High-level meeting in Beijing

Kim Jong-Un has traveled to China with his armored train

North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un has arrived in Beijing where he will participate in China's giant military parade tomorrow. It is the first time since 1959 that a North Korean leader has been present during a Chinese military parade, according to the BBC.

Kim traveled to China with his armored train on Tuesday. The train is said to have a restaurant where expensive French wines and fresh lobster are served.

AFP writes that the "love of locomotives" runs through Kim's family history. The dictator's father Kim Jong Il was known for his fear of flying. Kim Jong-Un is said not to suffer from the same fear, he has traveled by plane several times, including to China and Singapore. According to the AP, Kim has access to his own plane, a converted Soviet-made IL-62 with space for about 200 people, but it is rarely used for longer trips.

Analysis: Kim Jong-Un basks in the glory of powerful leaders in China

For the first time, Kim Jong-Un, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping will meet at the same time. Sky News' Michael Clarke says it is a big moment for the North Korean dictator to meet world leaders in connection with the big meeting in China.

It is unlikely that Kim Jong-Un himself will make any statements in Beijing.

- I just think he will enjoy being with this group of powerful leaders, he tells his own channel.

For the Russian president, the meeting with Xi is a chance to showcase the strong bond between the authoritarian countries, according to the BBC's Steve Rosenberg. It is a bonus that he also gets another chance to meet the North Korean dictator, who supported Russia in the war in Ukraine, he says.

More than 20 leaders of countries that are close allies of China are in place when a major military parade is organized in the capital Beijing. The big meeting is bad news for Ukraine, writes Simone McCarthy in CNN.

“By letting them sit by his side on a symbolically important day for China, Xi shows that he is the only global power player who could actually put real pressure on Putin to end the war,” she says in her text.  

SCO meeting in China
China flexes its muscles with parade – highlights the Soviet Union, downplays the US

China marks the 80th anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II with a grand military parade in Beijing tomorrow. In addition to Russia's Vladimir Putin being in attendance, North Korea's Kim Jong-Un is also making an unusual trip abroad to participate.

Observers see the parade as an expression of the deepening cooperation between China, Russia, Iran and North Korea, reports The Guardian. In addition to the display of military strength, the parade is also a way of rewriting history, writes the Washington Post. The US's role in the final stages of World War II is downplayed and the Soviet Union's is highlighted.

For ordinary Chinese, it is not a question of following the parade in person, but they are allowed to watch television broadcasts, writes the AP. The parade is strictly directed and closely monitored. Barricades keep the public away and commercial businesses along the road have been closed.