CHINA’S GIANT LEAP FORWARD

Two Events of Great Consequence

First came the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit held in North China’s Tianjin from 31 August to 1 September 2025.

Then, on 3 September 2025, China’s massive Victory Day Parade took place at Tiananmen Square in Beijing, to commemorate the 80^th anniversary of the Victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance against Japanese aggression.

The SCO Summit

Founded by Beijing, Russia and four central Asian nations, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan in 2001, the SCO has expanded from six to 10 full members, with additional observers and dialogue partners spanning three continents. Today, the SCO represents 26 countries and 42% of the world’s population. At the recent SCO Summit, the principle of multipolarity was projected as a positive alternative to Western hegemony.[i] 

The summit was the largest in the SCO’s history, with more than 20 heads of state taking part and joined by other world leaders including the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres. The SCO is one of the largest and most ambitious regional organisations in the world with a mandate covering economics, development, cultural exchange, and governance reform. The SCO unites countries with different political systems, yet a shared determination to defend sovereignty, advance their own models of development, and demand a fairer world order.

The SCO’s Declaration laid out a shared vision of international order anchored in the United Nations system, emphasising sovereignty, international law, multilateralism and human rights. This stands in contrast to the Western “rules-based order” which reflects only Western dominance rather than universally agreed norms. China’s President Xi described the organisation as a leader in promoting multipolarity and greater democracy in international relations.

China also introduced the SCO’s Global Governance Initiative (GGI), built on five core principles: sovereign equality, international rule of law grounded in the UN Charter, multilateralism as the basis of governance, a people-centered approach that prioritizes common development and pragmatism, focused on measurable outcomes. The GGI’s overarching goal is to increase the effectiveness of governance mechanisms and to better represent the Global South. Beijing sees the SCO emerging as a central institution in a multipolar world order which is now taking shape.[ii]

At the 79^th session of the United Nations General Assembly on 5 September 2025, a resolution was adopted to strengthen cooperation between the United Nations and the SCO. The resolution acknowledged the constructive role of the SCO in ensuring peace and sustainable development while promoting regional cooperation and mutual trust.[iii]

India at the SCO

India is the SCO’s most important “swing member”. Attending the SCO Summit, Modi warmly embraced Xi and went out of his way to spend time with Putin. It was Modi’s first visit to China since 2019 and was widely seen as a bold step towards improving Sino-Indian relations. Washington has long been cultivating India but, with Trump’s 50% tariffs imposed on India because it buys Russian oil, Trump may well have driven India into the arms of Beijing.

Modi’s attendance in China represented a change of Indian foreign policy from leaning towards Washington to a more balanced foreign policy, involving greater engagement with China and Russia as well as increased cooperation with BRICS and the SCO and the emergence of a more dynamic Indian foreign policy in which China will play a greater role.[iv] 

The leaders of China, Russia and India greeted each other at the summit like old friends. Modi spoke of “Promoting multilateralism and an inclusive world order”, a system in which countries like India would have a greater say in global affairs. Later, Modi was effusive, telling Putin that “1.4 billion Indians are waiting with excitement” to welcome him in New Delhi in December, adding, “It is a testament of the depth and breadth of our ‘Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership’ that even in the most difficult times, India and Russia have stood shoulder to shoulder”.[v]

The Victory Parade in China

China’s military parade was a display of power, precision and patriotism. It started with an 80 gunshot salute to mark 80 years since China’s victory over Japan in World War II, bringing an end to Japan’s brutal occupation. As the cannon fire echoed through Tiananmen Square, China’s President welcomed North Korea’s Kim Jong-un and Russia’s Vladimir Putin. It was the first time that leaders of their three countries had gathered together since Mao Zedong, Kim’s grandfather Kim Il-sung and Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev had watched another military parade in Beijing in 1959.[vi]

Leaders present from another 26 countries. Xi gave a keynote speech at the Gate of Heavenly Peace in Beijing to commemorate the 80^th anniversary of the end of the war against Japan. 50,000 spectators watched as the military staged one of its most impressive shows of China’s growing might, featuring more than 10,000 soldiers, over 100 aircraft and hundreds of weapons. There is no doubt that China is building a military to rival that of the US.[vii] 

President Trump said, “May President Xi and the wonderful people of China have a great and lasting day of celebration. Please give my warmest regards to Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un, as you conspire against the United States”.

The themes which emerged from Xi’s speech were: The unstoppable rise of China; China’s historical role in the victory of World War II; and China’s vision for a new global order, reshaping world governance. Xi told the watching crowd, “Today humanity is again faced with the choice of peace or war, dialogue or confrontation, win-win or zero-sum”. Xi called for an equal and orderly multipolar world and a governance system that was more “just and equitable”.

 The military parade was held to celebrate the anniversary of Japan’s capitulation in 1945. While much of the world knows about Pearl Harbor, the Normandy landings, the Battle of Stalingrad, Auschwitz and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Asian battlefield is often overlooked in the West, even though the Chinese people paid one of the heaviest prices of the war. Europeans date the outbreak of the war to 1 September 1939 when Hitler invaded Poland. For the Soviet Union, the war began on 22 June 1941 with Nazi Germany’s massive assault. For the US, the war only truly started with Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbour on 8 December 1941. However, for China, the war started on 18 September 1931 when Japan invaded Manchuria marking the beginning of the “War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression”.

By late 1936, the Communists and the Kuomintang under Chiang Kai-shek agreed to form a united front, mobilising nationwide resistance. This was crucial after the Marco Polo Bridge incident of 1937 which triggered a full-scale Japanese invasion. The brutal Nanjing Massacre followed during which the Japanese slaughtered at least 300,000, mainly civilians. From 1931 to 1945, China destroyed more than two thirds of Japan’s ground forces but the price was staggering. More than 35 million Chinese died, exceeding the Soviet Union’s 27 million and dwarfing the US losses of around 500,000.[viii] 

In January 1942, China joined Britain, the United States and the Soviet Union in signing the declaration of the United Nations.

Although Xi claims that the Communist Party’s role was the key to the Chinese People’s victory in the War of Resistance against Japan, many historians argue that while the Communist Party did perform an important role, the majority of the fighting was by the Nationalist army led by Chiang Kai-shek. However, on whichever view, there is nothing manufactured about the suffering under Japanese occupation of the Chinese people in World War II.

What of Australia?

Australia chose not to send an official representation to the Victory Parade, not even  Australia’s ambassador to China. It was an unnecessary snub bearing in mind Prime Minister Albanese’s recent, successful visit to China. Australia would have done itself no harm in signalling recognition of China’s contribution in World War II. The parade was attended by many other world leaders, including the Presidents of Iran and Indonesia, the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Vietnam’s President, and Cambodia’s King.

As Greg Sheridan wrote in The Australian, “It was the biggest military parade Beijing has staged, perhaps the biggest military parade in peacetime the world has seen. The range of weapons was dazzling”. Above all were the missiles which Beijing could launch against US ships in the event of conflict over Taiwan.

As Sam Roggeveen (Director of the International Security Program at Australia’s Lowy Institute) writes, China has become a leader in robotics, electric vehicles, nuclear reactors, solar energy, drones, high-speed rail, AI and military technology. The regional military balance is being irrevocably changed. In January 2025, the Financial Times published satellite photos which show China constructing a military command centre outside Beijing, ten times the size of the Pentagon. The PLA has undergone the most rapid technological transformation of any military force since World War II. China has dozens of warships designed to operate in the open ocean but, China has not added a single overseas base since it opened its single base in Djibouti in 2017, and China has nothing like the global Alliance network of the US.

The highly respected journal in strategic studies, International Security argues that the lynchpin of US military power in Asia, it’s combat aircraft based in Japan and Guam would suffer catastrophic losses in a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. The journal concludes that the US would lose 45% of its force in the first month of conflict. That, of course is an opinion, not a certainty even though it comes from a highly credentialed source but, as the military parade in Beijing demonstrates, an arms race would now play to Beijing’s strength and not that of Washington.[ix]

The Dan Andrews Saga

The presence of Daniel Andrews at  China’s military parade in his capacity as a private citizen produced an outcry of condemnation, particularly in The Australian paper. Andrews previously served as the Premier of the State of Victoria from 2014 to 2023 during which time he signed up Victoria to the “Communist giant’s” Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)! During his visit, Andrews met with Chinese business leaders and promoted closer economic ties between China and Australia, but further criticism followed when details of Andrews’ “booming China-focused private business interests” emerged even though there was nothing illegal nor untoward about those interests.

The hysteria reached fever pitch when Andrews “Walked Xi Jinping’s red carpet alongside Russian dictator Vladimir Putin and North Korean hardline ruler Kim Jong-un” and he was filmed “Warmly shaking the supreme Communist leader’s hand and talking to him as he entered the ceremony in Tiananmen Square which displayed China’s military might”.

To her credit, Victoria’s Labor Premier, Jacinta Allan stood by her predecessor saying, “Mr Andrews’ links to China were ‘good for Victoria’ and Victoria is an old friend of China and these connections are so valuable for our state”. Furthermore, Jacinda Allan was about to lead a five day trade mission to hold talks with members of the People’s Republic of China. Only, a few weeks ago, in July Prime Minister Albanese engaged in a highly successful five-day visit to China when he too was photographed shaking hands with the “Communist dictator”!

Nothing was mentioned in these reports about Australia’s federal government under former Prime Minister, Scott Morrison having legislated to veto Victoria’s BRI deal with China nor about “dictator Morrison” having secretly signed Australia up the $368billion AUKUS deal!

AUDI ALTERAM PARTEM – HEAR THE OTHER SIDE

[i] Asia Times, Putin-Modi optics steal the show, 3 Sept 25

[ii] RT (Russia), China's new "global governance", 4 Sept 25

[iii] CGTN (China), 6 Sept 25

[iv] Asia Times, The real reason Modi went to China, 4 Sept 25

[v] The New York Times, smiles and clasped hands as Xi, Putin and Modi signal unity, Sept 25

[vi] South China Morning Post, China parades statecraft and hardware, 3 Sept 25

[vii] BBC, China’s Xi steals the limelight, 4 Sept 25

[viii] RT, China’s forgotten World War, 1 Sept 25

[ix] Foreign Policy, China's military is now leading, 3 Sept 25