Xi, Putin, and Kim gather at Beijing landmark for a grand military parade

BEIJING (AFP): Chinese leader Xi Jinping and invited guests including Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un have arrived at the historic Tiananmen Gate to watch a military parade Wednesday in Beijing.

Xi shook hands individually with guests on a red carpet before they climbed the stairs up to the viewing platform on the gate that looks out on Tiananmen Square.

Putin and Kim flanked Xi as they made their way to the platform. Other guests applauded politely as they walked to their seats. They paused to shake hands with five World War II veterans, some older than 100.

The audience includes about two dozen foreign leaders from countries seeking to improve or maintain relations with the government in Beijing.

The parade, which marks the 80th anniversary of the end of WWII, will showcase missiles, modern fighter jets and other military might as China seeks to wield greater influence on the global stage. Some of the military hardware is on public view for the first time.

Domestically, the commemoration of the anniversary is a way to show how far China has come. China was a major front in the war, a fact often overlooked in accounts that focus more on the fight for Europe and US naval battles in the Pacific. A Japanese invasion before the war and the conflict itself killed millions of Chinese people.

The military parade is also a show of strength to boost support for the Communist Party and its leader, Xi, and a way to portray itself as a global alternative to the American-dominated postwar era.