Xi and Putin meeting Kim is a bid for an ‘alternative world order’

Chinese leader Xi Jinping and his Russian and North Korean counterparts are exploiting an opportunity to “delegitimise the West”, experts have told The i Paper as they were given centre stage at a “carefully managed” parade to showcase Beijing’s military might.

The three leaders’ attendance at Wednesday’s parade marks their first ever public meeting together, to celebrate 80 years since the end of the Second World War and China’s conflict with Japan.

The occasion also marks North Korea’s Kim Jong-un ‘s first multilateral visit. It is his first foreign trip since 2023 – when he travelled to Russia – and his third meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin . The pair most recently met in Pyongyang in 2024, where they signed a mutual defence treaty. New Feature

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