Source: KremlinOn September 3, China’s President Xi Jinping hosted a group of foreign leaders attending the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Victory Day parade in Beijing. The event featured the largest military parade in China in six years, in turn generating ample foreign commentary.
Among the things noted by commentators were the presence of officials from three nuclear powers (China, Russia and North Korea), demonstration of large-scale military equipment and newer technologies, and not-so-subtle narrative driven home by Xi Jinping of China’s inevitable forward march towards becoming a global military power by 2049.
The attendance of Russia’s Vladimir Putin and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un as “honored guests” was unsurprising considering the makeup of all three countries’ regimes, as well as the increasing alignment between them.
Nonetheless, their standing alongside Xi on the podium underscored how each play into China’s strategic outlook. Other leaders in attendance were from countries Beijing is wooing towards its so-called “friend circle”, including Belarus, Cambodia, Indonesia, Iran, Laos, Malaysia, Pakistan and Vietnam.
Hence the contours of a new global order are increasingly visible: one in which China builds on security allies, cultivates aligned partners, and navigates relationships with countries hedging between the West and the Global South, gradually reshaping the Western-led system.
More notably, however, were the displays of new military equipment. These included the LY-1 shipborne laser for naval air defense, the HQ-29 missile defense system (described as a “satellite hunter” that can intercept ballistic missiles and low-orbit satellites at altitudes up to 500km/310 miles), a host of new missiles – including new ICBMs (intercontinental ballistic missiles) such as the DF-5C and DF-61, a large uncrewed underwater vessel (AJX002), and a new stealth drone with tailless form (FH-97) designed to fly alongside the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) J-20 fifth-generation combat aircraft as a “loyal wingman,” or collaborative combat aircraft (CCA).
The thrust of the message sent by Xi’s parade – beyond displaying China’s growing military arsenal and technological capabilities – appears threefold.
First, any intervention by the U.S. in relief of Taiwan against a potential attack by China will be met firmly and with the capability to strike far beyond China’s first island chain.
Second, Beijing has evolved its indigenous defense industry and technology research capabilities to the point it is largely independent of foreign-sourced know-how. Its former dependence upon Russia for advanced technologies is a thing of the past (if anything, the reverse is becoming the case), as are the slower innovation and development cycles of previous generations of Chinese weaponry. Furthermore, if a high-intensity conflict were to erupt over a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, Beijing’s defense industry has the capacity and built-in resiliency to churn out weaponry on a mass production scale to a degree the U.S. cannot currently match.
Finally, the orchestrated display of military drill and technologies is a signal to observers both near and far that China’s rise to preeminent global power is inevitable. The message appears aimed at countries residing in Beijing’s immediate neighborhood, where China seeks to edge out the U.S. as a security guarantor to establish hegemony across the East and South China Sea regions.
While all this feeds into the Chinese Communist Party’s narrative, much remains unanswered, including how many such new systems are in series production and/or operational use and how might they perform in actual combat. Sometimes a parade is just a parade, after all. China’s military has not been tested since the brief 1979 Sino-Vietnamese conflict. No one knows how it will perform under stress.
Ultimately, the parade showcased not only China’s military advancements but also its strategic narrative – a rising power seeking to redefine global order on its own terms, while leaving the world to wonder how much of the spectacle reflects actual military prowess versus political theater.
Dan Darling is Forecast International’s director of military and defense markets. In this role, Dan oversees a team of analysts tasked with covering everything from budgeting to weapons systems to defense electronics and military aerospace. Additionally, for over 17 years Dan has, at various times, authored the International Military Markets reports for Europe, Eurasia, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region.
Dan's work has been cited in Defense News, Real Clear Defense, Asian Military Review, Al Jazeera, and Financial Express, among others, and he has also contributed commentary to The Diplomat, The National Interest and World Politics Review. He has been quoted in Arabian Business, the Financial Times, Flight International, The New York Times, Bloomberg and National Defense Magazine.
In addition, Dan has made guest appearances on the online radio show Midrats and on The Media Line, as well as The Red Line Podcast, plus media appearances on France 24 and World Is One News (WION).
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- 2025 China Victory Day Parade: Kremlin
