For the last three days, Xi Jinping has played host in one of China’s busiest port cities, welcoming leaders from across Asia and the Middle East for a carefully choreographed summit designed to showcase his vision of a new world order. Now, the Chinese leader is set to exhibit a very different image with an ostentatious show of military might.
On Wednesday he will commandeer Beijing’s main artery – the Avenue of Eternal Peace – for a major military parade showing off the country’s cutting-edge hypersonic weapons, nuclear-capable missiles, and undersea drones, alongside thousands of goose-stepping soldiers.
Xi’s message with his multi-day exercise of soft and hard power, is clear: China is a force that wants to reset global rules – and it’s not afraid to challenge those of the West.
Hitting that message home is Xi’s guest list for the gathering, a cohort of more than two dozen China-friendly world leaders topped by Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, which also includes Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.
That also makes the first time that the leaders of a quartet of nations Washington strategists warn are converging to form an anti-American “axis of upheaval” will be together in one event. For the Western leaders desperately trying to ramp up pressure on Putin to end his war in Ukraine, those optics will appear stark.
Iran, North Korea, China and Russia are seen as an emerging anti-American axis by some observers in the West precisely because Tehran and Pyongyang have fed Moscow weapons and – in the case of Pyongyang – troops, while China has aided its war-torn economy and industry.
As Xi gives them seats by his side on a symbolic day for China, he is showing himself as the one global heavyweight who could stand a real chance to pressure Putin to end his war – and that he’s not going to use that pull to play by the West’s rules.
For Xi, China’s longest-serving and most powerful leader in decades, the symbolism – and its timing – will be purposeful.
Under President Donald Trump, the US is shaking up its alliances and causing economic pain for countries around the world, including among friends and allies, with his global trade war. Xi sees an opportune moment to make what might be his most dramatic showing yet of his challenge to a world based on Western rules and sensibilities. “(We must) oppose the cold war mentality, block confrontation and bullying practices,” Xi declared as he spoke to a room of gathered leaders Monday, using language that’s long been China’s code to describe what it sees as the US’ behavior. He also pledged hundreds of millions in grants to SCO member states this year – and launched a push to reform the international system
Source: Here