Leaders of China, Russia, North Korea gather for massive military parade in Beijing

All eyes will be on how the trio of Xi, Putin and Kim interact with each other in a choreographed photo opportunity seen as a coup for China on the world stage

BEIJING — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russia’s Vladimir Putin are expected to flank President Xi Jinping at a massive parade in Beijing on Wednesday morning, in a historic moment capping a week of diplomatic grandstanding against the West.

China will showcase its military prowess with troops marching in formation, flypasts and displays of high-tech fighting gear at the showpiece extravaganza centred on Beijing’s Tiananmen Square to mark 80 years since the end of the Second World War.

Millions of Chinese people were killed during a prolonged war with imperial Japan in the 1930s and 40s, which became part of a global confli