China is about to host an extraordinary military gathering with some of the world’s most powerful leaders, but United States President Donald Trump isn’t on the guest list.<\/p>\n
On September 3, the streets of Beijing will be transformed into a parade ground for a mammoth military march showcasing China’s newest hardware.<\/p>\n
The spectacle will include more than 10,000 troops, 100 aircraft and hundreds of tanks and other armoured equipment.<\/p>\n
The extravagant parade will mark 80 years since the formal surrender of Japan during World War II and will give a rare glimpse into the country’s military advancements, including displays of never-before-seen weaponry.<\/p>\n
This flex of China’s military might will be heavily scrutinised by military analysts the world over, amid rising tensions with Taiwan and in the South China Sea.<\/p>\n
But it’s also who will be watching in the crowd in Beijing that’s attracting major international attention.<\/p>\n
Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un will be among a bevy of international dignitaries attending the parade, at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping.<\/p>\n
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Xi Jinping is signalling that he might hold influence where Kim and Putin are concerned. (Reuters: Kirill Kudryavtsev\/Pool)<\/p>\n
Putin and Kim’s visit to Beijing will be a major coup for the Chinese leader, showing his country’s growing international influence \u2014 not just as the world’s second-largest economy, but as a burgeoning diplomatic titan.<\/p>\n
A powerful new axis looms<\/p>\n
While it’s unknown if Xi, Putin and Kim will engage in trilateral talks, their very presence together is already a signal of the trio’s desire to cooperate more closely, and publicly, in direct challenge to US-led global norms.<\/p>\n
Putin’s visit for the parade is expected to capitalise on the deep relationship between himself and Xi, who the Russian president has previously referred to as his “best friend”.<\/p>\n
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Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping stood side by side in May as they attended a major military parade in Moscow. (Reuters: Sergei Bobylyov\/Host agency)<\/p>\n
And Kim’s visit will mark an extraordinary break from convention for the North Korean leader, who rarely travels abroad.<\/p>\n
It will be his first-ever appearance on a major, multi-national diplomatic arena and hints at a growing powerful axis that doesn’t include the West.<\/p>\n
That will send waves of concern throughout Washington and could irritate Trump, who isn’t attending the event.<\/p>\n
In fact, no leaders from the US or Western Europe are expected at the parade, although Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico is reported to have made the guest list.<\/p>\n
Former Australian Labor state premiers Bob Carr and Dan Andrews are also set to appear, but not Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.<\/p>\n
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Xi visited Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang in 2019. (Reuters: Korean Central News Agency)<\/p>\n
China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Guo Jiakun, wouldn’t be drawn on why major Western countries were not being represented at the event.<\/p>\n
“Let me stress that China holds the commemoration events in order to remember history, honour the martyrs, cherish peace and create a better future,” he told reporters last week.<\/p>\n
What will Trump think?<\/p>\n
The gathering of Xi, Putin and Kim at such a high-profile event comes amid deepening divisions with the US over tariffs and ongoing sanctions.<\/p>\n
In May, Xi promised Beijing would stand with Russia in the face of “hegemonic bullying” from other nations and “strengthen coordination in order to decisively counter the US’s course of ‘dual containment’<\/a> of Russia and China”.<\/p>\n