Quick Summary
- China held a military parade showcasing advanced weaponry and troops, attended by leaders from countries including Russia, North Korea and Iran.
Xi Jinping presented China as a global power and the standard-bearer of a new global order, in a challenge to the U.S.
The parade marked China’s WWII victory anniversary amid economic challenges and military leadership concerns.
BEIJING—China flexed its growing military power and its deepening ties to Washington’s adversaries with an extravagant parade that cast leader Xi Jinping as the standard-bearer of a new global order.
The armed-forces spectacle in Beijing on Wednesday, marking the 80th anniversary of China’s victory in World War II, projected the vision of a great power that Xi wants to present to the world—and a warning to the U.S. and Europe not to challenge it.
Amplifying the anti-Western optics was the attendance of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russia’s Vladimir Putin, who walked out to the viewing rostrum and watched the procession on either side of the Chinese leader.
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