Kuala Lampur, Sept. 8 -- The tableau in Beijing's Tiananmen Square on September 3, 2025, was choreographed with almost cinematic precision. President Xi Jinping, President Vladimir Putin, and Chairman Kim Jong-un stood together at the heart of China's grandest military parade to date, commemorating the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. Behind them rolled an arsenal of hypersonic missiles, nuclear-capable underwater drones, stealth aircraft, and AI-enabled combat systems. For Xi, the message was as important as the hardware: China and its allies could no longer be dismissed as marginal actors.

This spectacle was not simply a commemoration. It was an assertion of an alternative order. In the company of Putin and Kim, Xi presente...