China holds a large military parade in Beijing to mark 80 years since the end of the second world war. Chinese leader Xi Jinping will be flanked by leaders from heavily sanctioned countries including Russia, North Korea, Iran and Myanmar, alongside several Global South leaders. Russian president Vladimir Putin and North Korea's Kim Jong-un will attend, marking their first public appearance together with Xi. Tens of thousands of troops will march through the capital. Most Western leaders are expected to shun the event, with only Slovakia's prime minister Robert Fico and Serbia's president Aleksandar Vucic attending. The UN will be represented by undersecretary general Li Junhua.
At the parade, Chinese leader Xi Jinping will be flanked by the leaders of some of the world's most heavily sanctioned nations Russia, North Korea, Iran and Myanmar and a host of other leaders of the global south but notably almost no western leaders. The parade is seen as a show of military and diplomatic strength by Beijing amid high-stakes negotiations with Donald Trump's administration in the US over trade.
It will be the first time the two leaders have appeared in public together alongside Xi. Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian is also expected to be on the dais as tens of thousands of troops march through the Chinese capital, completing a quartet that western political and economic analysts have described as the axis of upheaval. Myanmar junta chief Min Aung Hlaing, who rarely travels abroad, will also attend, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Thursday.
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