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As Dictators’ Meet in Beijing We See Why Democracies Must Stop Appeasing Tyrants [1]
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Date: 2025-09-06
Earlier this week, Beijing played host to a grotesque spectacle: a dictator convention masquerading as a military parade.
Xi Jinping rolled out the red carpet for some of the world’s worst tyrants, Russia’s Vladimir Putin, North Korea’s Kim Jong-un, Myanmar’s General Min Aung Hlaing, and the rulers of Iran, Belarus, and Vietnam, among others. In total, more than twenty authoritarian regimes joined in what was billed as a commemoration of the end of World War II. But in reality, it was a show of force meant to galvanize an axis of authoritarianism against the world’s democracies.
This was no celebration of peace. This was a declaration of war on the rest of the planet.
Democracies Giving Legitimacy to Dictators
What made the scene even more disturbing was the presence of some democratically elected leaders, including Indonesia’s president, Prabowo Subianto, and Malaysia’s Anwar Ibrahim. While India’s Narendra Modi deserves credit for skipping the parade, the fact that Australian and New Zealand political figures chose to attend this anti-democracy jamboree was especially galling. Their presence only served to lend legitimacy to men with blood on their hands.
Xi’s Threat to the World
The parade was designed to send a chilling message. Xi declared that the world is faced with a “choice of peace or war,” while showing off nuclear missiles capable of striking the U.S., AI-powered fighter drones, and even robot dogs. Troops goose-stepped across Tiananmen Square, a place synonymous with China’s 1989 massacre of pro-democracy protesters, in a carefully staged reminder of Beijing’s willingness to use force against Taiwan, and anyone else who dares resist its authoritarian vision.
Seeing Xi cozy up to Putin is also scary given Xi’s statements on Taiwan. He is looking closely at how the United States deals with Unkraine and is taking notes. How we support (or don’t) Ukraine shows him what our reaction to an invasion of Taiwan.
Crimes Against Humanity on Display
The grotesquery did not stop at military might. Xi and Putin were overheard casually discussing living to 150 years through organ transplants, a chilling conversation in light of overwhelming evidence that the Chinese regime engages in forced organ harvesting from prisoners of conscience. An independent tribunal in 2020, chaired by Sir Geoffrey Nice KC (who once prosecuted Slobodan Milosevic), concluded that this practice is systematic, widespread, and amounts to crimes against humanity.
Meanwhile, China continues to carry out a genocide against Uyghurs, crushes Tibetan and Hong Kong freedoms, and props up fellow dictatorships across the globe.
Dictators Strengthening Their Axis
Three other elements of the Beijing summit underline the danger of this growing authoritarian alliance:
Kim Jong-un brought his 12-year-old daughter, Kim Ju-ae , signaling that she may be groomed to continue North Korea’s dynastic tyranny.
Putin openly thanked Kim for backing his illegal invasion of Ukraine , where North Korea has reportedly sent thousands of soldiers and long-range weapons to aid Russia’s war crimes.
Myanmar’s junta leader Min Aung Hlaing was given the red-carpet treatment, despite his regime’s ongoing genocide against the Rohingya and aerial massacres of civilians in Kachin and Karenni states.
These are not isolated strongmen. They are increasingly coordinated, emboldened, and intent on reshaping the global order to suit authoritarianism.
The Choice for Democracies
The question is: what will the world’s democracies do in response?
This “axis of autocrats” may appear bold, but their alliance is ultimately a marriage of convenience. Xi, Putin, Kim, and Min Aung Hlaing don’t trust each other; they only share a common enemy — democracy. That means there’s still room for democratic nations to push back.
The U.S., EU, Australia, Canada, the U.K., Japan, and South Korea must strengthen support for Taiwan and make clear that any invasion would be catastrophic for Beijing. Democracies must invest in their defenses, stand firmly by human rights, and refuse to legitimize tyrants with photo ops or summits.
These men should not have been standing in Tiananmen Square basking in military pomp. They should be standing in The Hague, on trial for genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.
And if the free world can find its courage, maybe one day they will be.
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