AS XI WELCOMES DESPOTS

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 World War II.