BBC correspondents respond to Beijing’s show for strength

Chinese leader Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un stood publicly side by side on Wednesday, before a massive military parade in Central Beijing.

This parade, which celebrated 80 years since China’s victory over Japan during World War II, saw Beijing reveal a number of new military hardware-a new nuclear intercontinental ballistic rocket, a new rocket bound by the way to deliver hypersonic weapons, a new laser weapon and even “robotic dogs”.

It comes at a time when the XI seeks to design Beijing’s power on the international stage – not only as the second largest economy in the world, but also as a counterweight of the United States, as Trump’s tariffs shake the global economic and political order.

Four BBC correspondents evaluate the importance of the parade on Wednesday – what it means, why it matters and what the performance of the “New World Order” tells us.

By Laura Bicker, Correspondent of China

One of the most durable images of this military parade took place before the first cannon was fired.

The president welcomed Kim Jong Un to North Korea with a long handshake, after which he moved to congratulate Russian Vladimir Putin before the three went together to watch the parade was a pure political theater.

It was the first time the three leaders were seen in public and they really chose their moment.

But it was this meeting, not just the weapons and troops of the show, that seemed to have caught the attention of Donald Trump.

Trump posted on the Truth Social earlier, accusing the XI of conspiracy against America with the others. The Chinese leader said in this speech that his country is on the right of history.

The parade on Wednesday was a choreographic performance of precision, power and patriotism.

Even the choir stood in perfectly even rows while singing “without the Communist Party, there is no modern China.”

The troops passed into unison and every blow to the ground echoed through the stands of 50,000 guests in Tiananmann Square.

Then the big weapons came and the crowd reached for his phones. New ICBM, laser weapons, even robotic dogs.

The parade ended in a pleasant fly, before thousands of pigeons and balloons were put into the sky over the capital.

This 80th anniversary display from the end of World War II was not just a look at where China was or where China came.

He showed where China goes: XI plays the role of a global leader, ready to stand with two of the world’s most residential leaders.

And at his feet, a military that is being built to compete in the West.

By James Landal, a diplomatic correspondent

China’s geopolitical show and now a military force this week is unlikely to surprise Western leaders.

The president has long been striving to be at the center of a new world order – the one who replaces the collapsing global systems created after World War II.

But two things will send trembling to Western diplomatic spikes.

One is the speed at which China fills the vacuum left by America’s departure from international norms and institutions.

A world order, led by Chinese, one in which territorial integrity and human rights are evaluated less than raw power and economic development can be uncomfortable for many Western countries.

The way raw American tariffs have pushed India, the largest democracy in the world, so quickly in the warm embrace of China, the largest autocracy in the world will also be anxiety.

A small crumb of comfort for the West is that the so -called “cataclysm axis” in Beijing is not united – and in particular India, which was not presented on the parade on Wednesday, is still in contradiction with China because of territorial and other disputes.

The conclusion is that Donald Trump’s economic nationalism and destructive diplomacy provide China with a huge diplomatic opportunity – and it is that the XI takes advantage of open arms with its meeting and parade.

By Steve Rosenberg, editor of Russia

All diplomacy (and optics) in China this week was created to send a clear message to the Trump administration.

So, you want to make America great again, right? First is America, right? Well, then we will offer an alternative to the US led by the US.

That is why we saw the leaders of China, Russia and India smile together at the Shanhai Cooperation Cooperation Summit on Sunday and Monday.

That is why Vladimir Putin called him a ginping “real friend”, and the Chinese leader called his Russian counterpart “old friend” earlier this week.

And this is the reason why Jinping, Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong -un appeared together at the military parade on Wednesday.

In short, in the geopolitical universe, the various forces align as a counterweight of American domination.

This does not mean that all these countries and leaders are at the same wavelength. They are not. The differences remain.

But the direction of the trip is clear.

As a title in the newsletter, Komsomolskaya Pravda has announced this week in connection with Russia, China and India: “We will build a new world.”

By Frank Gardner, a security correspondent

From massive, underwater torpedoes to the most modern laser weapons that take down drones, China’s latest military parade will already be defeated and analyzed by Pentagon experts and defense officials worldwide.

PLA joined a vast military modernization program that saw her catch up – and in some areas – overtaking the United States. Hypersonic rockets that travel more than five times greater sound speed is an area in which China leads the world.

Dr. Sidhart Causal, a leading missile expert in the London Brain Trust, emphasizes the YJ -17 -a hypersonic sliding vehicle -and a YJ -19, a hypersonic cruise rocket.

China also invests a lot in artificial intelligence and autonomous weapons. One example of them is AJX002: giant, 60-foot (18m), underwater nuclear drone.

Chinese nuclear arsenal – numbering of hundreds of missiles – is still far behind those of Russia and the United States, which both have thousands, but this is rapidly increasing in size and finds innovative ways to deliver warheads.