View from Japan: Xi demonstrates solidarity with Putin and Kim

A military parade of the Chinese People's Liberation Army in front of Tiananmen Square in Beijing on Sept. 3, 2025.
Photo: Kyodo

China on Wednesday staged a massive military parade in Beijing as part of events commemorating the 80th anniversary of Japan's formal surrender in World War II, highlighting the unity among President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Kyodo News comments.

In October 1959  Mao Zedong, the founder of modern China, was joined by Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev and North Korea's founding leader Kim Il Sung at a military parade in Beijing to commemorate the 10th anniversary.

In the capital's Tiananmen Square, Xi, dressed in a Mao suit, urged the country's military to build itself into a "world-class" force and resolutely safeguard national sovereignty. He also vowed that China would remain committed to a path of peaceful development.

Xi's demonstration of solidarity with Putin and Kim at the events, shunned by the leaders of major Western countries, is likely to be viewed as a challenge to the United States under President Donald Trump. At the square's rostrum, Xi was flanked by the Russian and North Korean leaders.

In his speech, Xi stressed the "huge national sacrifice" made in what China calls the 1937-1945 War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and highlighted the "major contributions" of Chinese people to safeguarding world peace. He called on all nations to prevent a repeat of historical tragedies.

"Today humanity again has to choose between peace and war, dialogue and confrontation, win-win cooperation and a zero-sum game. The Chinese people firmly stand on the right side of history," Xi said, pledging peaceful development.

In addition to Putin and Kim, 24 other foreign leaders including Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Myanmar junta chief Min Aung Hlaing attended.

Foreign policy analysts have dubbed anti-U.S. authoritarian governments – China, Iran, North Korea and Russia – an "axis of upheaval," a rebranding of the "axis of evil" label coined more than two decades ago by then-President George W. Bush for Iran, Iraq and North Korea.

From Japan, former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama took part in a personal capacity.

Viewing stands accommodating some 50,000 spectators were filled with guests invited from across China.

In a social media post, Trump alleged that Xi, Putin and Kim "conspire against" the United States and sarcastically asked the Chinese president to "give my warmest regards" to the Russian and North Korean leaders.

In the 70-minute parade, a selection of new-generation weapons including fighter jets, unmanned intelligence equipment and hypersonic missiles were showcased. All the armaments on display were domestically made and in active service, according to the Chinese military.

Among the newly displayed weapons were the land-based Dongfeng-61 intercontinental ballistic missile and the submarine-launched Julang-3 ballistic missile, which can carry nuclear warheads and reach the continental United States.

According to a military affairs expert quoted by the Global Times, the upgraded Julang-3 missile with an extended range further enhances China's nuclear deterrence and strategic nuclear counterattack capabilities.

In a subtle jab at the mainland parade, Taiwan President Lai Ching-te said in his X post, "We thank the defenders of the peace we cherish and believe firmly that military strength should be used for defense – not expansionist ambitions."

China has designated Sept. 3 as its victory day, as Japan formally surrendered to the Allied forces the previous day in 1945.

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