Defying West, China's Xi gathers 'Axis of Upheaval' at military parade

By Joe Cash and Ryan Woo

BEIJING (Reuters) -Chinese President Xi Jinping will be flanked by leaders of some of the world's most heavily sanctioned nations - Russia, North Korea, Iran and Myanmar - at a military parade next week in Beijing, in a show of solidarity against the West.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korea's Kim Jong-Un will attend "Victory Day" parade on September 3 marking the end of World War Two after Japan's formal surrender - the first time they have appeared in public alongside Xi.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian is also expected to be on the dais as tens of thousands of troops march through the Chinese capital, completing a quartet that Western political and economic analysts have described as the Axis of Upheaval.

Myanmar junta chief Min Aung Hlaing, who rarely travels abroad, will also attend, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Thursday.

Almost no Western leaders will be among the 26 foreign heads of state or government attending the parade, which political analysts say will demonstrate Xi's influence over nations intent on reshaping the Western-led global order.

"Xi Jinping is trying to showcase that he is very strong, that he is still powerful and well received in China," said Alfred Wu, Associate Professor, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore.

"When Xi was just a regional leader, he looked up to Putin, and saw the kind of leader he could learn from - and now he is a global leader. Having Kim alongside him, as well, highlights how Xi is now also a global leader."

A loose coalition of states bent on reshaping the Western-led global order, the "Axis of Upheaval" has sought to undermine U.S. interests, whether over Taiwan or by blocking shipping lanes, and sought to undermine Western sanctions by providing economic lifelines to each other, the analysts say.

The only Western heads of state or government attending the events in Beijing are Robert Fico, the prime minister of European Union member state Slovakia, and Aleksander Vucic, the president of Serbia.

Fico has been an opponent of sanctioning Russia for its war against Ukraine and has broken ranks with the EU by visiting Moscow. Vucic also visited Moscow in May and wants good relations with Russia and China but says Serbia remains committed to joining the EU.

STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP

Russia, which Beijing counts as a strategic partner, has been hit by multiple rounds of Western sanctions imposed after its invasion of Ukraine in 2022, with its economy on the brink of slipping into recession.

Putin, wanted by the International Criminal Court over accusations of the war crime of illegally deporting hundreds of children from Ukraine, last travelled in China in 2024. He is largely ostracised by the West and avoided making major concessions over Ukraine as U.S. President Donald Trump struggles to end the war there.

North Korea, a formal treaty ally of China's, has been under United Nations Security Council sanctions since 2006 over its development of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles. Kim last visited China in January 2019.

China, the world's second-largest economy, buys some 90% of Iran's sanctioned oil exports, and continues to source rare earth metals critical to the manufacture of wind turbines, medical devices and electric vehicles from Myanmar.

Other leaders attending what will be one of China's largest parades in years include Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto and South Korea's National Assembly Speaker, Woo Won-shik, Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Hong Lei told a press conference.

The United Nations will be represented by Under-Secretary-General Li Junhua, who previously served in various capacities at the Chinese foreign ministry, including time as the Chinese ambassador to Italy, San Marino and Myanmar.

Former Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama will attend the parade, Hong said. He did not mention any guests from Italy or Germany, the two other Axis Powers during World War Two.

(Reporting by Joe Cash and Ryan Woo; Editing by Jacqueline Wong, Kim Coghill, Lincoln Feast and Timothy Heritage.)