As leaders from more than 20 countries arrived for China’s biggest-ever military parade on Wednesday morning, Xi Jinping greeted each of them in Chinese or English. But when he walked towards Tiananmen Gate to start the parade, he had Russian president Vladimir Putin on his right and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on his left.
Every division of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) was on display, alongside China’s most advanced weapons systems, missiles and aircraft. And although it was a commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the end of the second World War, Xi’s message was about the choice facing the world today.
“Today, humanity once again faces the choice between peace and war, dialogue and confrontation, win-win and zero-sum. The Chinese people stand firmly on the right side of history, on the side of the progress of human civilisation, and insist on the path of peaceful development,” he said.
Most European leaders and their ambassadors stayed away from the parade in protest against the presence of Putin and his war against Ukraine. Kim is, if anything, even more of a pariah in the West on account of his development of a nuclear weapon as well as the authoritarian regime he leads.
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By embracing Putin and Kim so ostentatiously, Xi was sending a message to the United States and the European Union that China will make its own geopolitical choices. And the display of advanced weaponry demonstrated that Beijing has the means as well as the will to assert its interests.
“The Chinese nation is a great nation that does not fear aggression and stands on its own feet,” he said.
After a short speech from Tiananmen Gate, where Mao Zedong declared the People’s Republic of China on October 1st, 1949, Xi inspected the troops on parade.
Standing up in an opening in the roof of a black limousine with a row of microphones in front of him, as he passed each unit he greeted them “Comrades” and they replied “General Secretary”, his party title.
The crowd of 50,000 started gathering on Tiananmen Square around 6am, three hours before the start of the parade and after a number of airport-style security checks.
Few had slept and the weather was oppressively hot and humid but the atmosphere was festive as they took pictures of one another and followed prompts to wave little red flags.
The parade was led by formations from the PLA army, navy and air force, the Joint Logistics Support Force, the Rocket Force, the Aerospace Force, the Cyberspace Force and the Information Support Force.
But much of the excitement surrounded the military hardware on display, including new battle tanks, long-range rockets and missiles, advanced drones and a dog-like robot.
A fly-past showed off China’s newest fighter jets, early warning aircraft, transport planes and helicopters. And for the first time, China showed its nuclear triad, strategic weapons based on land, sea and air.
The parade ended with the release of 80,000 doves on Tiananmen Square as a symbol of peace. Thousands of miles away in Washington, Donald Trump had his eye on events in Beijing and he was not buying the message of peace.
“May President Xi and the wonderful people of China have a great and lasting day of celebration,” he posted on Truth Social.
“Please give my warmest regards to Vladimir Putin, and Kim Jong-un, as you conspire against The United States of America.”
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