.png)
2 weeks ago
3
Key events Show key events only Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature
Who’s on the guest list?
China’s leader, Xi Jinping, will attend the parade alongside 26 visiting heads of state.
Among the notable guests: Russia’s president Vladimir Putin, and North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un.
Seating arrangements will be closely watched – a photo-op of Xi, Putin and Kim side by side would be a powerful image.
Other attendees include Belarus president Aleksandr Lukashenko, Iran’s president Masoud Pezashkian and South Korea’s National Assembly speaker Woo Won-shik.
Leaders from the US, western Europe, Japan, India and South Korea are not attending.
The full list is as follows:
-
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan
-
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev
-
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko
-
Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni
-
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel
-
Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto
-
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian
-
Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev
-
Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov
-
Lao President Thongloun Sisoulith
-
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim
-
Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu
-
Mongolian President Khurelsukh Ukhnaa
-
Myanmar’s junta leader Min Aung Hlaing
-
Nepali Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli
-
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un
-
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif
-
President of the Republic of the Congo Denis Sassou Nguesso
-
Russian President Vladimir Putin
-
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic
-
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico
-
Tajik President Emomali Rahmon
-
Turkmen President Serdar Berdimuhamedov
-
Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev
-
Vietnamese President Luong Cuong
-
Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa
Kim Jong-un, Putin and Xi Jinping are walking together to watch the parade, we will bring you the images as soon as we can. It’s an extraordinary sight.
Today’s parade marks the 80th anniversary of the end of the second world war and Japan’s surrender.
This ended a brutal conflict in China – one of the main battlegrounds in Asia during the war – which claimed millions of lives.
After Japan’s defeat, fighting continued between communist and nationalist forces until 1949, when the People’s Republic of China was established under Mao Zedong – the state Xi Jinping now leads.
Xi has made strengthening the People’s Liberation Army a central part of his rule, and uses events like today’s to project military power and nationalist pride.
But the parade is also a message to the west, showing off China’s geopolitical might.
You can read more from the Guardian’s senior China correspondent, Amy Hawkins:
Welcome summary
Hello, I’m Ima Caldwell and I’ll be taking you through our live coverage of China’s victory day parade in Beijing.
The military showcase will unfold in Tiananmen Square, starting at 9am local time (CST), commemorating 80 years since Japan’s surrender in the second world war.
On the ground there are road closures and tight security measures. We’re expecting a speech by China’s leader Xi Jinping and a 70-minute parade of tens of thousands of troops, more than 100 aircraft and a vast array of military hardware. There will be land, sea, and air-based strategic weapons, advanced precision warfare equipment and drones on display, while warplanes and helicopters will fly in formation in the skies overhead.
It’s the first major military parade in the country since 2019 and the 70th anniversary of the founding of communist China. Analysts will be closely watching the parade for signs of enhancements to China’s military hardware.
But eyes will also be on the 26 heads of state attending the event. As well as Vladimir Putin from Russia, Kim Jong-un from North Korea and Masoud Pezeshkian from Iran, leaders from Myanmar, Mongolia, Indonesia, Zimbabwe and central Asian countries will witness China’s unveiling of a range of combat-ready weaponry. The only western leaders on the guest list published by China’s ministry of foreign affairs are from Serbia and Slovakia.
You read about the build up to the event here:
Stay with us as it all unfolds…
