Xi Jinping had been waiting for the right moment to serve notice of China’s growing might and influence to the rest of the world, and the 80th anniversary of the end of the second world war provided the Mao-suited Chinese leader with the perfect opportunity.
Last week’s bombastic (or should that be bomb-tastic?) military parade in Beijing – in the presence of Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong-un and a host of other global strongmen – was intended as a show of force and stability to contrast sharply with the chaotic unpredictability of Donald Trump’s America. And, as the leaders of the world’s most notorious pariah states bear-hugged and strolled around Tiananmen Square like the cast of Reservoir Dogs, the optics did not disappoint.
