China commemorated the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II in Beijing on Wednesday, with Chinese President Xi Jinping hosting more than two dozen foreign leaders at a military parade.
The parade featured missiles and tanks rumbling past Tiananmen Square, soldiers goose-stepping in formation and fighter jets roaring over the capital, as China showcased its military prowess.
President Xi Jinping delivered an opening speech at a stand, before reviewing the troops in a limousine, occasionally saying, “Greetings, comrades!”
More than two dozen foreign leaders, including North Korea’s Kim Jong Un and Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Myanmar’s junta chief Min Aung Hlaing and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, were at the venue site, according to a broadcast feed by state media, with Western leaders largely absent.
The heavily choreographed event is designed to showcase some of the country’s newest weapons and commemorates the country’s “victory against Japanese aggression and the world’s victory against fascism.”
The parade route will move along Chang’an Avenue, the city’s central east–west artery, passing Tiananmen Square and the entrance to the Forbidden City. (CNBC)
