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On Sept. 3, Chinese President Xi Jinping hosted a massive display of martial prowess in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square.

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On hand to witness Xi’s military spectacle on parade were Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korea’s Dear Leader Kim Jong Un. All three of these authoritarian rulers are masters at the showmanship of using massed ranks of troops marching in total precision to project a sense of power.

Billed as the largest military parade in modern history, Xi’s blockbuster martial demonstration was ostensibly a celebration of the 80th anniversary of the defeat of fascism in the Second World War.

However, with Putin, Kim and Indian President Narendra Modi at the dais, this was also a show of strength and unity aimed at U.S. President Donald Trump. It was also an opportunity for China to showcase its modern inventory of combat weapon systems, armoured vehicles and aircraft. Throughout its history, the People’s Liberation Army of China has traditionally been armed with cast-off weaponry from donor nations or homemade knock-offs, reverse engineered in China from existing platforms.

That is no longer the case, and China’s growing defence export business would have benefitted from last week’s spectacular parade, which included........

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