The military parade in Beijing was meant to commemorate an old victory, but it became something far more consequential: a carefully staged display of political power, designed to re-order perceptions of who leads the world’s shifting alliances. Chinese President Xi Jinping’s decision to place Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at his side was not an accident of protocol.

It was deliberate theatre. In one gesture, Mr Xi transformed what could have been a routine anniversary into a tableau of defiance against a US-dominated order. The seating arrangement and the optics spoke louder than the rumbling tanks or the missiles rolling through Tiananmen Square. The historical echoes were unmistakable. Decades ago, Mao Zedong stood on the same balcony flanked by Soviet and North Korean leaders, presenting an image of communist solidarity. Back then, China was weaker, dependent on........

© The Statesman