The North Korean leader Kim Jong Une and the Vladimir Putin of Russia flanked Xi Jinping during a huge parade of military power in Beijing on Wednesday, capping a week of large diplomatics by the Chinese president and his allies against the West.
In unprecedented scenes, Xi shaken his hand with the two leaders and discussed with the pair while going down a red carpet by Tiananmen Square, with Putin to the right of Xi and Kim to his left.
The event, ostensibly to mark 80 years since the end of the Second World War, was an opportunity for Xi to highlight the military prowess of China and to bring together friendly leaders to send a message to the rest of the world.
Beginning the parade, XI warned that the world was still “faced with a choice of peace or war”, but said that China was “unstoppable”.
Learn more: XI welcomes Shehbaz, Putin, Kim in parade marking the Chinese World War Victory
The huge new intercontinental DF-5C ballistic missile from China, with a range of 20,000 kilometers (12,425 miles), counted in a good place among the exposed equipment.
The highly choreographed event attracted an acid response from President Donald Trump, who accused the three leaders of plotting against the United States.
“Give my best agreements to Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un, while you conspire against the United States of America,” he wrote on Truth Social.
The head of the European Union foreign policy denounced the presence of Russian and North Korean leaders alongside XI as “a direct challenge for the international system”.
“A new world order is in preparation,” Kaja Kallas told journalists in Brussels.
Putin promised to continue the war in Ukraine if a peace agreement could not be concluded, Trump’s diplomatic initiatives seeming to have stalled.
“Let’s see how the situation is developing. Otherwise, we will have to solve all our tasks militarily,” Putin told journalists in Beijing.
Exposed military equipment
XI inspected the troops and the massive weapons of a limousine open to the vast avenue Chang’an de Beijing during the 90-minute parade, before turning to reach his guests in a lounge area above a portrait of Mao Zedong on Tiananmen, the front door of the historic prohibited city.
The huge collection of military vehicles and heavy weapons from China has exceeded dignitaries, while images of thousands of soldiers and women in immaculate uniforms walking in tight ranks and soldiers jumping in and out of vehicles were shown in a program of smooth state media.
Laser weapons are seen during a military parade marking the 80th anniversary of the victory over Japan and the end of the Second World War, at Beijing S Tiananmen Square on September 3, 2025. Photo: AFP
New underwater drones and supersonic missiles counted among the exposed equipment, as well as the ICBMS.
The residents of Beijing went out in the street to see a Flypast involving dozens of war and helicopter planes, some training “80”.
Millions of Chinese were killed in an prolonged war with Imperial Japan in the 1930s and 40s, which became a part of a world conflict after the attack on Tokyo in 1941 against Pearl Harbor.
Whirlwind Week
All eyes were on the way Xi, Putin and the Timid Kim interacted with each other, but the state media diffuse only rare tears from the three together. Foreign journalists were kept at a distance and said they did not film or photograph the leaders.
The event was the culmination of a week of whirlwind for XI, who welcomed a slew of Eurasian leaders for a summit aimed at putting China at the center of regional relations.
During the summit, XI criticized the “intimidation behavior” of certain countries – a veiled reference in the United States.
Many guests at the Shanghai cooperation organization summit in Tianjin joined Xi for the Beijing parade, although no big Western dignitary is one of the two dozen world leaders who attended.
Political influence
The security around Beijing has been tightened, with road closures, military staff parked on bridges and street corners, and kilometers of white barriers connecting the large boulevards of the capital.
China has presented the parade as a unit demonstration, and the presence of Kim is the first time he has been seen with XI and Putin at the same event. This is only his second trip reported abroad in six years.
Kim was accompanied by his daughter Kim Ju Ae and his sister Kim Yo Jong, who was photographed by AFP during a gala lunch on Wednesday.
A CS-5000T drone is seen during a military parade marking the 80th anniversary of the victory over Japan and the end of the Second World War, at Beijing S Tiananmen Square on September 3, 2025. Photo: AFP
Putin and Kim had talks after Wednesday’s parade, during which the Russian president thanked Kim for deploying North Korean soldiers to help Russia in his conflict with Ukraine.
Lam Peng Er, principal researcher of the Eastern Asian Institute of the National University of Singapore, said that Kim’s visit “demonstrates the North Koreans and the world that he has powerful Russian and Chinese friends who treat him with respect”.
“China also shows that it has summoned power and political influence to bring together Putin and Kim Jong one,” he told AFP.
