Beijing Parade Show: New Power Optics

Unprecedented Xi—Putin—Kim tableau, with Kim Ju Ae's debut and "immortality" hot-mic stealing the show.

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1a marked the 80th anniversary of China's World War II victory with a massive military parade in central Beijing, a spectacle heavy on symbolism for both domestic audiences and international observers.

President Xi Jinping, atop Tiananmen Square in a high-collared suit, reviewed troops, tanks, and missiles towering set pieces blazoned "1945-2025." Flanking Xi were controversial guests: Russia's Vladimir Putin and North Korea's Kim Jong Un, whom Xi pointedly called "old friends."

Their pariah status in Western capitals. This unprecedented tableau—Xi, Putin, and Kim—appeared publicly for the first time together, underscored a striking alignment of authoritarian power at a time of heightened East-West tensions.

Commemorating, Projecting the September 3 victory over Japan's aggression and fascism in World War II (a holiday known as "Victory Day"), Xi's speech before the parade wrapped China's military might in the national memory and hailed the defeat of 1945 as "China's complete victory against aggression in modern wars," praising the "great sacrifice" of the Chinese people in WWII.

In his time of struggle, Xi reshaped the narrative and paved the way for China's "national rejuvenation," a process he described as "unstoppable." Reinterpreting history, Xi said, China's goal is "to create a better future and pass the torch from generation to generation"—a line emphasizing China's preferred image as a guardian of peace.