading "Abe should step down", adorned with black and white balloons, was carried through the crowd.

"I cannot stand idly by when I think of the excesses of the Abe government -- Japan could become a country capable of going to war again," said protester Kenichi Ozawa.

Under the planned changes the military -- known as the Self-Defence Forces -- would be allowed to fight to protect allies such as the United States even if there was no direct threat to Japan or its people.

Under a US-imposed constitution following WWII, Japan's military has been limited strictly to self-defense.

While the restrictions were ushered in by an occupying force, many Japanese have become strongly attached to their country's pacifism over the decades -- outlined in Article Nine of the constitution -- and they fear any change to that status will lead them down a dangerous road.

"For 70 years, thanks to Article Nine of our constitution, Japan has not engaged in war or been touched by any aggression. Article nine is our foundation," said demonstrator Masako Suzuki.

In the central city of Nagoya, home to automaker Toyota, a group of mothers staged a rally near the main train station as they shouted "protect our children!"

- Distant wars -

Organisers said about 120,000 people took part in the rally in Tokyo, but police put the figure at 30,000. Similar demonstrations were held across Japan.

Abe and his supporters say the bills are necessary for Japan to deal with a changed security environment in the face of a rising China and unpredictable North Korea.

Washington has welcomed the move to change what some see as a one-sided security alliance that compels the US to protect Japan if it were attacked.

But opponents say the reforms will drag Japan into distant American wars, and many legal scholars have said they are unconstitutional.

The legislation is deeply unpopular among the general public and support for Abe's government is declining.

Among the protesters Sunday were popular Japanese musician and composer Ryuichi Sakamoto and opposition party leaders including Katsuya Okada, head of the Democratic Party of Japan.

Relatively small street demonstrations are frequent in the capital. But on Thursday a group of Tokyo university students staged a rare hunger strike outside parliament to protest at the legislation.

They said they would continue as long as possible.

On Wednesday the national bar association took part in a Tokyo protest rally with academics and citizen groups.

The controversial bills cleared the powerful lower house last month and are now being hotly debated in the upper house.

Ex-Philippine president Estrada to attend China WWII parade
Manila (AFP) Aug 31, 2015 - Former Philippine president Joseph Estrada will attend China's huge military parade this week marking Japan's defeat in World War II despite the territorial tensions between Manila and Beijing, his spokesman said Monday.

However the disgraced ex-leader will attend in his capacity as mayor of Manila and not as a representative of the national government, said his media affairs chief Diego Cagahastian.

"He will be going as an invited guest. Manila is the sister city of Beijing and he is going as mayor of Manila," Cagahastian told AFP.

Estrada, a former top movie star who was elected president in 1998 but ousted in an uprising in 2001, will leave for China on Monday and return on September 6, he added.

Government spokesmen have not said if any senior official will represent the country at the parade even though China and the Philippines were antagonists of Japan during World War II.

In recent years, tensions between the two countries have been strained over their conflicting claims to parts of the South China Sea.

Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam also have conflicting claims to the sea.

Manila has been the most vocal in opposing China, publicly accusing it of "bullying" to assert its maritime claim and filing a case before an international tribunal in the Hague, challenging China's position.

Estrada, who was convicted of massive graft in 2007 but later pardoned, has taken a more conciliatory stance with China.

In a recent interview, Estrada was quoted as saying he hoped China would help in the modernisation of the Philippines and that relations would soon improve.

After his pardon, Estrada was elected mayor of Manila in 2012.