Roving Periscope: China displays firepower—to friends, frenemies, and foes alike
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Pakistan lost badly in India’s Operation Sindoor in May 2025 but continues to claim ‘victory’—so much so that its Army chief, General Asim Munir, promoted himself as “Field Marshal” and hung other sundry medals on his uniform after emerging from his bunker. Don’t be surprised, therefore, if Islamabad starts ‘celebrating’ its so-called victory in what it claimed was Operation Bunyan un Marsoos (Operation Solid Structure!).
Likewise, China has been celebrating its “victory” over Japan in the Second World War. During the War, a divided China was a minor player, fighting only against Japan, and on its own soil, far away from the main war theatre of Europe. It was America whose atom bombs, dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, forced Japan to surrender, and China heaved a sigh of relief.
Eighty years on, however, a powerful China is trying to upstage the same America from the unipolar pedestal. Japan no longer, despite being the fifth-largest world economy, counts for little in geopolitical sweepstakes.
To underline this transformation, China on Wednesday organized its largest-ever 80th Victory Parade in Beijing to showcase its weapons and firepower to one and all. It displayed modern weaponry for first time in a mega military parade attended by several world leaders. It displayed its military might by parading jet fighters, missiles and latest electronic warfare hardware, the media reported.
Hundreds of troops also took part in the parade held to commemorate China’s 1945 victory against “Japanese aggression” in the Second World War.
Twenty-six foreign leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un and the leaders from Iran, Malaysia, Myanmar, Mongolia, Indonesia, Zimbabwe and central Asian countries attended it.
From India’s neighbourhood, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Nepal Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli and Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu were also present.
People waved flags ahead of a military parade as Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan welcomed the foreign guests.
North Korean leader Kim arrived in Beijing by an armoured train last night along with daughter Kim Ju Ae, viewed as his dynastic successor.
The presence of Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, and Kim Jon Un together in the military parade was seen as an attempt by China to send a strong message to US President Donald Trump, who tried to woo both the Russian President and the North Korean leader into Washington’s fold.
The parade in Beijing followed the high-profile summit of the 10-member Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Tianjin, which was dominated by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s high-profile meetings with the Chinese and Russian Presidents against the backdrop of Trump clamping 50 percent tariffs against India for buying Russian oil.
Soon after the SCO Summit, PM Modi returned home. He did not attend the military parade.
Because, in June 2020, China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) had tasted India’s might and returned with a bloody nose after a misadventure in East Ladakh. Several rounds of talks brought down the temperatures between the two neighbours.
Secondly, PM Modi had reached China via Japan where he secured an assurance for Japanese investments to the tune of USD 68 billion. China and Japan have been ancient enemies in Asia.
Thirdly, China had also invited Pakistan’s “Field Marshal” Asim Munir—and even Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif!—to attend the Victory Day Parade. No Indian leader would have shared the platform with either of them.
And lastly, India, by attending the parade, did not want to play second fiddle to China just five years after the Galwan clashes, and indirectly endorse China’s continued assistance to Pakistan during the Operation Sindoor in May 2025.
