Communist China staged an expensive demonstration of its military power at a parade on Wednesday to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the end of World War 2. Beijing also used the event to push its false version of WW2 history and showcase its tyrant allies, prominently including Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un.
China’s dictator, Xi Jinping, touted the parade as a demonstration of China’s technological prowess, industrial strength, and political determination.
Xi said the parade showed the Chinese people “are not afraid of violence, and are self-reliant and strong.”
“The Chinese people’s rejuvenation cannot be blocked, and the noble goal of the peaceful development of human civilization must triumph,” he declared.
Critics, notably the government of Taiwan, highlighted that China spent a gigantic amount of money on the parade. Taiwanese officials estimated the cost at over $5 billion, which would be about 5% of China’s annual military budget.
That extravagant expense put a great deal of military hardware on the streets of Beijing on Tuesday. The parade included state-of-the-art air and sea drones, hypersonic missiles, advanced jet fighters and bombers, massive helicopter formations, and new models of nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM).
Some of these weapons have long been known to foreign intelligence specialists, but have never been put on public display before. Wednesday’s parade was the first time China has showcased all three limbs of its “nuclear triad,” meaning nuclear missiles that can be launched from air, land, and sea.
The hypersonic weapons rolled out for the parade included missiles that China advertises as “carrier killers,” designed to penetrate the formidable anti-missile defenses surrounding American aircraft carriers.
Also on display were China’s “robot wolves,” land drones resembling canines that can purportedly hunt in A.I.-directed swarms with anti-personnel weapons. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of China has lately been including robot wolves in its military exercises, implying the weapons are ready for battlefield deployment.
In addition to large formations of traditional infantry and armor, the parade included China’s new cyberwarfare and information support units. A surprise reveal at the event was an alleged laser weapon, which was literally kept under wraps until the last moment.
The parade was also meant as a demonstration of China’s geopolitical strength. The VIP guest list included Xi’s fellow authoritarian rulers, Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un.
Putin is under an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes against humanity in connection with his brutal invasion of Ukraine, but China pointedly defied the international consensus by formally rolling out a red carpet for him. Kim was there, in part, to shore up his relationship with China while developing his increasingly close alliance with Putin’s Russia.
Radio Free Europe (RFE) called it an “unprecedented show of solidarity” between the three authoritarian rulers. Xi took Putin and Kim in tow as he walked down the red carpet to greet his other guests, smiling and laughing as they strolled together.
This choreographed political display was a major boost to the prestige of Kim, who also got to ride in a limo with Xi and Putin, elevating North Korea to the high table of their alliance. Kim’s first visit to China since 2019 was also the global debut of his teenage daughter Ju-ae, who is seemingly being groomed to succeed him and become the first female dictator from the Kim dynasty.
Putin invited Kim to visit Russia when they met on the sidelines of the parade. Kim responded by pledging to do “everything I can to assist” Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. North Korea has already provided Russia with troops and munitions.
The red carpet encounter also produced a viral video that could become a little awkward for Xi and Putin, as the two aging leaders had a carefree chat about the possibility of living to be 150 — and extending their rule for decades to come — thanks to organ transplants. Organ donations in China are not always voluntary, or posthumous.
President Donald Trump castigated Xi, Putin, and Kim for abusing the WW2 commemoration as an opportunity to “conspire against the United States of America,” and also challenged China’s false revisionist history in which Chinese Communist forces supposedly played a key role in defeating Imperial Japan.
In truth, the Chinese Communists spent most of the war in hiding while the heavy fighting was handled by the Republic of China, the government that would later settle in Taiwan. China’s propaganda is one reason Japan asked allied nations to skip the WW2 commemoration in Beijing, and it obviously rankled the Taiwanese. The Chinese Communist government last week accused Taiwan of “blaspheming” the sacrifices of those who died in the war by questioning Beijing’s revisionist history.
Trump doubted Xi would mention “the massive amount of support and ‘blood’ that the United States of America gave to China in order to help it secure its FREEDOM from a very unfriendly foreign invader.”
“Many Americans died in China’s quest for victory and glory,” Trump pointed out. “I hope that they are rightfully Honored and Remembered for their Bravery and Sacrifice!”
Kremlin officials responded by insisting “no one has been conspiring, no one has been plotting anything, no conspiracies,” while Putin praised Trump’s “good sense of humor” and suggested his conspiracy charges were a joke.
“Nobody said anything negative in regards to the current administration of the U.S.,” Putin said of his conversations with Xi, Kim, and other attendees at the WW2 victory parade.
