Overview

• China marked the 80th anniversary of Japan’s surrender with a 70‑minute display featuring more than 10,000 troops, over 100 aircraft, hundreds of vehicles and newly unveiled missiles and advanced systems.
• Xi Jinping reviewed the forces and declared that China’s national “renaissance” is unstoppable, warning of a global choice between peace or war while avoiding explicit references to the United States or Taiwan.
• Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un attended beside Xi on Tiananmen Square with roughly two dozen foreign leaders present, and no major Western leaders in attendance; Slovakia’s Robert Fico was among the guests.
• Observers framed the event as a diplomatic coup that underscored Beijing’s ability to convene Russia and North Korea and capped days of outreach around the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit.
• U.S. President Donald Trump reacted on Truth Social with a sarcastic post telling Xi to send his greetings to Putin and Kim as they “conspire against the United States.”