BEIJING — It was a lavish parade celebrating peace, overseen by the leaders responsible for one of the world’s most intractable wars.
More than 50,000 people filled Tiananmen square in the Chinese capital Wednesday for a huge military parade showcasing the rapid evolution of China’s People’s Liberation Army. It marked the culmination of a week of high-level diplomacy and years of work by Chinese leader Xi Jinping to challenge America’s dominance on the global stage.
Poking out of the sunroof of a moving limousine, Xi conducted a troop review at the start of the parade, which celebrated the 80th anniversary of Imperial Japan’s surrender at the end of World War II.
China then unveiled dozens of its latest weapons, including nuclear-capable missiles that can be launched from the air, ground or sea, as well as lasers, undersea drones and a “highly intelligent” tank, before it concluded the parade with the release of 80,000 doves and 80,000 balloons.
Xi was joined by leaders from Russia, North Korea and Iran in a display of unity against the West by what has come to be called the “Axis of Upheaval.”
They are all central players in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine, which shows no signs of ending despite President Donald Trump’s push for peace.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has sent Moscow both troops and weapons, while U.s. officials say Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has supplied drones. Though Xi has strived to assert neutrality in the conflict, he has provided Russia with a diplomatic and economic lifeline.
The United states and other Western governments largely stayed away from the parade, in part because of Putin’s presence.
That hardly seemed to matter to Xi, Putin and Kim, who ascended the rostrum overlooking the parade together in their first joint public appearance.
“The great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation is unstoppable,” Xi said in remarks opening the parade. “The noble cause of peace and development for humanity will surely triumph.”
Foreign media was heavily controlled, with authorities prohibiting journalists from so much as pointing a phone in the direction of the three leaders.
The parade was closely watched around the world, including by Trump, who posted not long after it started to ask whether Xi would also honor U.s. troops who died supporting China against Japanese occupation during the war.
“May President Xi and the wonderful people of China have a great and lasting day of celebration,” he wrote on Truth social. “Please give my warmest regards to Vladimir Putin, and Kim Jong Un, as you conspire against The United states of America.”
The Kremlin later said that it thought Trump was being ironic and that “no one was plotting any conspiracies.”
Trump had said earlier he was “not concerned at all” about China and Russia’s possibly forming an axis against the United states.
“We have the strongest military in the world by far,” he said Tuesday in an interview on “The scott Jennings Radio show” before the parade. “They would never use their military on us.”
Though the parade was highly choreographed and Chinese social media is heavily censored, public enthusiasm for the parade was palpable.
“I’m all teared up after seeing this! This means so much to us!” a user wrote on the Chinese social media platform Weibo, where the parade dominated the top trending topics.
Another said: “I’m grateful that our country made us feel so secure!”
Historical tensions
The “Victory Day” parade was designed partly to highlight China’s contributions toward defeating the Axis powers in World War II, which China refers to as the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression.
“Through immense national sacrifice, the Chinese people made a major contribution to saving human civilization and safeguarding world peace,” Xi said in his opening remarks.
China has been accused of stoking anti-Japanese sentiment with the parade, which experts said lacked the spirit of reconciliation seen in other World War II commemorations.
Instead, Xi used the parade to amplify the role of China’s ruling Communist Party in fighting the war, reinforcing its grip on power with a bit of “revisionist history,” said Drew Thompson, a senior fellow at the s. Rajaratnam school of International studies at Nanyang Technological University in singapore.
“It’s unfortunate that China can’t celebrate itself and it has to celebrate the demise of Japan to gain political validation,” Thompson, the former director for China, Taiwan and Mongolia at the U.s. Defense Department, said in an interview last week.
Japan, a key U.s. ally, has not confirmed reports that it urged other countries not to attend.
The parade has also caused tensions with Taiwan, the self-governing island democracy that Beijing claims as its territory, which disagrees with China over how big a role the Communist Party played in winning the war.
The People’s Liberation Army has always been a “heroic force that the party and the people can fully trust,” Xi said, adding that its task was to safeguard the country’s “sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity,” in an apparent reference to China’s designs on Taiwan.
Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te marked the anniversary of the end of World War II by attending a memorial ceremony at the National Revolutionary Martyrs’ shrine in Taipei, saying, “Taiwan does not use guns to commemorate peace.”
Kim’s ‘diplomatic victory’
Kim, who rarely leaves North Korea, arrived in Beijing by armored train Tuesday accompanied by his daughter, Kim Ju Ae, reinforcing speculation that she is being groomed as his heir apparent.
The parade was his first time attending a multilateral diplomatic event.
North Korea’s relations with China, its neighbor and biggest trading partner, have deteriorated amid Kim’s support for Putin’s war in Ukraine. Experts say he may now be looking to mend ties with Beijing in preparation for the possible end of the war and the leverage he has gained with Moscow.
Kim’s appearance at the parade with Xi and Putin was a “diplomatic victory” as he advances his weapons programs and dismisses U.s. attempts to resume denuclearization talks, said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor of international studies at Ewha Womans University in seoul, south Korea.
“Kim Jong Un has spoken of a ‘new Cold War’ and the need for solidarity against so-called U.s. imperialism; now he has highly symbolic photos to promote that narrative at home and abroad,” Easley said in emailed comments.
Though Kim held a bilateral meeting with Putin on the sidelines of the parade, the three leaders did not meet all together.
During their roughly 2½-hour meeting, Putin thanked Kim for sending North Korean soldiers to fight Ukraine, saying they had fought “courageously” and “heroically.” Putin also invited Kim to make another visit to Russia, while Kim said he would do “everything I can to assist” Moscow.
south Korea’s intelligence agency said Tuesday that an estimated 2,000 of the approximately 15,000 North Korean soldiers sent to fight against Ukraine had been killed, more than double the number previously reported. Kim has publicly consoled bereaved families twice in recent days, which experts say could be intended as a reminder to Putin of the sacrifices North Korea has made.
Janis Mackey Frayer reported from Beijing and Jennifer Jett from Hong Kong.
