China parades its military might, and its friends, in a defiant display for the U.S.
NBC News
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Source: NBC News
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has sent Moscow both troops and weapons, while U. S. officials say Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has supplied drones. Though Xi has strived to assert neutrality in the conflict, he has provided Russia with a diplomatic and economic lifeline.
The United States and other Western governments largely stayed away from the parade, in part because of Putin’s presence.
That hardly seemed to matter to Xi, Putin and Kim, who ascended the rostrum overlooking the parade together in their first joint public appearance.
“The great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation is unstoppable,” Xi said in remarks opening the parade. “The noble cause of peace and development for humanity will surely triumph.”
Foreign media was heavily controlled, with authorities prohibiting journalists from so much as pointing a phone in the direction of the three leaders.
The parade was closely watched around the world, including by Trump, who posted not long after it started to ask whether Xi would also honor U. S. troops who died supporting China against Japanese occupation during the war.
“May President Xi and the wonderful people of China have a great and lasting day of celebration,” he wrote on Truth Social. “Please give my warmest regards to Vladimir Putin, and Kim Jong Un, as you conspire against The United States of America.”
The Kremlin later said that it thought Trump was being ironic and that “no one was plotting any conspiracies.”
Trump had said earlier he was “not concerned at all” about China and Russia’s possibly forming an axis against the United States.
“We have the strongest military in the world by far,” he said Tuesday in an interview on “The Scott Jennings Radio Show” before the parade. “They would never use their military on us.”
Source:
NBC News
