More than two dozen overseas heads of state and authorities are set to attend a army parade in Beijing on Sept. 3, 2025, commemorating the eightieth anniversary of the top of World War II.
Lintao Zhang | Getty Images News | Getty Images
BEIJING — Chinese President Xi Jinping mentioned Wednesday that the world was going through a alternative of “peace or war” and “dialogues or confrontation” as the nation hosts its largest army parade commemorating the eightieth anniversary of the top of World War II.
The speech got here as U.S. President Donald Trump in a submit on Truth Social urged the Chinese chief to acknowledge U.S. contributions to serving to safe China’s freedom, whereas alleging that Beijing was conspiring against Washington.
“Please give my warmest regards to Vladimir Putin, and Kim Jong Un, as you conspire against The United States of America,” Trump mentioned.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un are among the many leaders from greater than 20 countries attending the “Victory Day” army parade in Beijing at Tiananmen Square.
In his speech, Xi additionally pledged to bolster the nation’s army capabilities.
Without naming Taiwan, the democratically self-ruled island that China claims as its personal, Xi emphasised the position of Chinese army in defending the nation’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, based on a CNBC translation of his speech in Chinese.
The parade featured missiles, army vehicles and different tools rumbling previous Tiananmen Square, troopers goose-stepping in formation and fighter jets roaring over the capital, as China showcases its army prowess.
The closely choreographed occasion is designed to showcase a number of the nation’s domestically made, latest weapons and tools.
“The foreign delegations in attendance will demonstrate shifting patterns in Chinese influence, with Western leaders largely absent,” Jeremy Chan, senior analyst, China and northeast Asia, Eurasia Group, mentioned in a observe. He identified that eight leaders from Southeast Asia will attend, reflecting China’s rising regional affect.
“South Korea’s president declined China’s invitation, while Kim’s surprise attendance is a sign of warming ties between Beijing and Pyongyang,” Chan mentioned. “China is likely seeking to keep Kim close in the face of growing cooperation between North Korea and Russia, as well as renewed diplomatic outreach from Seoul and Washington to Pyongyang.”
North Korea has reportedly sent troops to Russia in help of its battle against Ukraine, whereas Beijing has refused to name Moscow’s assault an invasion and sought to tackle a peacemaker position. The U.S. has accused Beijing of supporting Russia’s military, which China has denied.
Many of the Beijing army parade attendees — together with Putin — have been additionally in Tianjin over the weekend for the largest-ever summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi didn’t keep for the parade — his photo and video with Putin and Xi in Tianjin, sharing amusing, on the sidelines of the summit had gone viral.
Xi sat subsequent to Putin at a similar military parade in Moscow in May. The two leaders met Tuesday in Beijing, and the nations signed a legally binding deal to construct the long-delayed Power of Siberia 2 gas pipeline.
China final held a army parade in 2019 to commemorate the seventieth anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party’s rule. Speaking from the long-lasting metropolis gate overlooking Tiananmen Square, Xi mentioned on the time that “no force can stop the Chinese people and the Chinese nation forging forward.”
The Chinese chief, who assumed the presidency in 2013, abolished time period limits in 2018.
Putin had attended China’s military parade in 2015 to commemorate the seventieth anniversary of the top of World War II, based on Chinese state media.
Park Geun-hye, then president of South Korea, had attended, as did authorities representatives of the U.S. and France, the 2015 report mentioned, noting that different attendees included former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
China calls Wednesday’s occasion the “80th anniversary of the country’s victory against Japanese aggression and the world’s victory against fascism.”