Xi, Putin, Kim Will Oversee Chinese Military Parade In Landmark Meeting Next Week

China is set to host both Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Beijing next week in an unprecedented landmark visit.

This will be Kim’s first multilateral international meeting, and the leaders will gather with President Xi Jinping to observe a military parade marking China’s “Victory Day” for the the 80th anniversary of Japan’s surrender in World War Two. Twenty-six other heads of state are expected to attend the parade, which are generally friendly especially to China and Russia.

There hasn’t been a North Korean leader who has attended a Chinese military parade since 1959, though Kim did visit Beijing last in 2019. China’s government says it will underscore its “traditional friendship” with North Korea as they continue to collaborate on “regional peace and stability”.

Reuters and mainstream Western press have described a gathering of the ‘Axis of Upheaval’ – though this conveniently overlooks the major upheaval caused by US/NATO-led wars from Iraq to Afghanistan to Libya.

Additionally CNN is calling this an act of ‘defiance’ toward the West, however Chinese and Russian media are underscoring a new multi-polar reality in world leadership.

Notably absent will be heads of state from major Western nations – though the Russia-friendly Serbian and Slovak leaders will be there, for example.

“Wednesday’s 70-minute parade will feature more than 10,000 troops, over 100 aircraft and hundreds of pieces of ground equipment, showcasing China’s growing military power under Xi, who has made the modernization of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) a central mission of his rule,” previews CNN.

As for Russia-China ties, they are still going strong and forging ahead as both remain in the economic crosshairs of Washington: 

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping will hold a historic meeting in September that will give a powerful boost to relations between the two countries, Chinese Ambassador to Moscow Zhang Hanhui told TASS in an interview.

“In September, during the golden fall season, a solemn meeting will be held in Beijing dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War,” he said. “The leaders of China and Russia will once again hold an important meeting of historic significance, which will determine the direction of the further development of bilateral relations and give new impetus to deepening cooperation in all areas,” the diplomat noted.

Meanwhile, the White House has been hinting that there could be an upcoming visit of President Trump to Asia in the coming weeks, which has included statements of the American president being open to meeting with Xi to finalize a tariffs deal and other pressing bilateral issues.