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06-09-2025
BEIJING: When Chinese leader Xi Jinping organized his first parade to mark the anniversary of the end of World War Two, in 2015, he placed his two predecessors by his side in a show of respect and continuity of leadership.
Ten years on and having eliminated domestic opposition as he serves an unprecedented third term as president, Xi was flanked on Wednesday at the 80th anniversary parade by Russia’s Vladimir Putin and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un.
Chinese Communist Party leaders were interspersed among overseas guests.
The parade followed Xi’s high-profile summit with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a weekend meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Tianjin, and the Chinese leader’s rare visit to Tibet last month.
This display of diplomatic clout, stamina and geopolitical ambition has helped quell concerns among some China observers about the 72-year-old president’s vitality, linked to sporadic absences and so far unknown succession plans. It has also helped divert domestic attention from slowing growth, experts say.
Longevity was on the leaders’ minds as they walked up to the rostrum at Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, Xi and Putin were caught in a hot mic moment discussing organ transplants and the possibility that humans could live to 150 years old.
“This week of triumphant diplomacy for Xi shows that he remains totally in charge of the elite politics of the Communist Party,” said Neil Thomas of the Asia Society, a New York-based think tank. Unable to get the same legitimacy from economic growth as his predecessors, Xi has turned toward nationalism “to try and make up for it”, Thomas said.
“It’s a way to divert attention from economic challenges and to make his citizens proud to be Chinese, even if it’s harder to feel that from the day-to-day experiences of unemployment, falling house prices and stagnant wages.”
Xi underscored his elder statesman image with fashion choices; a grey suit in the style of those worn by Mao Zedong, matching his greying hair, in contrast to the black suits of his counterparts and his own black attire from a decade earlier.
His number two, Premier Li Qiang, whose role has diminished at home, was charged with relatively minor meetings with leaders of Malaysia and Uzbekistan. High-profile engagements with Kim, Modi, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and several others fell to Cai Qi, who heads the party’s Central Secretariat, responsible for its sprawling administration.
In response to a question, China’s foreign ministry referred to news conference transcripts related to the recent diplomatic events, showcasing China’s partnerships with developing nations and positioning Beijing as committed to peaceful development and international cooperation.
Many countries that sent their leaders to China in the past week have been hit by US President Donald Trump’s trade tariffs this year including India which remains a significant buyer of Russian oil, hit by sanctions over Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
In one of the most memorable moments in the flurry of diplomatic encounters, Modi and Putin walked over for a chat with Xi while holding hands, underscoring personal tensions between Trump and Modi, as well as Washington’s failure to draw historically non-aligned India in to counter Russia and China.
“Ultimately one of the biggest driving factors of the SCO show of solidarity has been US policy,” said Even Pay, a director at strategic advisory firm Trivium China.
Trump, who called the military parade “beautiful” and “very, very impressive”, made a barbed post on social media saying China was working with Putin and Kim to “conspire against The United States of America”. (Int’l Monitoring Desk)
