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China shows strength and resolve
3 September 2025
A massive military parade in Beijing, a tough speech by leader Xi Jinping, and an audience led by the leaders of like minded countries, including Russia, Iran and North Korea, was how China on Wednesday, 3 September, marked the 80th anniversary of its victory over Japan in WWII. President Xi welcomed North Korea’s Kim Jong Un with a long handshake, then moved on to greet Russia’s Vladimir Putin before all three walked together to watch the parade. This event was not just a display of troops and weapons but also of friends and allies. This was the first time all three leaders have been seen in public together.
The parade was a choreographed spectacle of precision, power and patriotism.
The choir stood in perfectly even rows, the troops goose stepped past in unison and each strike of the ground echoed through the stands of 50,000 guests in Tiananmen Square. In his address, Xi called on Chinese people to remember the victory in WWII.
He added
"humanity rises and falls together" and that China is "never intimidated by bullies."