Xi Boasts Of ‘Unstoppable’ China At Military Parade With Putin And Kim

Seated between Putin and Kim in the viewing gallery, Xi repeatedly engaged in conversations with both leaders as thousands of troops and materiel passed before them. It marked the first time the trio have appeared together in public.

Putin later thanked Kim for his soldiers’ courageous fighting in the war in Ukraine during a bilateral meeting at China’s State Guesthouse. The North Korean leader said he was willing to do everything he can to help Russia.

In a post directed at Xi on Truth Social as the parade kicked off, Trump highlighted the U.S. role in helping China secure its freedom from Japan during World War Two.

“Please give my warmest regards to Vladimir Putin, and Kim Jong Un, as you conspire against the United States of America,” Trump added.

The Kremlin said Putin was not conspiring against the United States and suggested Trump was being ironic in his remarks.

XI’S GLOBAL VISION

Xi has cast World War Two as a major turning point in the “great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation”, in which it overcame the humiliation of Japan’s invasion to become a global powerhouse.

Earlier this week, Xi unveiled his vision of a new world order at a regional security summit, calling for unity against “hegemonism and power politics”, a thinly veiled swipe at his rival across the Pacific Ocean.

“Xi feels confident that the table has turned. It’s China that is back in the driver’s seat now,” said Wen-Ti Sung, fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Global China Hub, based in Taiwan.

“It’s been Trumpian unilateralism rather than China’s wolf warrior diplomacy when people talk about the leading source of uncertainty in the international system.”

At a lavish reception after the parade at the Great Hall of the People, Xi told his guests that humanity must not return to the “law of the jungle”.

Beyond the pomp and propaganda, analysts are watching whether Xi, Putin and Kim may signal closer defence relations following a pact signed by Russia and North Korea in June 2024, and a similar alliance between Beijing and Pyongyang, an outcome that may alter the military calculus in the Asia-Pacific region.

Putin has already sealed deeper energy deals with Beijing during his China visit, while the gathering has given the reclusive Kim an opportunity to gain implicit support for his banned nuclear weapons.

It has been 66 years since a North Korean leader last attended a Chinese military parade. Kim also shook hands with the speaker of South Korea’s National Assembly Woo Won-shik before the start of the parade, Woo’s office said.

Pyongyang has rejected Seoul’s recent overtures to stabilise souring relations between the two Koreas, technically at war since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.

Kim travelled to Beijing with his daughter Ju Ae, whom South Korean intelligence consider his most likely successor, although she was not seen alongside him at the parade.

IMPRESSIVE STRIDES

Over the past two years, more than a dozen generals – many formerly close to Xi – have been purged from the People’s Liberation Army in a sweeping corruption crackdown.

“The parade allows Xi to focus the world’s attention on its impressive strides in modernising its military hardware, while overshadowing the stubborn challenges afflicting the PLA, most notably the continued purges rolling through the ranks of its most senior officers,” said Jon Czin, a foreign policy analyst at Brookings Institution, a U.S.-based think tank.

The parade was not only aimed at projecting China’s might to the outside world, but also galvanising patriotic spirit at home, analysts said.

In his keynote address, Xi called the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation “unstoppable”. Civil servants up and down the country have been tasked with watching the parade and writing down their reflections, one of them told Reuters.

(Additional reporting by Xiaoyu Yin, Go Nakamura, Xihao Jiang, Alessandro Diviggiano, Maxim Shemetov, Shubing Wang, Tingshu Wang, Laurie Chen, Joe Cash, Xiuhao Chen, Tiffany Le, Lewis Jackson, Nicoco Chan, Florence Lo and Kevin Krolicki in Beijing; Liz Lee, Shi Bu, Qiaoyi Li in Shanghai; Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Ju-min Park, Joyce Lee and Josh Smith in Seoul; Writing by John Geddie; Editing by Alex Richardson, Lincoln Feast and Michael Perry)