3 hours agoShareSaveLaura BickerChina correspondent ShareSaveThe stage is set in the heart of Beijing for a grand display of power and military might that has been choreographed by President Xi Jinping. Eight huge Chinese flags flutter and flank the portrait of Mao Zedong, the founder of Communist China, which sits on top of the Gate of Heavenly Peace overlooking Tiananmen Square, one of the largest public squares in the world. Below are rows of seats reserved for 26 foreign heads of state, including Russia’s Vladimir Putin and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, whose attendance is a diplomatic win for Xi. Across the road, near the Great Hall of the People, two huge floral arrangements commemorating the end of World War II rise up alongside seating for around 50,000 invitees. On the last day of preparations – Monday – Chang’an Avenue, the multi-lane road that cuts through the square was once again open to the public. Drivers and cyclists held their phones aloft trying their best to capture the scene. Ostensibly the parade marks 80 years of Japan’s surrender in the war, and China’s victory against an occupying force. But it’s so much more than that for President Xi. This is a big week for him, with quite a few firsts. He enticed Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit China over the weekend for the first time in seven years, rebooting a key economic and strategic relationship. More than 20 world leaders attended the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, which just concluded – its largest ever gathering. And a North Korean leader will attend a Chinese military parade for the first time since 1959. Getty ImagesThe Chinese leader is having his moment in the spotlight. The SCO summit in Tianjin has allowed him to project power and offer a vision of a new world order which he hopes will challenge the United States. Now attention turns to the parade in Beijing, which will showcase his country’s growing ability to rival the US in any conflict.The leaders of Iran, Malaysia, Myanmar, Mongolia, Indonesia, Zimbabwe and central Asian countries will witness the precise troop formations and get a glimpse of what authorities say will be new hypersonic weapons and unmanned underwater drones. The only Western leaders on the guest list are from Serbia and Slovakia. Kim Jong Un is a surprise addition – his attendance was only announced at the end of last week – and his armoured train and usual motorcade flanked by bodyguards will add to the spectacle.Xi is expected to have both Kim and Putin by his side which will inevitably lead to Western headlines or analysts describing them as the “axis of upheaval”.While the parade is a show of China’s strength and Xi’s influence as a world leader, there is also a clear domestic message: pride and patriotism.Getty ImagesChina describes World War II as the “people’s war of resistance against Japanese aggression”, although much of the resistance was not from the Communist Party, but from the nationalists who later lost the civil war to Mao and his forces, and have been largely scrubbed from national memory. In the run-up to the anniversary, several films have been released depicting this struggle, some of which have been box office hits. State media has been publishing reports to “foster a right view of WWII history”. The campaign has caused some friction with Japan. Last week, Beijing lodged a protest with Tokyo over reports that Japan had asked European and Asian governments not to attend the parade.All of this appears to be part of a rallying cry to the nation, as China struggles with a sluggish …
