Xi Jinping asks the world to choose ‘war or peace.’ Which direction is China headed?

CNN:  

The optics could not have been more stark as Chinese leader Xi Jinping arrived at a massive military parade in Beijing flanked by Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un – with some two dozen other leaders including from Iran, Pakistan, Belarus and Myanmar trailing behind.

Jumbotrons at Tiananmen Square beamed the image to the 50,000 people gathered under the beating Beijing sun to witness the spectacle, many waving small Chinese flags, while state media transmitted it to televisions across China and the world.

Many watching in capitals across the West, including Donald Trump, thought the messaging was clear: China is deliberately provoking the US and its partners.

“Please give my warmest regards to Vladimir Putin, and Kim Jong Un, as you conspire against The United States of America,” the US president wrote to Xi on social media as legions of troops goose-stepped their way through central Beijing.

For anyone who heard the echoing shouts of the thousands of well-drilled troops and saw the hulking nuclear-capable missiles, underwater drones and warplanes gliding down Beijing’s Avenue of Eternal Peace, there’s no question that Xi was orchestrating his most forceful showing yet of China as an alternative global leader – with both military might and geopolitical heft.

Planes perform a flyover during a military parade in Tiananmen Square on September 3. Kevin Frayer/Getty Images

China has long touted its “peaceful” rise and decried the “warmongering” US. But the parade, commemorating the end of World War II, was undoubtedly intended to telegraph the rapid advancement of the world’s largest military, and signal Xi’s growing ability to project hard power on the world stage.

A live mic that picked up Xi and Putin discussing how people may soon live to 150 through medical advances hinted at the durability both see for their own positions driving a global transition of power, as perhaps did Kim’s decision to bring his daughter and potential successor with him on his green train to Beijing.

Behind the carefully choreographed pomp was a key message – that Xi aims for a world where the US and the West don’t get to set the rules – and a question: what does that mean for the US and the world?