Defying West, China's Xi gathers 'Axis of Upheaval' at military parade

CHINESE PRESIDENT XI JINPING will be flanked by leaders of some of the world's most heavily sanctioned nations - Russia, North Korea, Iran and Myanmar - at a military parade next week in Beijing, in a show of solidarity against the West.

- JOE CASH AND RYAN WOO

Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korea's Kim Jong-Un will attend "Victory Day" parade on September 3 marking the end of World War Two after Japan's formal surrender - the first time they have appeared in public alongside Xi.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian is also expected to be on the dais as tens of thousands of troops march through the Chinese capital, completing a quartet that Western political and economic analysts have described as the Axis of Upheaval.