China’s meeting of the despots in Beijing is a major warning to the west that it is leading the charge for military and economic supremacy against the US and the west – and it serves Putin well
Chris Hughes is the Daily Mirror Defence and Security Editor. Chris won specialist journalist of the year in 2013 at the UK Press Awards. He has reported from frontlines in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Israel and Ukraine and terror attacks globally including 9-11 in the US. For exclusive analysis you can follow him on Substack here – https://hostileworld.substack.com/
China’s military parade was so much more than a commemoration of its sacrifice and efforts during the Second World War. Bristling with pin-sharp marching precision, shiny weaponry including missiles, recently unwrapped new killer guns and armoured vehicles, it was a major display of strength.
Crucially, it projected a message of unity among despots such as North Korea’s Kim Jong-un and Russia’s Vladimir Putin. For most it was aimed at a sort of two finger gesture towards the US and the west, in defiance of America’s Donald Trump-led economic bullying. Ten thousand troops stomping in robotic military precision and all that deadly hardware carried a message that has to be taken seriously.
As he met Xi warmly, Putin called him a “dear friend” and added: “Our close communications reflect the strategic position of Chinese and Russian relations at the highest level.” It was a diplomatic hand grenade aimed straight at Donald Trump’s ego – designed to humiliate the US and elevate China, Russia and their allies.
Rarely before have the two countries’ leaders shown so much obvious mutual warmth and it edged towards contempt for the US and Donald Trump, coming so soon after the Putin-Trump summit in Alaska. It so easily pricked Trump into reacting jealously and angrily on his social media site that it is almost as if they calculated it to do so.
The ominous image of Beijing’s President Xi Jinping flanked by Putin and Kim as they watched the ceremony was historic and meaningful as the three grow closer. The message was that Xi is jostling to solidify China’s leadership role in the eastern military and economic bloc – its two sidekicks relying upon it increasingly. Both Xi as President and Putin as guest were able to address the gathering of leaders.
It was not lost on Trump, bitter over the attention and perhaps slowly realising he’s been played by Putin, who penned furiously: “Many Americans died in China’s quest for Victory and Glory. I hope that they are rightfully Honoured and Remembered for their Bravery and Sacrifice.
“Please give my warmest regards to Vladimir Putin, and Kim Jong Un, as you conspire against The United States of America.” Prof Glees, from the University of Buckingham, said the meeting of the Russian, Chinese and North Korean leaders was a sign of “two fateful things happening.”
He added: “First of course, we’re seeing the pull of China and its so-called ‘Shanghai cooperation’ policy which is China’s way of establishing itself as the global world leader of the 21st century. It is my opinion a genuine axis of evil, of the three most aggressive powers, Russia, North Korea and China, wants to pull in satellites like India and demonstrate their ability to wage war at will and cow and subvert their enemies as they strive to grab land off their neighbours and add territory to their empires.”
Xi had declared: “Today, humanity is again faced with the choice of peace or war, dialogue or confrontation, win-win or zero-sum,” adding that China will: “firmly stand on the right side of history.” He said China was a great nation that “is never intimidated by any bullies” in a not-at-all veiled threat towards the US and its allies.
This was a declaration, putting the west on notice, perhaps with the possible threat towards Taiwan in mind, that China will not back down. China was a crucial ally in the Second World War against Japan, tying up what was then a large enemy force, and the country suffered enormous losses of many millions.
Kim Jong-un, though his presence was relevant at this event, can be parked for now as the hooligan younger sibling who barks a lot without much potency. But for Putin this was another moment of victory, following his Alaska summit with Trump in which he humiliated the US leader.
Again, it puts him on the world stage, seemingly a power-broker while his troops die by the hundreds in Ukraine and his war-economy becomes increasingly fragile. He is pinning his political and actual survival on solidifying his relationship with China for the oil deals and weapons technology expertise, whilst North Korea is providing troop reinforcements.
And this will serve him well back home where he can re-package the event as a celebration of Russian sacrifices in beating WWII fascism while maintaining the big lie that he is doing the same in combatting a similar, though entirely untrue, threat from Ukraine and the west.
Putin has bastardised Russia’s WWII sacrifices to justify his war on west-leaning Ukraine which he wrongly claims is run by fascists. Meanwhile China prepares its next move to try and take over Taiwan, which many think will happen.
Xi’s peace and war choice could be seen as conciliatory but is a deadly warning of what’s to come – China’s ambition to rival the US militarily and economically within years.