China’s military parade unveils newest weapons as Xi welcomes leaders challenging Western order

• Chinese leader Xi Jinping has presided over a military parade in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square to commemorate the end of World War II. Praising the armed forces, he said China’s rise is “unstoppable.”

• Russia’s Vladimir Putin and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un flanked Xi at the start, the first time the trio has been pictured together, in a defiant challenge to the US-led world order.

• Featuring over 10,000 troops and hundreds of advanced weapons, the parade unveiled China’s growing military power under Xi’s push to modernize the world’s largest standing army.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin watched their first military parade together on Moscow’s Red Square in 2015, on the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II.

For Russia – and before it, the Soviet Union – parades have long been a tradition on major WWII anniversaries. Victory Day parade has become an annual event in Red Square since 1995.