China's WAR MACHINE

CHINESE President Xi Jinping showed off his country's military might as he gave a warm welcome to despots Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-Un yesterday.

- BY CHRIS HUGHES

Cutting-edge armaments such as hypersonic missiles and air defence lasers were hauled through Beijing's Tiananmen Square as the Russian and North Korean presidents visited - plus 23 other world leaders.

Both Xi and Putin were centre-stage for a 90-minute display, which also included armoured vehicles and 10,000 well-drilled soldiers, some of them sporting camouflage-patterned stetson-style hats.

The parade in front of Tiananmen Gate was ostensibly to mark the 80th anniversary of Beijing's efforts to force Japan's surrender at the end of the Second World War.

SALUTE