By Eric Vandenbroeck and co-workers

Adversaries Bond in Beijing

As the leaders of China, Russia, and North Korea gathered for a grand military parade in Beijing, President Trump on Wednesday took pains to brush off the striking show of solidarity among America’s adversaries.

In remarks from the Oval Office, Trump praised the parade as “beautiful” and “very, very impressive.”

Chinese leader Xi Jinping said the world must choose between "peace and war," in a speech that he made as China showed off its military arsenal at a massive parade in Beijing. Xi welcomed some two dozen foreign leaders and other foreign representatives, including North Korea's Kim Jong Un, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. This was the first time Xi, Putin, and Kim appeared together at a public event, with the three showing a willingness to forge deeper ties in defiance of the US-led global order.

“I understood the reason they were doing it, and they were hoping I was watching, and I was watching,” Trump told reporters. “My relationship with all of them is very good. We’re going to find out how good it is over the next week or two.”

The president’s comments came despite mounting frustration that his extraordinary summit with one of those leaders, President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, has yet to yield any concrete results on the war in Ukraine.

Xi not only showed "diplomatic heft" by placing himself as the center of a new constellation of power," as DW correspondent Rik Glauert said, but he also used the event to show China's inventory to potential buyers of technology. China unveiled new weapons, showcasing hypersonic missiles, anti-drone systems, and long-range missiles, with many making an appearance at the parade for the first time. Kim's daughter, a new entrant to the world of politics, traveled with her father to make her debut on the international stage in Beijing. Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump, who also rolled out the red carpet for Putin just weeks ago, took note of the meeting of many US adversaries. He wished China a "great" day in a message on Truth Social, adding: "Please give my warmest regards to Vladimir Putin, and Kim Jong Un, as you conspire against The United States of America."

Trump went into the summit vowing that he would achieve a temporary cease-fire in Ukraine or would impose sanctions designed to hurt Russia’s critical oil and gas exports. He emerged having dropped the cease-fire demand and imposed no sanctions, while Russia stepped up its attacks on civilian targets.

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a press conference at the end of his visit to China on Wednesday..

Russian leader Vladimir Putin has said that Donald Trump's claiming there is a “conspiracy” against the United States shows that the US president has a “sense of humor.”

After the leaders of China, Russia, and North Korea met in China, Trump wrote Tuesday on Truth Social to Chinese leader Xi Jinping: “Please give my warmest regards to Vladimir Putin, and Kim Jong Un, as you conspire against The United States of America.”

Speaking on Wednesday in Beijing, Putin said, “The US president does not lack a sense of humor.”

Putin said that he and Trump have developed “good relations,” and that none of the world leaders who joined the summit in China “expressed negative judgments about the current US administration.”

Trump has publicly described that meeting as a success, but two associates, who described private conversations on the condition of anonymity, said the president was aggravated that  Putin did not commit to more.

The parade was a choreographed spectacle of precision, power, and patriotism. Thousands of soldiers paraded equipment on Wednesday, demonstrating China's military modernization program.

But one of the most enduring images of the parade took place before the first cannon was fired.

President Xi welcomed Kim with a long handshake, then moved on to greet Putin, before all three walked together to watch the parade.

This was the first time all three leaders had been seen in public together, and they really picked their moment.

Later, on the sidelines, Putin and Kim met, with Putin praising Pyongyang for sending soldiers to fight in Ukraine.

Putin and Kim joined 24 other dignitaries who had been invited to the Beijing parade.

Former top leaders of China also stood at the Tiananmen viewing platform - but notably absent was former president Hu Jintao.

South Korea's President Lee Jae Myung did get an invitation, but turned it down. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who met President Xi earlier this week, was also not present.

Thousands of miles away, at the White House in Washington, DC, Donald Trump was paying attention.

"They were hoping I was watching, and I was watching," he said.

The American president didn't detail his thoughts about the massive celebration sprawled across Tiananmen Square, except that it was "very, very impressive". The message from China, to Trump and to the world, however, seems fairly clear.

There is a new and growing center of power in the world and a new alternative to the American-backed order of the past century.

Trump's remarks during a meeting in the Oval Office with Polish President Karol Nawrocki, also on Wednesday, shed little light on the matter.

They were the culmination of a typically circuitous series of reflections by the American president on the happenings in China over the past several days. It was a mix of ambivalence, grievance, and concern.

 

 

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