Name: Xi, Putin and Kim put on defiant display of unity at military parade
Uploaded: 2025-09-04T06:25:43.000Z
Duration: 8 min
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Right now, a massive parade underway in Beijing as the Chinese President Xi Jinping is showing off his country's arsenal and military might to the world and to the more than two dozen foreign leaders who are there in person attending this military parade that includes those from Russia, North Korea, and Iran.

Adverbs of degree

In a speech just a few moments ago, President Xi warned that the world needs to choose, as he put it, quote, between peace and war.

I want to get straight to CNN's Ivan Watson, who is live on the ground in Beijing.

And obviously, Ivan, we're watching this play out and just seeing how extensive this military parade is so far.

What's clear to you from the message that China is trying to send tonight?

After all, they are commemorating the 80th anniversary of the surrender of Japan.

China was a major battleground in World War II for eight long years, to the tune of perhaps around 20 million Chinese casualties during the Japanese military's invasion and occupation of parts of China.

And this is a demonstration to China and the world that China is strong.

And that Xi Jinping is the ruler of this country.

He has just done a review of the troops in his presidential limousine.

And now we're being treated to scenes of uniformed soldiers with helmets, jogging alongside tanks and other military vehicles and jumping into them.

And they will be part of the parade that is at hand here.

Caitlin, I think, on the one hand, this is a demonstration of Chinese military muscle and discipline.

It's a scorching hot day here in Beijing, and the troops are out in full uniforms and helmets, jogging, marching in unison.

But by the same token, there is a demonstration of China's friends outside of China.

And I think one of the enduring images that will emerge from this is of Xi Jinping walking up a red carpet towards the Tiananmen Gate, from where he and other world leaders have been reviewing this parade, and walking alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin to his right, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to his left.

Those two very important guests, the VIPs, and demonstrating how important they are to Xi Jinping himself by placing them front and center during what is effectively a Chinese celebration here.

Yeah, it says so much just to be able to see these images.

I mean, it's a pretty striking show of force just to see them all standing side by side watching this play out.

It is, and it comes after days of diplomacy.

You know, just this weekend, China was hosting this regional security grouping called the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

And the North Korean leader was not in that.

But Vladimir Putin was there, as was the prime minister of India and leaders of dozens of other countries.

And the message there was much more pointed and directed at the U.S. and calling out bullying, in the words of the Chinese leader Xi Jinping, a Cold War mentality.

These are all code words that he and the Russian President Vladimir Putin use to criticize international relations that they would argue have too long been dominated by the U.S., effectively since the collapse of the Chafed Act.

And they have been calling for what they claim would be a more equitable world order, a multipolar world order.

So there is a lot of symbolism that we are seeing over the course of the last several days, from diplomacy now to military might.

Yeah, Ivan Watson, we'll continue to check back in with you.

Keep us updated with what you're seeing on the ground in Beijing and on these just striking images that we're seeing here.

I also want to bring in CNN's Senior Military Analyst and the former NATO Supreme Allied Commander, Admiral James Stavridis, who's joining me this hour.

And Admiral, I mean, just to what Ivan was showing there, I mean, these pictures, just to see Kim Jong-un, Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin all together.

As someone with your experience, how do you see these?

You're seeing very capable, very sophisticated military aircraft.

You're seeing bold, young Chinese soldiers leaping into armored personnel carriers.

China has not been in a significant war since the Korean War.

They don't have a single admiral or general who's ever been in combat.

They have had a dust up with Vietnam in the 1970s, a border skirmish with India.

You can make the argument, Kaitlan, that's to their credit.

But significantly, if you had to stack up the U.S. armed forces, like it or not, we're a highly blooded armed force.

I think that's a factor worth considering.

Where I want to park is Ivan's excellent point about the diplomacy that preceded this.

I'm less concerned about the parades and the sharp looking troops and the jets.

What I'm concerned about is the way, in particular, India and Modi appear to have really aligned themselves with China and Russia.

That's where we really ought to focus here.

Less on the military parade, more on the diplomacy.

The president clearly is also watching this and said tonight, the big question to be answered, I'm quoting President Trump now, is whether or not President Xi of China will mention the massive amount of support and blood the United States of America gave to China in order to help it secure its freedom from a very unfriendly foreign invader.

He goes on to say, may President Xi and the wonderful people of China have a great and lasting day of celebration.

He says, please give my warmest regards to Vladimir and Kim Jong-un as you conspire against the United States of America.

That would be kind of the ultimate mixed message as far as I'm concerned.

There is no doubt that Vladimir Putin is a malevolent force in the world.

Kim Jong-un is running a criminal enterprise disguised as a nation, and both of them are being supported by China.

That's unfortunate from a U.S. perspective.

What we ought to do about it, Caitlin, back to India, we ought to do everything we can to kind of pull India, the world's largest democracy, back toward the West and allowing them to drift into the orbit of Putin and Xi.

Yeah, and of course, India has been, is facing huge tariffs because of that.

China is not facing tariffs because of the oil it's getting from Russia.

Admiral James Severides will continue to watch all of this.

It's always great to have your expertise here on the show.