'Axis of upheaval' Beijing seeks to offer a challenge to the existing world order

Leaders from countries united in their opposition to the West will gather in Beijing this week in a show of support for China's president, Xi Jinping, at a second world war commemoration parade designed to show off China's military and geopolitical strength.

- Amy Hawkins

Called "the axis of upheaval" by Western analysts, the military, economic and political collaboration between Russia, China, Iran and North Korea has been on display on the battlefield in Ukraine and in the Middle East.

But tomorrow it will be Beijing that takes centre stage as the world's second-largest economy and rising superpower presents itself as an alternative to a Western-led global order.

The tightly choreographed military parade through Beijing's Tiananmen Square to commemorate 80 years since the defeat of Japan in the second world war - referred to in China as the "war of resistance against Japanese aggression" - will be attended by 26 heads of state.

As well as Russia, North Korea and Iran, leaders from Myanmar, Mongolia, Indonesia, Zimbabwe and central Asian countries will witness China's unveiling of a range of combat-ready weaponry.

The only Western leaders on the guest list published by China's ministry of foreign affairs are from Serbia and Slovakia.

Vladimir Putin, Russia's president, is already in China, having arrived at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Tianjin on Sunday.