Beijing Victory Day parade set to unveil latest military weapons; Bob Carr, Daniel Andrews in attendance
Good morning, I’m North Asia Correspondent Lisa Visentin, and you can follow our live coverage here of China’s largest every military parade, which will kick off in about 15 minutes in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square.
Chinese President Xi Jinping will preside over the parade – a showcase of China’s cutting-edge weapons systems and strengthening diplomatic reach that is designed to cement the country’s status as the leading challenger to US-led global order.
Xi will be joined by Russia’s Vladimir Putin and North Korea’s Kim Jong-un – the first time the three men have appeared in public together in a display of growing goodwill between the nations that some analysts have dubbed an “axis of autocracy”.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, centre, is greeted by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on his arrival at a train station in Beijing.Credit: AP
The parade is being held to mark 80 years since Japan’s defeat in World War II, and seeks to recast China’s role as a historically important player in ending fascism, and reclaim what China sees as its rightful place as an inheritor of the post world-war international system.
Beijing’s official message is that the parade is a demonstration of China’s commitment to enduring worldwide peace.
But with Putin and Kim’s attendance, China has also ushered into the global spotlight the man who has brought the worst war to Europe since the armistice in 1945, and his aiding abettor in North Korea’s regime.
More than two dozen world leaders will attend the parade, including Iran’s leader Masoud Pezeshkian. Most western leaders have shunned the event, except for the leaders of Serbia and Slovakia.
