What lies behind Chinese Leader attending the Parade in Moscow

Xi Jinping's participation in the May 9, 2025 Victory Day parade in Moscow was a symbolic gesture that goes far beyond diplomatic protocol. The visit was planned with ostentatious precision: the Chinese leader stood next to Vladimir Putin in the front row, emphasizing Moscow's apparent transformation into a satellite of Beijing.

Xi Jinping was not just present, he became the central figure of the celebrations, a kind of “guest of honor” at the parade dedicated to the victory in World War II. This is no longer just a diplomatic handshake at a summit or the signing of trade cooperation documents. This is a manifesto of influencethat demonstrates: Russia has finally plunged into the sphere of Chinese control.

The May 9th parade is not only an internal ritual of the Putin regime that appeals to the myth of the “greatness” of the USSR, but also an important element of Moscow's ideological positioning in the world. And when Xi appears at such an event alongside Putin, it means something: China considers itself not just a partner of Russia, but a master of the situation.

What Messages does Xi Jinping Send to the World by Participating in Putin's Parade?

Xi Jinping's visit to Moscow is a series of well-coordinated signals addressed to several audiences.

The first message is to the West: Beijing is publicly demonstrating that it is not distancing itself from the Kremlin despite the aggression in Ukraine, but rather deepening ties. This is a slap in the face to the US and EU, which had hoped that economic pressure would force China to behave with restraint toward Russia.

The second message is to China's domestic audience: the Chinese public is being shown that their country is at the center of a new global configuration. The parade was also attended by the Chinese military, who marched alongside the Russians. This is unprecedented. This demonstration of Beijing's military presence in the heart of Russian political mythology is a direct injection of imperial pathos into Chinese propaganda.

The third message is to the states of the Global South: China wants to be seen as a guarantor of a multipolar world that restrains the West. Beijing is showing that it is ready to challenge US hegemony and already has the appropriate resources-economic, diplomatic, and military.

Why did China's Leader Want to Demonstrate to the United States the Inviolability of Its Influence on Moscow?

The main reason is the struggle for long-term geopolitical superiority in the rivalry with the United States. In this context, Xi's participation in the parade is a reminder to Washington: Russia is no longer a “free agent” or an independent player who can change camps. It is Beijing's asset. As the commentary in the quote above says, Xi Jinping is clearly signaling: “Russia is our asset. You will not take it away from us.”

And here is another aspect: in the Chinese logic of strategic long-term thinking, Russia, despite its degradation, is important as a tool. Moscow is “a raw material appendage, but even more so, it is a buffer zone, a means of destabilizing the West, a channel of geopolitical influence on Europe.

Beijing does not want Russia to suddenly “fall out of orbit” under US pressure. On the contrary, when the Americans try to maneuver, Beijing only tightens its grip.

Russia as a Vassal and China's Strategic Bet

Xi Jinping's participation in the parade finally demonstrates: Russia is not an equal ally, but a dependent unit. Despite the rhetoric of “strategic partnership,” the situation looks like a classic center-periphery scenario. Beijing is the center, Moscow is the periphery, which is gradually losing even the remnants of political sovereignty.

China is using Russia to:

- pose a threat to NATO from the north, diverting US resources;

- promote its influence in Central Asia and the Arctic;

- test military strategies that China itself plans to use in the future.

In this logic, Putin, who is at war with the West, becomes an almost perfect tool. That is why supporting his regime is not just a tactical decision, but an element of a strategy of civilizational revenge.

Xi Jinping did not come to Moscow as a guest, but as a supervisory authority, the master of the territory called the Russian Federation. His presence at the parade is a clear signal to global players: the era of multipolarity has already arrived, and China is distributing influence as it sees fit.America is not dealing with equal allies, but with a new vertical of dependencies, in which Beijing is the top and Moscow is a vassal. And Xi is ready to defend this order of things publicly, demonstratively, and - if necessary - by force.

Accordingly, the strategy of “separating Russia from China,” which has been repeatedly mentioned by American politicians in recent years, does not seem viable. It was theoretically substantiated in the twentieth century, when both the USSR and China were quite serious global players, which, despite their common communist ideology, were in rather antagonistic relations.

This allowed President Nixon to reset relations with China against the USSR. Now the situation is fundamentally different, and there is no question of any parity between Russia and China. They are simply states of completely different weight categories, and Russia's nuclear capabilities and seat on the UN Security Council should not mislead anyone.

China controls Russia, and it has no plans to give up this control. Accordingly, the strategy of containing China is impossible without containing its key satellite, Russia, and this containment is turning into one of the fronts of the global geopolitical confrontation between the United States and China.

It is clear that China is also well aware of this, and therefore is practicing military technologies in Russia, training its own military personnel, and using Russia as a factor of pressure on the whole of Europe.

The overall success in containing China will depend on the recognition of this reality by the United States. At the same time, the Russian-Ukrainian war is no longer a “local conflict,” as some politicians in the United States and Europe are trying to present it, but a real global confrontation involving many states. And some, such as the DPRK, are already directly involving members of their own army units. And China is also quite seriously immersed in supporting its important vassal, which Russia has already thoroughly turned into.

Petro Oleshchuk, political scientist, Ph.D, expert at the United Ukraine Think Tank