North Korean leader Kim Jong Un traveled to Beijing to attend a military parade commemorating the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, where he stood alongside Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin. The resulting image from Tiananmen Square was more than a historic photo-op; it was a political declaration.
Some may dismiss this as a mere “anti-U.S. diplomatic show.” But if it was a show, it was a profoundly important one, a carefully staged production that history will likely record as the opening act of a new Cold War. In a “theater state” like China, where political protocol is meticulously choreographed, the spectacle was a deliberate challenge to the U.S.-led order.
This was not a sudden alignment of convenience but a calculated convergence of national interests, orchestrated by Beijing as a counter to the growing Japan-South Korea-U.S. security bloc. Some analyses dismiss the alignment as loose cooperation, citing the lack of trilateral military exercises as evidence. But this view misses the accelerating trajectory toward deeper coordination.
For Xi Jinping, the gains were immense. There was no similar photo-op in Moscow for Russia’s own Victory Day celebration in May 2025 – which Xi attended but Kim did not. That meant Xi himself hosted the China-North Korea-Russia triumvirate’s formal debut in Beijing, positioning him as the undisputed leader of the anti-Western coalition.
This triumvirate is not an end in itself; it is the hard-power nucleus of Beijing’s broader ambition to reshape world order, as articulated in its Global Governance Initiative, in addition to the existing Global Security Initiative and Global Development Initiative. The Kim-Xi summit also provided cover to expand “gray zone cooperation,” including illicit transfers of dual-use technologies and the reintroduction of North Korean laborers through sanctions exemptions listed under “livelihood” loopholes.
Finally, a strengthened North Korea ensures China has a permanent buffer state, with responsibility for supporting Kim Jong Un now shared with Moscow.
For Putin, the win in Beijing was immediate. Appearing alongside Xi helped counter the dominant Western narrative of Russia’s diplomatic isolation after its invasion of Ukraine. The image of Putin being feted in Beijing – and meeting with numerous other foreign leaders while there – provided invaluable legitimacy.
Substantively, the summit underscored the continued flow of North Korean munitions to Russia’s war effort in Ukraine. Armed with Beijing’s political endorsement, this supply chain bolsters Moscow’s fighting capability. Moreover, closer ties with Pyongyang expand Moscow’s ability to pressure Washington in Northeast Asia, forcing the United States to spread its resources thinner.
Kim Jong Un, meanwhile, underwent the most dramatic elevation: from isolated pariah to indispensable partner. This was the realization of his “security from Russia, economy from China” (an-reo-kyung-joong) strategy.
Having already provided Russia with artillery and munitions, Kim now appears not just as an aid-dependent recipient, but as a provider – a status that grants newfound leverage. China, in parallel, is using the United Nations’ “livelihood loophole” to funnel fuel, food, and trade benefits into North Korea.
This alignment has one profound implication: North Korea’s nuclear arsenal is no longer negotiable, effectively burying U.S. hopes of denuclearization.
The most dangerous mistake Washington could make is to underestimate this axis as fragile. While China’s, North Korea’s, and Russia’s motivations differ, their coordination increasingly resembles a bloc structure. History provides a sobering precedent: in the Korean War, China, North Korea, and the Soviet Union coalesced against a U.S.-led coalition, resulting in devastating conflict.
The Beijing parade image is thus more than symbolic. It marks a consolidating bloc-to-bloc confrontation, opening a sharper phase of great power rivalry.