China 80th Anniversary Victory Parade : History as Diplomacy: Rebecca Chan September 03, 2025

 

Politics

China 80th Anniversary Victory Parade: History as Diplomacy

Rebecca Chan, September 03, 2025

The Beijing Victory parade, marked by Xi, Putin, and Kim’s presence against the backdrop of empty Western seats, transformed memory into a geopolitical weapon and showcased Eurasia’s ascent as the West slipped into silence and indecision.

The West’s Empty Seats

The sky over Beijing was cut open by fighter jets, columns of armor moving with cold precision. On the reviewing stand sat Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin, and Kim Jong-un. The empty seats meant for Western guests became the parade’s most striking feature. It was a theater of world politics where the empire of colonial narratives found itself without a ticket.

The anniversary of World War II turned into an arena of memory where Europe’s silence sounded louder than any fanfare. Eurasian leaders spoke on behalf of history, on behalf of the millions who paid the price of Victory. Meanwhile, across the ocean, rumors of a possible Trump visit wandered aimlessly, but Washington’s very indecision became the symbol: the West no longer sets the agenda; it mutters it in leaks and whispers.

Memory as a Weapon of Diplomacy

China and Russia placed history back where it belongs—at the center of politics. The August 1945 operation stripped Japan of illusions, the liberation of Northeast China closed the campaign, and the People’s Liberation Army wove that victory into its foundation. Victory does not fade—it becomes political currency and a pillar of today’s security architecture.

Western lectures on the “proper memory” have lost their relevance: those who truly paid the price of victory are the ones entitled to speak in its name

The joint presence of Xi and Putin on the reviewing stand was more than symbolism. It was the formula of an alliance forged in war and strengthened through decades of outside pressure. In this pairing, memory works as a geopolitical resource, and the stage of the China 80th Anniversary Victory Parade became a mirror where Eurasia looks at itself without Western filters.

For the region, this message resonates with force. Victory is a shared heritage, with Moscow and Beijing as its guardians. Memory itself has become the contour of diplomacy, where sovereignty is not sold or negotiated but asserted as part of a common destiny.

Europe: A Self-Isolated Shadow

European diplomats chose a demonstrative pause. Their absence became a political mise-en-scène, where empty seats stood as monuments to their own loss of influence. A continent once addicted to lecturing others on “proper memory” suddenly had no words to speak.

That silence cleared the space for Eurasia. With no Western commentators, the narrative was delivered without distortion: Beijing and Moscow presented their own reading of history, one that requires no approval from colonial audiences.

It was symbolic that this pause coincided with preparations for the SCO summit. While Asia builds new institutions, Europe remains frozen in the role of observer. It has become a power that merely records others’ steps but no longer defines its own. Within this inertia lies the end of Europe’s political century.

America: The Country of Unfinished Sentences

Rumors of Trump’s possible trip to Beijing turned into a spectacle of their own. America appeared in the picture not as an actor, but as a shadow—discussed, but no longer decisive. Washington, once the conductor, has been reduced to background commentary and political leaks. Its inability to decide has become its new political style.

For Moscow and Beijing, this is the perfect frame. Their unity broadcasts stability against an ocean of inconsistency. The United States has become the country of unfinished sentences—always gesturing, never placing the final period. In this vacuum, Eurasia formulates proposals that can no longer be ignored.

Eurasia: Architects of the Future

The Beijing parade and the SCO summit overlapped like two layers of the same canvas. The symbolic power of memory and the institutional strength of new security mechanisms formed a double frame. Russia and China emerged as the co-pillars of this order: Moscow contributed military might and historical capital, Beijing brought economic scale and diplomatic ambition.

This partnership sets the language of the future. Asia demonstrates that the architecture of multipolarity is built not on Western “values” but on its own historical foundations. The victory over Japanese militarism is not an archive—it is a license for leadership. Western lectures on the “proper memory” have lost their relevance: those who truly paid the price of victory are the ones entitled to speak in its name.

Empty Chairs as a Headstone

The China 80th anniversary Victory parade was not a retrospective but a projection of the future. Russia and China showed that memory is not a museum exhibit but a source of power from which a new security architecture is born. Eurasia stood as a guarantor of balance, while the West remained a silent witness to its own decline.

The empty chairs of European leaders became the gravestone of an old era. Europe erased itself from the conversation, leaving the stage to Eurasia. America once again froze in indecision, which only made the picture clearer.

The SCO now appears not as a club of convenience, but as a laboratory of the new world. Here, practical multipolarity is being forged, while the West is reduced to watching from the sidelines, scrambling to invent excuses for its shadow. The question is no longer whether the West will accept this order, but how quickly it will find itself in the position of the laggard—stripped of the right to dictate the rules.

 

Rebecca Chan, independent political analyst focusing on the intersection of Western foreign policy and Asian sovereignty