Red carpet, red flags

CHINA: MILITARY PARADE BECOMES A STAGE FOR ANTI-WEST POSTURING

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North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Russia's Vladimir Putin flanked Xi Jinping at a massive parade of military might in Beijing yesterday, capping a week of diplomatic grandstanding by the Chinese president and his allies against the West.

In unprecedented scenes, Xi shook both their hands and chatted with the pair as they walked down a red carpet by Tiananmen Square, with Putin to Xi's right and Kim to his left.

The event, ostensibly to mark 80 years since the end of WWII, was a chance for Xi to put on an extravaganza to showcase China's military prowess and bring together friendly leaders to send a message to the rest of the world.

Kicking off the parade, Xi warned the world was still "faced with a choice of peace or war", but said China was "unstoppable".

China's enormous new intercontinental ballistic missile DF-5C, with a range of 20,000km, counted prominently among the tons of hardware on display.