North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russia's Vladimir Putin arrived Wednesday morning ahead of a massive parade in Beijing to cap a week of diplomatic grandstanding by President Xi Jinping and his allies against the West.

In unprecedented scenes, Xi shook both their hands and chatted with the pair as they walked down a red carpet towards Tiananmen Square, with Putin to Xi's right and Kim to his left.

China will showcase its military prowess with troops marching in formation, flypasts and displays of high-tech fighting gear at the showpiece extravaganza to mark 80 years since the end of World War II.

Millions of Chinese people were killed during a prolonged war with imperial Japan in the 1930s and 40s, which became part of a global conflict following Tokyo's attack on Pearl Harbor in 194

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