President Trump finally got to see the kind of military parade he longed for. Unfortunately for him, it was in Beijing, not Washington. You will recall that in 2018, Trump directed the Pentagon to put on a lavish show of arms to demonstrate America’s might. When news of its cost got out — an estimated $92 million — he scuttled the plan and settled for a far more modest Fourth of July event in 2019.
President Xi Jinping faces no such obstacles and put on a thunderous show commemorating China’s 70 years of communist rule, complete with hundreds of tanks, floats, planes and a nuclear-capable missile that could evade U.S. missile defenses. As Xi inspected troops, he shouted, “Hello, comrades!” They shouted back, “Hello, leader!” Trump was surely envious. In a rare gesture of generosity and friendliness to China, he tweeted out his congratulations.