China flexed its growing military might and its deepening ties with Russia with an extravagant military parade meant to showcase Chinese President Xi Jinpings status as the leader for an alternative, non-Western world order.

As the September 3 parade offered an image of military coordination and force including more than 10,000 highly-choreographed personnel and hundreds of pieces of military hardware one of the most striking displays was images of Xi flanked by Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un as they overlooked the 70-minute procession across Beijings Tiananmen Square in an unprecedented show of solidarity.

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Xi shook the hands of both leaders and chatted with the pair as they walked down a red carpet ahead of a group of more than 20 other foreign dignitaries towards the stage overlooking the parade that marked 80 years since the end of World War II.

At his speech kicking off the military parade, Xi said China was unstoppable while promoting a message of national sacrifice not as victims, but as a function of willpower and national resolve.

Today, mankind is faced with the choice of peace or war, dialogue or confrontation, win-win or zero-sum, Xi said. The Chinese people stand firmly on the right side of history.

Xi also struck a more defiant tone, saying that the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation is unstoppable! and that China is never intimidated by any bullies, a term usually used in official statements to refer indirectly to the United States.

'A Carefully Orchestrated Act of Strategic Communication'

The celebrations around the anniversary honored Chinas suffering during World War II and the Communist Partys contributions to victory something that Chinese officials said should inspire other generations as Xi fends off Western efforts to restrict Beijing.

China also framed the parade as a show of unity with other countries, which was a clear message amid the first-ever scenes of Xi, Putin, and Kim together at an event.

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The massive military parade caps off a whirlwind of diplomatic events meant to show Chinas vision for an alternative world order to counter the longstanding dominance of the United States and its Western allies. The parade followed the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit this week that also sought to cast China as a global leader with deepening regional influence in Southeast and Central Asia.

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This years parade, therefore, is not simply a ceremonial display of troops and weaponry, the Chinese journalist Deng Yuwenwrote for Foreign Policy magazineahead of the event. It is a carefully orchestrated act of strategic communication, weaving together messages of military strength, diplomatic positioning, and historical narratives, directed at audiences both at home and abroad.

Trump Takes Aim At Xi, Putin, and Kim

As the parade unfolded, US President Donald Trump took to Truth Social to offer barbed congratulations to Xi on the World War II anniversary, which China marks with the surrender of imperial Japan in 1945.

"The big question to be answered is whether or not President Xi of China will mention the massive amount of support and 'blood' that The United States of America gave to China in order to help it to secure its FREEDOM from a very unfriendly foreign invader," he wrote, referring to Japans full-scale invasion of China and the US war effort against Tokyo during World War II.

The US President also took aim at Putin and Kim for working against US interests.

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"Please give my warmest regards to Vladimir Putin, and Kim Jong Un, as you conspire against The United States of America, Trump added.

An estimated 11,000 North Korean troops havearrived in Russia's Kursk regionsince the summer of 2024 to fight alongside Russian forces against Ukraine. Moscows war effort has also been supported by Beijing through diplomatic backing, ramped up oil purchases, and the flow of militarily-useful dual-use goods from China.

Trump met with Putin in Alaska in August, but his diplomatic outreach has so far failed to unlock any progress toward ending the war in Ukraine, with Russian officials brushing off attempts for a follow-up summit with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

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In addition to allowing Xi to project China as a global leader, the parade and other diplomatic events in China over the last week have also allowed Putin to highlight that he is not isolated on the world stage after his full-scale invasion of Ukraine and Beijing and Moscows relationship is only growing stronger.

This message was conveyed on September 2 when Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller told journalists thata deal to build the long-awaited Power of Siberia-2 gas pipelineto China had been reached in Beijing.

While the announcement marks a clear step forward for what would be one of the worlds most expensive gas projects, Miller also said that key details around the price of gas and how construction costs would be divided had not yet been reached.