China’s Military Parade Showcases Advanced Weapons and Growing Ties With Russia, Iran, and North Korea
Tiananmen Square shuddered as advanced Chinese military hardware rolled past the leaders of the Axis of Aggressors — Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, and North Korea’s Kim Jong-Un. Wednesday’s parade, attended by about two dozen foreign leaders, was intended to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II — despite the limited role the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) played in that conflict.
The parade showcased Beijing’s rapid military buildup, as well as the increasing cooperation among members of the axis. President Donald Trump, recognizing that this cooperation primarily targets the United States and its interests, commented on social media, “Please give my warmest regards to Vladimir Putin, and Kim Jong Un, as you conspire against The United States of America.”
New Weapons Platforms Threaten the U.S.
At least one intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) appears to have made its public debut during the parade. The DF-61, along with several other already familiar ICBMs presumably capable of targeting the U.S. homeland, was showcased and demonstrated the results of China’s rapid buildup of its nuclear forces. Several anti-ship missiles, three of which Chinese state media reported as hypersonic, also took part in the parade — sending a not-so-subtle message to the U.S. Navy.
A notable inclusion in the parade was anti-drone air defense systems, the development of which was almost certainly informed by Russia’s combat experience in Ukraine, where drones inflict a high percentage of casualties. Numerous drones, jets, helicopters, tanks, and other armored vehicles on display underlined the breadth of China’s military modernization efforts.
Beijing Struggles To Balance Political Control With Growing Military Capabilities
The parade comes despite Xi’s ongoing efforts to balance competing demands within the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), strengthening an institution critical to achieving his global ambitions without loosening the political control that underpins his ultimate rule within the CCP.
Over the past several years, high-ranking officers associated with the PLA’s Rocket Force, the service charged with overseeing China’s nuclear and conventional missile arsenal, along with members of the Central Military Commission, which oversees the PLA, have been summarily removed from their positions or disappeared. While these removals are often tied to allegations of corruption, their pace has accelerated as Xi has increasingly emphasized the importance of the PLA’s political loyalty to the CCP. He has also expanded political education classes for both officers and the rank and file.
Nonetheless, the PLA has continued developing into a technically sophisticated force that is increasingly capable of projecting power abroad. Within the past year, China has launched its largest military exercises around Taiwan in decades, simultaneously deployed two aircraft carriers along the Japanese coast, and improved its use of AI. These efforts have been paired with expanded PLA recruitment drives among Chinese university students as military leaders seek to produce a more professional and technically capable force.
The U.S. Must Improve Its Defense Industrial Base
As China conducts a military buildup of a magnitude not seen since World War II, Washington must deter Beijing across the entire Indo-Pacific and prepare the Pentagon to win a large-scale conflict should deterrence fail. The Trump administration should press Congress to send the annual defense authorization and appropriation bills to the president’s desk for his signature without delay. That legislation should procure the maximum quantities of key weapons systems and munitions that industry can produce; build additional defense production capacity; and prioritize the delivery of decisive combat capabilities to American forces as quickly as possible. Scale and speed should take precedent over marginal cost savings, which are much less valuable than the lives that can be saved by deterring aggression.
Washington must also strengthen America’s network of allies and partners, which is far more impressive than the group gathered in Beijing. That should include expediting the transfer of key military capabilities to partners, particularly Taiwan, the establishment of pre-positioned stocks there, and a series of combined U.S.-led military exercises that include Taiwan, Japan, and Australia. That will go a long way toward preventing a future conflict in the Indo-Pacific.