Beijing: China on Wednesday unveiled for the first time some of its modern weaponry, including jet fighters, missiles and latest electronic warfare hardware, showcasing its military might.
Twenty-six foreign leaders including Russian President Vladimir Putin, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and the leaders from Iran, Malaysia, Myanmar, Mongolia, Indonesia, Zimbabwe and central Asian countries attended it.
From India’s neighbourhood, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Nepal Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli and Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu are attending the parade.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan welcomed the foreign guests.
Hundreds of troops took part in the parade held to commemorate the 80th anniversary of China’s victory against “Japanese aggression” in WWII.
Kim arrived in Beijing by train last night along with daughter Kim Ju Ae.
This is his second visit to China since 2019 and the first after rumours of a rift between the two close allies over the reclusive leader’s attempts to move past China’s stranglehold on him by building closer ties with Putin, including sending troops to take part in the Ukraine war.
Xi, Putin and Kim’s presence together in Beijing, especially at a military parade, was seen as an attempt by China to send a strong message to the US and its President Donald Trump, who tried to woo both Putin and Kim to take them into Washington’s fold.
Their meeting in Beijing followed the high-profile summit of the 10-member Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in Tianjin, which was dominated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meetings with Xi and Putin against the backdrop of Trump clamping 50 per cent tariffs against India for buying Russian oil.
The presence of foreign leaders at the parade commemorating China’s war of resistance against Japanese aggression in World War II has become a diplomatic spat between Japan and China after Tokyo urged the world leaders to refrain from attending.
China has lodged a diplomatic protest with Japan for its request to the world leaders not to attend the event.
China is making all-out efforts to showcase its global influence and military might, seen as an attempt to boost the profile of Xi.
Beijing has been decked up to host the event at the historic Tiananmen Square.
The secretive Chinese military is also displaying for the first time its high-profile modern weapons, which, the PLA claims, match those of the US army.
A large number of journalists from China and around the world have been invited to attend the parade marked by heavy security.
(This report has been published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. Apart from the headline, no editing has been done in the copy by ABP Live.)
