China's Xi to hold lavish military parade in defiance of West

By Laurie Chen

BEIJING, Sept 3 (Reuters) - China will hold its largest-ever military parade on Wednesday, in a show of its growing firepower and geopolitical clout as President Xi Jinping seeks to cast Beijing as the custodian of a post-U.S. international order.

Russia's Vladimir Putin and reclusive North Korean leader Kim Jong Un - pariahs in the West due to the Ukraine war and Kim's nuclear ambitions - will flank Xi in an unprecedented gathering to mark 80 years since Japan's defeat at the end of World War Two.

The highly choreographed "Victory Day" spectacle, largely shunned by Western leaders, comes as U.S. President Donald Trump's "America First" stance and trade wars have strained Washington's long-standing alliances.

More than 50,000 spectators at Tiananmen Square will see aerial displays, marching platoons of People's Liberation Army troops as well as cutting-edge military equipment such as hypersonic missiles, unmanned drones and outfitted tanks.

Major roads and schools have been closed in Beijing for the 70-minute parade, the culmination of weeks of painstaking security preparations and midnight rehearsals.

Proceedings will kick off at 9 a.m. (0100 GMT), according to China's official Xinhua news agency.

VISION FOR NEW GLOBAL ORDER

Xi has cast World War Two as a major turning point in the "great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation", in which it overcame the humiliation of Japan's invasion to become an economic powerhouse.

He is expected to highlight China and Soviet Russia's triumph in defeating fascism and its role upholding the postwar international order during a keynote speech at the ceremony.

Earlier this week, Xi unveiled his vision of a new global order at a regional security summit, calling for unity against "hegemonism and power politics", a thinly veiled swipe at the United States and President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs aimed at both friend and foe.

Putin has already used the occasion to seal deeper energy deals with China, while the gathering offers Kim an opportunity to gain implicit support for his banned nuclear weapons.

Kim, debuting in his first major multilateral event, will become the first North Korean to attend a Chinese military parade in 66 years.

Nothing has been left to chance for the milestone event.

Local governments nationwide have mobilised tens of thousands of volunteers and Communist Party members to monitor for any signs of potential unrest ahead of the parade, estimates based on online recruitment notices show.

"President Xi will use this opportunity to showcase how the military is clearly, unmistakably behind him," said Wen-Ti Sung, fellow at the Atlantic Council's Global China Hub.