Asia Pacific

On the 80th anniversary of the end of the second world war, President Xi Jinping told the world, China does not fear violence, and showed them its weapons: Sophisticated military hardware, ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons filled Tiananmen Square, along with thousands of soldiers.

The Russian President Vladimir Putin and the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un also took centre stage.

So, was Xi showing there is an alternative to a US-led world order?

If so, how was this message received? And what does it mean for global politics?

Presenter: James Bays

Guests: 

• Richard Weitz – Senior non-resident associate fellow the NATO Defense College
• Andy Mok – Senior research fellow at the Center for China and Globalization in Beijing
• Fraser Howie – Writer and commentator and co-author of Red Capitalism and Privatizing China

China showcased a new generation of weapons at a military parade in Bejing, including ‘robot wolves’, unmanned submarines and aircraft, and intercontinental ballistic missiles. Al Jazeera’s Alex Gatopoulos looks at how these all fit into Beijing’s push to build a world-class military.

Baltic and Nordic leaders in Denmark’s Copenhagen are meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who is on a diplomatic drive trying to cement security guarantees for Kyiv in the event of a peace deal to end Russia’s war in Ukraine.

“The heads of state and government will discuss how the Nordic-Baltic countries can ensure further support for Ukraine on the frontline and in the negotiating room,” Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen’s office said in a statement on Wednesday.

The gathering brings together the leaders of the Nordic-Baltic Eight (NB8) – Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Sweden – with Zelenskyy to discuss Ukraine’s future.

Finnish President Alexander Stubb said on Tuesday that progress was being made on security guarantees for Ukraine, but he stressed that such measures would only be implemented after a peace agreement is reached.

“We need to coordinate the security arrangements with the United States, which essentially will provide the backstop for this … We’re focusing on these issues with our chiefs of defence, which are drawing the concrete plans of what this type of operation might look like,” Stubb told reporters.

“We’re making progress on this and hopefully we’ll get a solution soon,” he said, while cautioning that he was not optimistic about a ceasefire or peace agreement with Russia in the near term.

The ‘coalition of the willing’

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said he expected clarity at a summit of Ukraine’s allies on Thursday “or soon after” on what security guarantees Europe can offer Kyiv once the war halts.

“I expect tomorrow, or soon after tomorrow, to have clarity on what collectively we can deliver,” Rutte said at a news conference with Estonian President Alar Karis in Brussels. “That means that we can engage even more intensely, also with the American side, to see what they want to deliver in terms of their participation in security guarantees.”

United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron will co-host Thursday’s mostly virtual meeting of leaders of the so-called “coalition of the willing” – a collection of Western states working on long-term guarantees for Ukraine, and NATO. Zelenskyy moves on to meet Macron tonight in Paris ahead of that summit.

Western officials have said such guarantees are aimed at deterring Russia from launching another war after hostilities end, whether through a ceasefire or a permanent peace deal.

They are expected to centre on continued military support for Kyiv, along with an international force to reassure Ukraine. However, European leaders have made clear that such a force would only be feasible with US participation.

United States President Donald Trump last month promised American involvement, but Washington has yet to spell out what it would contribute. Rutte sought to reassure eastern NATO members that resources for Ukraine’s security guarantees would not come at the expense of the alliance’s own defences.

“We have to prevent spreading our resources too thinly, and this means that we always have to look at what the impact will be on the NATO plans,” he said.

Moscow, meanwhile, rejects the idea of European peacekeeping troops on the ground in Ukraine, and insists that any future settlement must reflect what it calls “new territorial realities”.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told Indonesia’s Kompas newspaper that regions annexed by Russia – Crimea, Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia and Kherson – must be “recognized and formalized in an international legal manner” for peace to last.

Trump has suggested any eventual deal would involve Ukraine ceding some territory, but many analysts believe one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s core demands will be Ukrainian recognition of Moscow’s control over the parts of Donbas still under Kyiv’s authority.

Zelenskyy has repeatedly rejected such concessions, warning that losing any territory would embolden Russia to launch new attacks in the future. The Ukrainian constitution also forbids it.

Russia takes more territory in Kherson

As diplomacy continues behind the scenes, Russia’s assault continues to intensify across eastern Ukraine. Its forces claim to have encircled and now captured “about half” of Kupiansk, a strategic city in the northeastern Kharkiv region. Moscow’s Ministry of Defence also claimed its forces had seized the settlement of Fedorivka in Donetsk.

In the skies, Russia launched a sweeping overnight air campaign, striking targets across nine regions. Ukrainian officials said at least four railway workers were injured, while Poland scrambled defence aircraft as explosions echoed near its border.

Ukraine’s emergency services reported that five people were injured and 28 homes damaged in an attack on the Znamianka community in the Kirovohrad region. In Khmelnytskyi, transport services faced “significant schedule disruptions” after strikes damaged residential buildings and triggered fires.

Local authorities said two people were killed in Russian shelling of Polohivskyi district in Zaporizhia, while separate attacks caused deaths in Kherson, Kyiv region and Donetsk. The independent news outlet Kyiv Independent reported at least five civilians killed across the country in the latest wave of strikes.

Russia said it had shot down 158 Ukrainian drones in the past 24 hours, while claiming that Ukrainian attacks across its border killed 12 people and wounded nearly 100 in the past week. In the Belgorod region, Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said a Ukrainian drone strike injured three people in the village of Proletarsky.

The diplomatic manoeuvring comes as Putin seeks to deepen ties with North Korea and China. His meeting on Wednesday with Kim Jong Un in Beijing, alongside Chinese President Xi Jinping at a grand military parade, underscored the growing partnership between Moscow and Pyongyang.

Trump responded by accusing the three leaders of conspiring against the United States – a claim dismissed by the Kremlin.

More than 20 leaders from non-Western nations gathered in Tianjin, China over the weekend for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, which concluded on Monday, and at which President Xi Jinping set out his vision for a global economic order with the Global South at its centre.

Against the backdrop of new global tariffs imposed by United States President Donald Trump, Xi told delegates: “We must continue to take a clear stand against hegemonism and power politics, and practise true multilateralism.”

The summit brought together some of the strongest emerging economies, including India and Russia, which, along with China, account for more than one-fifth of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP).

Trilateral trade between China, India and Russia accounted for $452bn in 2023, up from $351bn in 2022, according to the Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC).

Seen as an alternative power structure to most US-led international institutions, the 10-member SCO includes much of Central Asia, Russia, China, India, Iran, Pakistan and Belarus, and represents about 43 percent of the world’s population and 23 percent of global GDP.

Beijing’s push for multilateralism is coming at a time of rising grievances with Washington, whose trade tariff policies have provided SCO members with common ground to work on.

Which countries buy the most from China?

China has a diverse range of trading partners.

Its largest buyer is the US, which imported $442bn or 12.9 percent of China’s total exports in 2023 – mainly consisting of electronics, machinery, consumer goods and telecommunications equipment.

Regionally, Asia is the main destination for China’s exports, accounting for $1.6 trillion of goods, with India alone receiving $120bn, or 3.1 percent of China’s total exports.

In Europe, China exported $819bn worth of goods, with the main destinations being Germany ($151bn), Russia ($110bn) and the UK ($95.3bn).

Which countries buy the most from India?

The US is also the largest buyer of Indian goods.

In 2023, the US bought goods worth $81.4bn, or 17.9 percent of India’s total exports, mostly medications and pharmaceutical products, followed by precious stones, machinery and textiles.

Regionally, Asia is also the main destination for India’s exports, accounting for $178bn of goods, with the UAE being India’s second largest destination for exports, at $31.4bn, or 6.9 percent of India’s total exports, mainly jewellery and refined petroleum.

The Netherlands is India’s third-biggest export market at $22.5bn, with refined petroleum being the largest export item, worth $15bn. China is India’s fourth-largest export market and second-largest in the Asia region.

On August 6, US President Donald Trump announced a 50 percent tariff on Indian imports, citing India’s continued purchase of discounted Russian crude oil as the primary reason.

In response, India expressed strong disapproval, calling the tariffs “unfair, unjustified, and unreasonable”, and reaffirmed its sovereign right to determine its energy policies independently. Despite the US pressure, India continued to import Russian oil, attracted by substantial discounts offered by Moscow.

Which countries buy the most from Russia?

Before the Ukraine war, Russia’s trading partners were much more diversified.

While China was its largest trading partner, accounting for 14.6 percent ($72.1bn) of Russian exports in 2021, according to the Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC), Russia also had a broad range of European partners. The Netherlands was Russia’s second-largest partner, with 8 percent ($39.5bn) of total exports, followed by the US at 5.5 percent ($27.3bn).

After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, heavy sanctions sharply reduced trade with many Western nations.

By 2023, China accounted for about one-third ($129bn) of Russia’s exports, followed by India at 16.8 percent ($66.1bn) and Turkiye at 7.9 percent ($31bn), according to the OEC, making the Asia region the bulk recipient of Russian goods, with more than three-quarters of Russia’s exports heading there.

What do China and Russia trade most?

In 2023, China exported $110bn worth of goods to Russia, led by machinery and transport equipment. According to the OEC, the top export items from China to Russia were cars.

That same year, Russia sold $129bn worth of goods to China – mostly mineral products, including oil and natural gas.

In recent years, Russia has run a trade surplus with China, mostly due to energy products, which make up nearly three-quarters of its exports.

What do India and Russia trade most?

India runs a major trade deficit with Russia, importing far more than it exports.

In 2023, Russia sold $66.1bn worth of goods to India, with energy products – primarily crude oil and natural gas – making up about 88 percent of these imports, much of which India buys at a discounted rate.

India’s exports to Russia are more diversified, totalling $4.1bn in 2023, with significant contributions from chemical products, machinery and metals.

What do China and India trade most?

India runs a major trade deficit with China, importing about seven times more goods by dollar value than it exports.

In 2023, China exported $125bn worth of goods to India, mainly machinery and chemical products, while India exported $18.1bn worth of goods to China, with oil and fuel-related products comprising the largest share of its exports.

Indonesian President Prabowo’s free meals programme hit by more mass illness as protests against government rock country.

An investigation has been launched after some 400 children became ill after eating free school meals in Indonesia’s western Bengkulu province, in the worst case of mass food poisoning linked to President Prabowo Subianto’s flagship food programme to help pregnant women and children.

The reports of mass illness on Wednesday came as President Prabowo arrived in Beijing, China, for events commemorating the end of World War II, and days after widespread antigovernment protests rocked cities and towns across Indonesia.

Authorities will launch an investigation into the cause of the illness, Bengkulu Province ‘s Vice Governor Mian said.

“We will temporarily suspend operations at this kitchen while we investigate where the weaknesses lie,” said Mian, who goes by a single name.

“This is the domain of the BGN [National Nutrition Agency] investigation team and the authorities,” he said.

Dadan Hindayana, chief of the National Nutrition Agency, which runs the programme, told the Reuters news agency the kitchen in question had only recently started operating, asking staff to evaluate services while waiting for results of tests on the food.

Since its launch, Prabowo’s free school meals programme has been rapidly expanded to reach more than 20 million recipients, and authorities plan to reach 83 million recipients by year-end, budgeting a total cost of 171 trillion rupiah ($10.52bn) for the programme this year.

The president launched the programme in January, but the initiative had already been marred by food poisoning that affected hundreds of people.

Last month, 365 people fell ill from free school meals in Central Java. According to local media reports, laboratory results indicated that the outbreak was a result of poor sanitation.

In the latest mass illness in Bengkulu, children aged from about 4 to 12 were rushed to a local hospital complaining of stomach pain beginning last Thursday, according to a video handout from the local government.

On Wednesday, Prabowo was seen attending a military parade hosted by Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, to mark 80 years since Japan’s defeat at the end of World War II, according to China’s CCTV.

Despite the ongoing street protests at home over his government’s handling of the economy, Prabowo decided he would travel to China, after briefly reconsidering his trip amid the mass unrest.

The Jakarta Post reported on Wednesday that some 10 people are now thought to have died in protests over the weekend, with 20 people missing and 500 injured, according to reports from civic organisations and officials.

In Geneva on Monday, the United Nations called for investigations into the alleged use of disproportionate force by Indonesia’s security forces against demonstrators.

“We are following closely the spate of violence in Indonesia in the context of nationwide protests over parliamentary allowances, austerity measures, and alleged use of unnecessary or disproportionate force by security forces,” UN human rights office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said.

“We stress the importance of dialogue to address the public’s concerns,” she said in a statement.

China’s full military might was on display in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square where thousands of troops marched in parade.

China flexed its military muscle at a huge military parade in Beijing to mark 80 years since the end of World War II, displaying its latest generation of stealth fighters, tanks and ballistic missiles amid a highly choreographed cast of thousands.

The parade through Tiananmen Square on Wednesday morning was overseen by Chinese President Xi Jinping, who is also the head of China’s military and the Chinese Communist Party.

After greeting foreign leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Xi moved on to welcome Chinese military veterans before taking his place at the centre of the event.

Xi watched on from the Gate of Heavenly Peace before making a speech to the 10,000 assembled members of the People’s Liberation Army, Navy and Air Force, stating that China would continue to “adhere to a path of peaceful development”.

“Humanity is again faced with a choice of peace or war, dialogue or confrontation, and win-win outcomes or zero-sum games,” Xi said, according to an official readout of his speech.

“The Chinese people will stand firmly on the right side of history and on the side of human progress, adhere to the path of peaceful development, and join hands with the rest of the world to build a community with a shared future for humanity,” he said.

Dressed in a grey Mao suit, Xi then toured Tiananmen Square, standing in a vehicle, before the parade finally commenced down Beijing’s Chang’an Avenue, a major thoroughfare in the Chinese capital.

China’s most advanced weaponry took front and centre in the parade, including clearly labelled DF-5 intercontinental missiles – capable of delivering a nuclear warhead – alongside tight formations of military personnel.

“For Xi, the point is to reinforce the impression that the [People’s Republic of China, PRC] has arrived as a great power under his leadership,” said Ian Chong, a political scientist at the National University of Singapore.

“Another is the array of leaders at the parade, which suggests that the PRC cannot be isolated and is unafraid of pressure and bullying, particularly from the United States,” he said.

Above the parade, the air force staged a flyover, including helicopters with banners declaring, “Justice will prevail”, “Peace will prevail”, and “The people will win”.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his daughter, Kim Ju Ae, have arrived by train in Beijing to attend China’s largest-ever military parade marking Japan’s surrender in World War II. It will be Kim’s first major multilateral event during his 14-year rule.

The Islamic University of Bandung’s student body says security officials ‘brutally attacked’ the campus with tear gas.

Indonesian police have used tear gas on crowds of protesters near two universities, student groups and authorities said, amid ongoing nationwide protests targeting government spending, and burgeoning fury following a motorcycle taxi driver’s death after being hit by a police car.

On Tuesday, authorities deployed tear gas around the campuses of the Islamic University of Bandung (UNISBA) and nearby Pasundan University, more than 140km (86 miles) west of the capital, Jakarta.

Muhammad Ilham, a Pasundan student, told the Reuters news agency that authorities fired tear gas canisters from outside the campus gates as well as rubber bullets.

“There was a student who got hit by the rubber bullet, two shots,” he said.

At least eight people have died in the protests since last week, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto said on Monday.

According to police official Hendra Rochmawan, authorities on Tuesday did not enter the campuses but tried to break up crowds of non-student protesters who had been seeking protection within the university grounds.

UNISBA rector Harits Nu’man echoed the police statement and confirmed that the campus had been used as a medical hub for protesters.

Nevertheless, the UNISBA student body accused security forces of seeking to silence dissent, saying they “brutally attacked” the campus as tear gas caused breathing problems for some students.

Mass unrest

Al Jazeera’s Jessica Washington, reporting from a crowd of motorbike taxi drivers in central Jakarta, said they were gathering to honour the 21-year-old driver who was killed after being hit by an armoured police vehicle during the protests.

“There are thousands of them. They say to demonstrate the power of peaceful assembly so they can honour their colleague, that they can call for their various demands, including economic inequality and do it peacefully,” Washington said.

She added that many civil society groups in Indonesia were currently “raising the alarm” over a civil society leader who was arrested late last night in Jakarta.

More protests are expected on Tuesday outside parliament in Jakarta, organised by a coalition of women’s groups.

Since the protests began last week, at least 20 protesters have gone missing as anger increased due to mass overspending by lawmakers and police violence, according to the Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence (KontraS).

The group said 20 people were reported missing in the cities of Bandung and Depok on Java Island, and the administrative cities of Central Jakarta, East Jakarta and North Jakarta.

University students have long been regarded as vanguards of Indonesia’s democracy, having taken a leading role in protests that helped topple President Soeharto in 1998.

Current President Prabowo Subianto, a military leader under Soeharto, is facing the first major test of his leadership. He met labour unions, some of which joined last week’s protest pushing for a rise in the minimum wage, and said he told lawmakers to discuss labour laws, according to a statement from his office.

Indonesians have added pink and green hues to their social media profile pictures in response to the protests, with some using the hashtag #ResetIndonesia and outlining their demands for the government.

Chinese President Xi Jinping outlines plans for new development bank and financing options for SCO members.

China and Russia presented their vision of a new international order at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, where Beijing offered new financial incentives to countries aligned with the Beijing-led economic and security group.

“Global governance has reached a new crossroads,” Chinese President Xi Jinping told the summit on Monday, in remarks that were widely seen as a critique of the United States.

“We must continue to take a clear stand against hegemonism and power politics, and practise true multilateralism,” Xi said.

Xi’s remarks were echoed by those of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who said the SCO would revive “genuine multilateralism” as it laid “the political and socioeconomic groundwork for the formation of a new system of stability and security in Eurasia”.

Xi and Putin spoke to more than 20 leaders, primarily from the Middle East and Asia, who had gathered on Sunday and Monday for the summit in the northern Chinese city of Tianjin.

Seen as an alternative power structure to most US-led international institutions, the 10-member SCO includes much of Central Asia, Russia, China, India, Iran, Pakistan, and Belarus, with more than a dozen permanent dialogue partner countries, including Saudi Arabia, Cambodia, Qatar, and Turkiye.

Though the work of the SCO has been largely symbolic since its founding in 2001, Xi outlined grander ambitions for the bloc at the summit.

Xi called for the creation of a new SCO development bank, and announced 2 billion RMB ($280m) in grants plus another 10 billion RMB ($1.4bn) in loans for SCO members.

The pivot into international finance marks a major turning point for the institution, said Eric Olander, the editor-in-chief of The China-Global South Project.

“Since the SCO’s founding 24 years ago, it has been a largely ineffective body with very few notable accomplishments. I think that’s going to change as the membership expands and Xi backs the SCO with development finance money, which is something we haven’t seen before,” he told Al Jazeera.

Xi also outlined a new “Global Governance Initiative” (GGI).

While light on details beyond espousing values such as “multilateralism” and “sovereign equality”, Olander said Xi’s speech offers insight into Beijing’s global ambitions.

“With the GGI, Xi is basically saying the quiet part out loud, that China is seeking to create a parallel global governance system outside the US and European-led order, something that would have been inconceivable a decade ago,” Olander said.

He attributed the shift to changing perceptions of the US in world affairs and demand from the Global South for a greater say in international affairs.

China’s push for multilateralism also comes at a time of growing distrust with the US under the leadership of President Donald Trump, whose trade war has provided SCO members and sometimes-rivals – such as China and India – with common grievances.

Ties between New Delhi and China plummeted in 2020 following skirmishes along their joint border in the Himalayas.

While relations began to normalise last year following a border agreement, Trump’s trade war has helped to speed up thawing diplomatic ties between the countries, according to analysts.

Xi and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi pledged to resolve their differences at the summit, which came just days after Trump imposed a punitive 50 percent tariff on Indian goods and blasted the country for its purchase of Russian energy exports.

Xi, Modi, and Putin were also photographed talking and walking together, in another sign of diplomatic unity.

Most of the world leaders attending the SCO are expected to remain in China this week to attend a huge military parade in Beijing on Wednesday, commemorating the end of World War II in Asia.

They will be joined by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who is expected to have a prominent position at the parade alongside Xi and Putin.

The Australian bowling superstar made the shock announcement ahead of the upcoming Ashes series and T20 World Cup.

Australia’s white-ball pace spearhead Mitchell Starc has retired from Twenty20 internationals to focus on extending his career in test and one-day cricket.

The 35-year-old left-armer retires with 79 wickets from 65 T20Is, second on the all-time list for Australia, behind spinner Adam Zampa.

“Test cricket is and has always been my highest priority,” he said in a Cricket Australia statement on Tuesday.

“I have loved every minute of every T20 game I have played for Australia, particularly the 2021 World Cup, not just because we won but the incredible group and the fun along the way.

“Looking ahead to an away Indian test tour, the Ashes and an ODI World Cup in 2027, I feel this is my best way forward to remain fresh, fit and at my best for those campaigns.

“It also gives the bowling group time to prepare for the T20 World Cup in the matches leading into that tournament.”

Starc was not included in Australia’s T20I squad, released on Tuesday, for the upcoming series against New Zealand.

Chair of national selectors George Bailey and Cricket Australia boss Todd Greenberg paid tribute to Starc.

“Mitch should be incredibly proud of his T20 career for Australia,” said Bailey.

“He was an integral member of the 2021 World Cup-winning side and, as across all his cricket, had a great skill for blowing games open with his wicket-taking ability.

“We will acknowledge and celebrate his T20 career at the right time, but pleasingly, he remains focused on continuing to play test and ODI cricket for a long as possible.”

Greenberg praised Starc for making “significant sacrifices” to play for his country.

“To allow the next crop of fast bowlers a clear path to the T20 World Cup early next year is another example of putting team first,” he said.

Tens of thousands of people gather in Hanoi to celebrate declaration of independence from French colonial rule.

Vietnam has marked the 80th anniversary of its declaration of independence from France with a large military parade in the capital Hanoi.

Tens of thousands of people gathered in Hanoi on Tuesday in a strong display of nationalism in the Communist-run country.

Authorities showcased a wide variety of military equipment, including missiles, helicopters and fighter jets, during the celebrations at Ba Dinh Square, where revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh declared independence from colonial rule on September 2, 1945.

Officials said that nearly 16,000 soldiers joined the parade, which also included honour guards from China, Russia, Laos and Cambodia.

In a speech to mark the occasion, To Lam, the general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, paid tribute to those who died fighting for independence, and reiterated the governing party’s goal for Vietnam to become a “powerful, prosperous and happy nation” by 2045.

“In this sacred moment, we respectfully remember our ancestors,” Lam said.

“Our nation has overcome countless difficulties and challenges. Our country has transformed from a colony into an independent and unified nation, steadily advancing towards modernity.”

University student Vu Thi Trang said she had staked out her position to observe the celebrations two days in advance.

“Something inside just pushed me to be here,” the 19-year-old told the AFP news agency.

“I am grateful for the sacrifices of the previous generation, so that we have peace and freedom to grow up.”

As part of anniversary festivities, Vietnam last week announced it would hand out 100,000 dong ($3.80) to each of its 100 million citizens.

Vietnamese President Luong Cuong also announced that 13,920 prisoners, including 66 foreigners, would be released before the end of their jail terms.

France did not recognise Ho Chi Minh’s declaration of independence, but a disastrous military defeat at Dien Bien Phu in 1954 led to the European power’s full-scale retreat from the country, as well as from neighbouring Laos and Cambodia.

Following the division of Vietnam with the 1954 Geneva Accords, the Communist North and US-backed South fought the two-decade-long Vietnam War.

The Vietnam War ended when Communist forces captured Saigon on April 30, 1975, and the country was unified.

The North Korean leader is set to attend a military parade alongside Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s train has crossed the border into China ahead of his planned attendance at a military parade marking Japan’s surrender in World War II, state media have reported.

Kim is among 26 world leaders scheduled to attend Wednesday’s parade commemorating the 80th anniversary of the end of the second world war.

The event in Beijing is set to be the first time that Kim, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin have gathered at the same venue.

Kim’s train crossed the North Korea-China border in the early hours of Tuesday morning, the state-controlled Rodong Sinmun newspaper reported.

“Key senior officials from the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea and the government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea are accompanying Comrade Kim Jong Un on his visit to the People’s Republic of China,” the Rodong Sinmun said, using North Korea’s official name.

Kim’s visit to China comes on the heels of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in China’s Tianjin, at which Xi and Putin took turns criticising Western dominance of the international order.

One of the world’s most isolated states, North Korea has long relied on China and Russia for economic and diplomatic support.

Pyongyang has grown especially close with Moscow in recent years, sending thousands of troops to support Putin’s war in Ukraine.

Kim, who rarely travels abroad, has met Xi five times since coming to power in 2011, most recently in 2019, when the North Korean leader attended an event commemorating the 70th anniversary of China-North Korea relations.

Kim has met Putin three times, most recently in June 2024, when the two leaders signed a mutual defence treaty in Pyongyang.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has unveiled his ambition for a new global security and economic order to challenge the United States and Europe. Xi was joined by Vladimir Putin and Narendra Modi at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in China.

The Russian president defends the military campaign in Ukraine, blaming NATO and Western policies for the conflict.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has blamed the West for igniting the war in Ukraine, insisting Moscow’s assault was provoked by years of Western provocations.

Speaking at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in the Chinese city of Tianjin on Monday, Putin accused NATO of destabilising the region and dismissed claims that Russia triggered the war.

“This crisis was not triggered by Russia’s attack on Ukraine, but was a result of a coup in Ukraine, which was supported and provoked by the West,” Putin told the gathering of regional leaders. He was referring to the 2013-14 pro-European uprising that toppled Ukraine’s then-President Viktor Yanukovych.

Russia responded to the revolution by annexing Crimea and backing separatists in eastern Ukraine, leading to a conflict that has left tens of thousands dead and devastated large parts of the country.

Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 escalated the fighting, prompting sweeping sanctions from the United States and the European Union and deepening Russia’s isolation from the West, though not from the rest of the international community.

Putin said Western efforts to draw Ukraine into NATO were a key driver of the war, reiterating that Russia’s security concerns must be addressed before any peace deal can be reached.

“For the Ukrainian settlement to be sustainable and long-term, the root causes of the crisis must be addressed,” he said.

The Russian president highlighted talks he held with US President Donald Trump in August, describing the discussions as “opening a way to peace”. He praised diplomatic efforts from Beijing and New Delhi, saying their proposals could “facilitate the resolution of the Ukrainian crisis”.

Putin met Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday to discuss Ukraine and said he would expand on those talks in bilateral meetings with leaders on the sidelines of the summit. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan are also attending.

Moscow and Beijing have promoted the SCO as a counterweight to Western-led alliances, with Putin arguing the world needs a “system that would replace outdated Eurocentric and Euro-Atlantic models”.

Despite repeated calls from Trump for Moscow and Kyiv to negotiate, peace efforts have faltered. Russia has rejected ceasefire proposals and demanded that Ukraine cede more territory, conditions Kyiv has dismissed as unacceptable.

“For the Ukrainian settlement to be sustainable and long-term, the root causes of the crisis must be addressed,” said Putin.

Part of the source of the conflict “lies in the ongoing attempts by the West to bring Ukraine into NATO”, he said.

Putin also held talks with Modi and Erdogan, and is expected to meet Pezeshkian later on Monday as he seeks to bolster diplomatic backing amid the drawn-out conflict.

Chinese leader pledges $280m in aid to members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation at summit in Tianjin.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has urged regional leaders to oppose “Cold War mentality” at a gathering of a security bloc that Beijing has touted as an alternative to the Western-led international order.

In a speech to attendees of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit on Monday, Xi said that member states are facing increasingly complicated security and development challenges as the world becomes “chaotic and intertwined”.

“Looking back, despite tumultuous times, we have achieved success by practising the Shanghai spirit,” Xi said.

“Looking to the future, with the world undergoing turbulence and transformation, we must continue to follow the Shanghai spirit, keep our feet on the ground, forge ahead, and better perform the functions of the organisation.”

Calling for an “equal and orderly multipolarisation” of the world, Xi said the bloc should work towards the creation of a “more just and equitable global governance system”.

The Chinese leader said Beijing would provide 2 billion yuan ($280m) in aid to member states this year and a further 10 billion yuan ($1.4bn) of loans to an SCO banking consortium.

“We must take advantage of the mega-scale market… to improve the level of trade and investment facilitation,” Xi said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko are among the more than 20 world readers attending the two-day SCO summit, which opened on Sunday in China’s northern city of Tianjin.

Established in 2001, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation began as a grouping of six Eurasian nations – China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan – but has since expanded to comprise 10 permanent members and 16 dialogue and observer countries.

Analysts say that China intends to use the gathering to promote an alternative to the United States-led global order and repair ties with India amid a shifting geopolitical environment under US President Donald Trump.

Kim Jong Un’s visit comes ahead of planned trip to China to attend military parade with Xi Jinping.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has inspected a new missile production line and missile-manufacturing automation process, according to state media.

His visit on Sunday to the missile production line came ahead of a planned trip to Beijing to attend a military parade along with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

North Korea is under heavy international sanctions imposed over its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes, which were developed in violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions.

Experts and international officials say the sanctions have lost much of their bite amid growing economic, military and political support from Russia and China.

Kim said that the modernised production process would help increase major missile units’ combat readiness, the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said on Monday.

North Korea has sent soldiers, artillery ammunition and missiles to Russia to support Moscow in its war against Ukraine.

North Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs also criticised US cooperation with Japan and South Korea, singling out a recent trilateral joint statement that warned of cybersecurity threats from Pyongyang.

The ministry “strongly denounces and rejects” the United States, Japan and South Korea for using cyberspace as a “theatre of geopolitical confrontation and hostile propaganda”, a spokesperson said in a statement carried by KCNA.

“The more the US persists in its anachronistic and malicious hostile acts against the DPRK through the intensified collaboration with its satellite countries, the more distrust and hostility will be piled up between the DPRK and the US,” the spokesperson added, using the initials of North Korea’s official name.

Police set up checkpoints across Jakarta in anticipation of further demonstrations.

Indonesian authorities have ramped up security after six people were killed in unrest over economic hardship that escalated into violent anger against the nation’s police force.

The deadly protests, which began last week over financial perks for lawmakers, have forced President Prabowo Subianto to make a U-turn over the measures.

Demonstrations had begun peacefully, but turned violent against the nation’s elite paramilitary police unit after footage showed one of its teams running over 21-year-old delivery driver Affan Kurniawan late on Thursday.

Protests have since spread from the capital, Jakarta, to other major cities, including Yogyakarta, Bandung, Semarang and Surabaya in Java, and Medan in North Sumatra province, in the worst unrest since Prabowo took power.

More gatherings of students and protesters were planned in several locations around Indonesia’s vast archipelago on Monday.

Police set up checkpoints across the capital, Jakarta, on Monday, and a police spokesman told broadcaster Kompas TV that officers were also patrolling the city to “protect” citizens and give a sense of security.

Police had deployed a convoy of armoured cars and motorbikes to parliament late on Sunday, in a show of force as they attempted to warn off protesters.

The crisis has forced Prabowo to cancel a planned trip to China this week for a military parade commemorating the end of World War II.

His close ally, Minister of Defence Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin, warned Sunday that military and police would take “firm action” against “rioters and looters”, after the Minister of Finance’s house was pillaged.

At least three people were killed after a fire on Friday started by protesters at a council building in the eastern city of Makassar.

Another victim died in Makassar on Friday after he was beaten by a mob on suspicion that he was an intelligence officer, local disaster agency official Muhammad Fadli Tahar told AFP on Sunday.

In Yogyakarta, the Amikom Yogyakarta University confirmed the death of its student, Rheza Sendy Pratama, in protests, but the circumstances around his death remain unclear.

In anticipation of further unrest, TikTok on Saturday temporarily suspended its live feature for “a few days” in Indonesia, where it has more than 100 million users.

Police say a 39-year-old man has been taken into custody over the incident in Sydney’s Woollahra suburb.

Australian police have arrested a 34-year-old man after he drove his car into the front gate of the Russian consulate in Sydney, according to police and local media.

In a statement, the New South Wales Police Force said the crash took place on Monday morning after officers responded to reports of an “unauthorised vehicle” parked in the driveway of the consulate in the Sydney suburb of Woollahra.

Officers tried to speak with the driver, but he “drove his vehicle into the gates of the property”, the statement said.

A 24-year-old constable was injured on his hand during the incident, it added.

Television footage from Sky News and Nine showed a car with a smashed window abandoned next to a Russian flagpole.

There was no immediate comment from the Russian consulate.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi are among the more than 20 world leaders attending the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit, which is now the world’s largest regional grouping by population.

The Beijing-backed bloc will convene on Sunday and Monday in the northern Chinese city of Tianjin, bringing together a diverse range of power brokers from across Asia, Europe and the Middle East.

Founded by China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan in 2001, the summit has shifted focus over the past two decades from Central Asian concerns to global matters.

More significantly, the SCO has become an essential part of China’s “parallel international governance architecture”, said Eric Olander, editor-in-chief of the China-Global South Project.

As Beijing assumes the mantle of the world’s second-largest superpower, the SCO has created spaces for dialogue and cooperation outside “the US-led international system”, Olander told Al Jazeera.

While the summit in Tianjin is largely symbolic, it is a valuable chance to bring together global leaders and bureaucrats in a forum where they can share “common grievances”, Olander said.

With the gathering set to be overshadowed by United States President Donald Trump’s trade war against much of the world – including many traditional allies of Washington – attendees are likely to have even more common ground.

Guests range from Putin, who is wanted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court, to Belarus’s authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko and the likes of United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

Many of the attendees also have longrunning rivalries and border disputes, such as India with Pakistan, India with China, Saudi Arabia with Iran, and Central Asia with both China and Russia.

“There are complex dynamics at play here,” Olander said.

“Underneath the happy family photo is a lot of looking over shoulders,” he said.

‘Swing states’

The SCO has expanded its membership in recent years to include such political heavyweights as India, Pakistan, Iran and Belarus as full members, with Afghanistan and Mongolia joining as observers.

Official “dialogue partners” have also grown to 14 countries, including the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Turkiye, Qatar, Cambodia, Myanmar and Sri Lanka.

The summit will also notably feature Southeast Asia, a region that Olander likened to the “swing states” in the great power competition between the US and China.

Five heads of state will attend from the region, including Malaysia’s Anwar Ibrahim and Indonesia’s Prabowo Subianto, as well as ASEAN Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn.

Observers will be closely watching the dynamics between Chinese President Xi Jinping and India’s Modi, who have not met in seven years, said Claus Soong, an analyst at Germany’s Mercator Institute for China Studies who specialises in China’s global strategy.

India has traditionally been an ally of Washington, but it was hit this week by Trump’s 50 percent tariffs as punishment for its ongoing purchase of Russian oil.

The White House says India’s trade is helping to keep Russia’s economy afloat despite international sanctions, and with it, Russia’s war on Ukraine.

But the shared threat of US tariffs has helped improve relations between New Delhi and Beijing, which had plummeted in 2020 over a deadly skirmish between border forces in the Himalayas.

The two sides reached a deal on their remote frontier in 2024, but their relationship has remained frosty.

Analysts say China sees Trump’s trade war as a chance to ease India away from US-led political and military blocs such as the QUAD, a strategic security forum that includes Japan and Australia in addition to India and the US.

“The key is to look at how China [characterises] its relationship with India after the visit and how the relationship improves between China and India,” Soong told Al Jazeera.

Even subtle changes in language by Beijing carry important diplomatic signals, he said.

The SCO summit will also mark the first meeting between Putin and Xi since the Russian leader met with President Trump in Alaska earlier this month to discuss the Ukraine war.

Analysts will be listening for similar changes in language for how the two leaders describe the China-Russia relationship.

In 2022, just weeks before Moscow invaded Ukraine, China and Russia signed a “no limits partnership”, and Xi has played a vital role in propping up Russia’s economy since then.

This is a point of contention for New Delhi, as China has done far more to support Russia economically since the war started, but has not faced similar sanctions from Trump.

With so many dynamics at play behind the scenes, Daniel Balazs, a research fellow at the China Programme at Singapore’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, said the most likely outcome of the SCO will be a joint statement from all attendees.

China and Russia are expected to push talking points such as their opposition to “unilateralism” – a coded reference to the US – but most of the language will be watered down to make it palatable to all.

“The symbolism of actually achieving a joint statement is more important than the content of the statement itself,” Balazs said.

“What I would expect is to have a statement which is a very non-controversial one, in order to get everybody on board,” he said.

“Security and stability, comments about improving economic cooperation, and a couple of comments about the importance of multilateralism,” Balazs said.

Police officers stand guard in front of the Tiananmen Gate, in an area temporarily closed to visitors due to construction, in advance of a military parade marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, in Beijing, China, on August 20, 2025 [Florence Lo/Reuters]

Following the summit, guests will have a full day in China before travelling to Beijing for a massive military parade on September 3 marking 80 years since the end of World War II in Asia.

That extra day – September 2 – will be prime time for bilateral meetings, the China-Global South Project’s Olander said.

“Who will meet who on the second of September – that’s something to pay attention to,” he said.

More heads of state are due to attend the parade the next day, with additions said to include North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, and Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico.

India’s Modi is not expected to stay for the parade, although analysts say he may send a representative, such as his foreign minister.

The Mercator Institute’s Soong said the expansive guest list for the summit and the military parade will give Beijing a boost to its public image, especially among the Global South.

“This is how China demonstrates its friend circle – who can be China’s friend and who is willing to endorse China’s narrative,” he said.