China military parade commemorates second world war victory over Japan

Anti-Japanese rhetoric and nuclear missiles on show as Beijing marks 70th anniversary of 1945 victory with massive parade in Tiananmen Square
Xi Jinping announces 300,000 cut in troops
Russian president Vladimir Putin and Sudan’s Omar al-Bashir at parade
Former UK prime minister Tony Blair also in attendance

“This great triumph … put an end to China’s national humiliation [and] re-established China as a major country in the world,” Xi said, flanked by Russian president Vladimir Putin and Communist party veterans including Jiang Zemin, the former president.
Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir, who has been indicted by the international criminal court for mass atrocities, and former UK prime minister Tony Blair were also at the parade, although many nations – including Japan and the US – declined to attend, and some, including the UK and Australia, sent only low-level representatives.
By 11am a massive display of Chinese military might was rattling through the notorious Beijing square where troops launched their 1989 crackdown on student demonstrators.
Spectators waved red flags in the air as tanks, drones and ballistic missiles rolled past beneath a perfect blue sky – the result of Beijing’s decision to close more than 12,000 factories and power plants ahead of the event.