The event– which highlighted China’s nuclear missiles with global reach – was said to mark of the 80th anniversary of World War II. Perhaps it also marked a growing friendship between the three countries.
It is noted as the first time these three leaders have been seen together in public, reports BBC.
President Donald Trump claims the three are conspiring against the United State, calling out China in a Truth Social post, saying, “Please give my warmest regards to Vladimir Putin, and Kim Jong Un, as you conspire against The United States of America.”
Kremlin: ‘You’ve got it all wrong’
The Kremlin responded to Trump allegations, denying the claim, reports Newsweek.
Gordon Chang is a senior fellow at the Gatestone Institute and the author of “Plan Red: China’s Project to Destroy America.” He spoke with Jody Hice on Washington Watch about the dangers of this three-party alliance.
“This was symbolic. It showed that these three hardline states are forming an enduring partnership. And we know that because they're all fighting in Ukraine, for instance, both China and North Korea actually have soldiers in Ukraine,” Chang said.
Chang says that China’s message to the U.S is that it is finished; meanwhile, they are promoting themselves as dominating and driving events in the world. He states that it is important that those messages be countered.
“China is waging an effective information warfare campaign against us, and we're not doing that at all. We have sort of surrendered in that domain, especially with Radio Free Asia being crippled,” says Chang. “If President Trump doesn't want those information agencies, he's got to do something else to counter China's narrative, because China's narrative is actually resonating in many parts of the world.”
Radio Free Asia (RFA) is a U.S. government–funded, nonprofit news organization that provides independent journalism in countries across Asia where press freedom is limited or banned.
Chang believes that China, Russia, and North Korea are mainly benefitting from an appearance of strength.
“Osama bin Laden said that ‘when people see a strong horse and a weak horse, they always pick the strong horse.’ Well, that's really what we were seeing today, that China was putting on a display of being the strong horse,” he said.
But the horse is an act. Both China and Russia are in fragile states. China is following the strategy of Chinese strategist Sun Tzu – when you are weak, appear strong, Chang says.
These countries are more vulnerable than they let on, he says. Russia’s economy is struggling because of the war with Ukraine, and China’s economy is having economic failure with “no way to rescue itself,” Chang says.
“China is not growing at the 5.2% pace that they claim for the second quarter of this year. It's got an economy which is about zero growth, maybe a little bit more or less. But the problem for China is that it needs robust growth to pay back all the debt that it accumulated in the last couple of decades in order to escape the global financial crisis in 2008,” Chang says.
Convenient friendships
While these countries want to see the end of Western-led international order, Chang points out that they have inconsistent goals.
“China wants to rule the world and the near parts of the solar system. Vladimir Putin wants to reconstitute the Russian empire at its greatest extent. Now, those two goals are contradictory, but nonetheless, both Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping see that their interests at this time coincide,” explains Chang. “They identify the United States as the enemy.”
He further referenced the alliance to a “marriage of convenience,” but one that should not be diminished as it is making progress “as we see in a couple of parts of the world where there are wars – Eastern Europe, Middle East, North Africa – and where there are insurgencies that resemble wars, plus the brush fires in Asia itself,” Chang lists.
Reuters reported that Trump said he is not concerned about China and Russia forming an axis against the U.S., but Chang believes that there is reason to be cautious.
If the U.S. is not prepared, the worst could happen, especially with evidence of Chinese operatives and military activity on U.S. soil, Chang said.
“These two powers (China and Russia), they've already roiled Eastern Europe. China and Iran have roiled the Middle East. North Africa is in a state of turmoil right now. This is a world where one more war could spark a general conflagration.”
