North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russia's Vladimir Putin are expected to flank President Xi Jinping at a massive parade in Beijing on Wednesday morning, in a historic moment capping a week of diplomatic grandstanding against the West.
China will showcase its military prowess with troops marching in formation, flypasts and displays of high-tech fighting gear at the showpiece extravaganza centred on Beijing's Tiananmen Square to mark 80 years since the end of World War II.
