Two days after the largest-ever summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in the city of Tianjin, China held its largest-ever military parade to commemorate the 80th anniversary of Japan’s unconditional surrender in World War II.
The parade showcased a diverse range of advanced military hardware and tech – courtesy of the significant investments made in the industry – covering a broad range of weapon types. These include new types of missiles, such as the Dongfeng-61, capable of carrying multiple warheads, the Dongfeng-5C ICBM, as well as the Dongfeng-26D, which has also been dubbed the “Guam killer” since the US military bases on Guam fall well within its intermediate-range.
This heavy focus on rockets and missiles likely stems from the fact that the US Navy is still unrivalled on the seas, so these weapons are necessary elements for China to create an effective deterrence strategy.
The PRC has also showcased the results of its investments into drone technology, with the AJX-002, an underwater unmanned drone attracting significant international attention, alongside “drone wolves”, as well as the GJ-11 stealth drone.
Another novelty showcased at the parade was the LY-1 laser, which can be utilised against drone swarm attacks or even potentially used to blind enemy pilots. It was also the first time ever that China displayed its nuclear triad (land-based nuclear missiles, submarine-launched ballistic missiles and strategic bombers with nuclear bombs or missiles).
The parade was attended by around 20 foreign dignitaries, and the majority of media attention was focused on the trio of the host Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un. An unsurprising development, given the fact that this was the first time the three were seen together in public. However, it is also worth noting the composition of the rest of the attendees.
Besides the trio, there were, as was to be expected, leaders from countries not on good terms with the US or the West in general, such as Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Belarusian President Lukashenko. The attendees also included many Asian leaders as well, such as Prabowo Subianto of Indonesia, the Presidents of Vietnam and Laos, and the Prime Ministers of Malaysia and the Maldives, as well as the king of Cambodia. The then-President of Nepal also attended, though since then he has been deposed in the country’s protests.
All of Central Asia was represented, with the Presidents or Prime Ministers of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan in attendance. From Africa, the leaders of Zimbabwe and the Republic of Congo attended, while from the Caucasus, Azerbaijan and Armenia were also present, not long after they had agreed to a peace treaty under the brokering of US President Donald Trump.
Despite having attended the SCO meeting 2 days earlier, India and Turkey chose not to send officials to attend.
While most European leaders choose to stay away, Vucic of Serbia attended. More surprising was perhaps that two EU member states also represented themselves, namely the Slovakian PM Robert Fico, and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó representing Hungary.
Besides current world leaders, former leaders also attended, including those from Romania, New Zealand and the former Premier of Victoria in Australia.
More than just serving to commemorate the sacrifice of the Chinese nation in the defeat of Imperial Japan in the Second World War, and showcasing its latest military technologies, the parade also gave opportunity for the PRC to signal to the world that Beijing is ready to fill out the economic, political void left as a result by the retreat of the US from global affairs under the second Trump administration.
The historical background of the event is Japan’s unconditional surrender in the Second World War, which is referred to in Chinese as the “War of Resistance Against Japan and the World Anti-Fascist War” (民抗日战争暨世界反法西斯战争).
In his speech during the event, Chinese President Xi Jinping argued that the Chinese people have made a significant contribution to saving human civilisation and preserving world peace. He then went on to emphasise the interlinked nature of humankind, stating that only through treating each other as equals can peace be protected and tragedies (such as war) be prevented.
He also highlighted that humanity is once again at a fork in the road and must make the decision between peace or war, dialogue or confrontation, win-win cooperation or zero-sum games. He followed this by stating that China is on the right side of history, on the side of progress and is ready to join hands with all the nations across the globe to construct the “common future of humankind”. He finished by stating that China must uphold the ideological canon of the Party, more specifically Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought, Deng Xiaoping Theory, Jiang theory of the three represents, the Scientific Outlook on Development, and fully implement Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for the New Era, the last one being Xi’s own addition to the ideology of the Communist Party of China (CPC).
Author: Bendegúz Bottyán
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