Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un arrive at Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, 3 September 2025. Photo: Kremlin Press Service

Chinese President Xi Jinping capped a week of high-profile diplomacy on Wednesday with his country’s largest-ever military parade in Beijing, at which he was flanked by Vladimir Putin and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un in a show of authoritarian solidarity that drew swift criticism from the White House.

The parade, a display of military might marking the 80th anniversary of Japan’s unconditional surrender and the end of World War II, was attended by over 25 world leaders, with Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić and Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico the only European leaders in attendance, according to Reuters.

Positioned between Putin and Kim in a viewing gallery above Tiananmen Square, Xi spoke frequently with both men while pieces of military hardware and thousands of troops were paraded before them. Among the other leaders in attendance was Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, making it the first time that all four leaders of what has been dubbed the Axis of Upheaval had ever appeared together in public.

“Today, mankind is faced with the choice of peace or war, dialogue or confrontation, win-win or zero-sum,” Xi told a crowd of more than 50,000 people as he opened the 70-minute showcase, adding that the Chinese people stood “firmly on the right side of history,” Reuters reported.

Chinese troops take part in a military parade to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the Sino-Japanese War in Beijing, China, 3 September 2025. Photo: EPA / ANDRES MARTINEZ CASARES

Shortly after the parade began, US President Donald Trump took to social media to criticise the event for failing to acknowledge the “massive amount” of support the US provided to China to help it defeat Japan, and for not honouring the “many Americans” who died before China’s victory.

“May President Xi and the wonderful people of China have a great and lasting day of celebration. Please give my warmest regards to Vladimir Putin, and Kim Jong Un, as you conspire against The United States of America”, Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Following the parade, Putin and Kim spent an hour meeting, with the former characterising relations between their two countries as having taken on an “alliance-like character”, and thanking North Korea for its “brave and heroic” contribution to “the modern fight against neo-Nazism,” TASS reported.

“Your soldiers fought bravely and heroically. We will never forget the sacrifices made by your armed forces and the families of your servicemen,” Putin said.

Kim, for his part, similarly praised Russian-North Korean ties and stressed Pyongyang’s continued willingness to assist Russia militarily in the future, calling such support his country’s “brotherly duty”, Russian news outlet RBK reported.