Trump Skips Beijing’s Parade, Dodging a Blush

Who’s not coming, and why
Twenty-six foreign heads of state and government have been invited to attend the 9/3 Victory Day military parade in Beijing. One feature stands out: not a single “great power” will show up. And in the past few days, European outlets have zeroed in on the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Tianjin, asserting that “Xi Jinping is turning China into the centre of a ‘new anti‑Western order’.”
 
“The main countries of Europe and America are collectively absent, and Japan and South Korea are not on the list either. Japan even urged other countries to stay away from these events, underscoring the geopolitical divide.” Taiwan’s Central News Agency added: “Friction between China and Western countries over trade, technology, the Russia–Ukraine war and human rights issues may lead those countries to opt out of such high‑profile political commemorations.” Note: Slovakia is the only EU member state in attendance.
 
Is attendance the point?
Do the “great powers” need to show up at a pageant that symbolises the end of 300 years of Western hegemony? Deutsche Welle reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin, at the SCO summit in Tianjin, called for a reordering of global politics, saying “the Europe‑centric, trans‑Atlantic‑centric model has run its course.” Agence France‑Presse said that when Xi Jinping met leaders in Tianjin, he lambasted bullying in the current world order, with the aim “to underscore Beijing’s central role in regional affairs.” Earlier, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told reporters that “the Global South is no longer the silent majority or a vast, backward expanse – it represents an awakened new force and a new hope in a once‑in‑a‑century transformation.”
 
If the “great powers” won’t go to Beijing, so be it – there’s no need to force it. But to spin “no Western leader attended” as China’s embarrassment is, frankly, putting the wrong hat on the wrong head.
 
The Trump–Yalta fantasy
Some pundits had speculated Trump might attend the event, and that if a US–China–Russia trio actually materialised at the Beijing parade, the symbolism would rival the Yalta Conference – in February 1945 the leaders of the United States, the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union met in Yalta to design the post‑war order.
 
That talk is just froth – not worth a second look. To borrow an analogy, Trump fancies himself the Son of Heaven of the Zhou (the Emperor of Zhou Dynasty) – though he most resembles the last of them, Emperor Nan. That said, America’s sway still holds. Didn’t the “seven European powers” previously – together with Zelenskyy – march into the White House to pay homage to Washington? And the United States announced that, before the September UN General Assembly, it had revoked visas for members of the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority.
 
Nine Tripods, UN visas, and debt
The UN is headquartered in the United States. With a word, Washington can refuse visas and deprive anyone of the right to petition the UN for justice. All this is the very aura of the Nine Tripods in the hands of the Son of Heaven – and, to be fair, the comparison to Emperor Nan is actually not a bad fit.
 
Emperor Nan of Zhou – personal name Ji Yan, also called Chengjun – is best known for being “buried under a mountain of debt.” He borrowed from his subjects: “but, unable to repay, could only climb a high podium to hide from his creditors. The people of Zhou named the podium the Debt‑Dodging Terrace. Dependent on others for shelter and ashamed of his evasion, he was called “Nan”, the Blushing Emperor .”
 
Baidu Baike also records this: “In the fifty‑ninth year of Emperor Nan of Zhou – 256 BCE – the Son of Heaven allied with the lords to attack Qin, but was no match and lost. After defeat he offered up all the cities. That same year Ji Yan died, and Qin took possession of Zhou’s Nine Cauldrons – symbols of the heavenly authority. Seven years later Qin destroyed Eastern Zhou, and the Zhou dynasty perished.”
 
Any resemblance is purely coincidental. The United States owes more than US$37 trillion in public debt. Trump may not fear “default” – borrow long, roll it over and let size make it too big to fail. That said, voices in the Russian parliament once proposed moving the UN headquarters to China or Brazil – tantamount to stripping the United States of its Nine Cauldrons.
 
Looking back at reports from a decade ago, the Russian made its case plainly: “America’s global influence has declined significantly, and its behaviour and image are becoming ever more aggressive. We should therefore discuss moving the UN headquarters out of New York.”
 
Anyone with common sense would agree – I back it one hundred percent!

Deep Blue

** 博客文章文責自負,不代表本公司立場 **

Zhuque has silenced America. SpaceX's repeated successes in rocket recovery drove home one point: American business works. And China? How could a feat achieved by marshaling the strength of an entire nation possibly compare with a private outfit pulling off a mission impossible?

Cast your mind back. The Clinton boom, built on the information superhighway, delivered four consecutive fiscal years of budget surplus. From 2015 onwards, SpaceX achieved rocket recovery, putting American commercial spaceflight at least a decade ahead of China. What more could anyone say? Behold the splendor of America's overall national power!

At 7:35 this morning, the reusable Zhuque-3 Y2 carrier rocket lifted off smoothly. Its builder is LandSpace, a Chinese commercial space company founded, coincidentally, in that very same year of 2015. The mission report reads: "About 137 seconds after liftoff, the first and second stages separated. The first stage then began its return sequence. After key maneuvers including high-altitude attitude adjustment, deceleration and aerodynamic gliding, it made a successful soft landing at the Gansu landing pad at 7:43. The flight test was a complete success."

A few points are worth adding. First, the Zhuque-3 Y1 made its maiden flight on December 3, 2025. It successfully delivered a satellite into its designated orbit, though its first-stage vertical recovery test failed.

Second, eight months on, Zhuque-3 has delivered on its mission, a task of major significance. Zhuque becomes our country's second reusable rocket after the Long March 10B.

Third, mind you, the Long March rockets belong to the "national team."

Fourth, China's state and commercial space programs are setting sail like "twin dragons out to sea." America is feeling the competitive pressure.

SpaceX has made a blockbuster stock market debut. The world is counting on America, following the internet, to lead the globe once more through space technology. The hope is a replay of the Clinton-era golden age. SpaceX pulled off the first successful recovery of a Falcon 9 rocket, then industrialized the technology. Today it launches the Falcon 9 around 150 times a year, roughly three times a week. A single booster can be reused dozens of times.

Yet even before the successful recovery of the Zhuque-3 Y2, American think tanks were already worried. China, doing things the Chinese way, has achieved recovery in both state-run and commercial spaceflight, with equally precise touchdown points. China's "catch-up" is no longer out of reach.

What deserves attention is this: China's state and commercial sectors are advancing in tandem, while NASA has widely adopted the commercial model. In return-to-the-Moon programs such as Artemis, NASA has contracted out uncrewed lunar landers, precursor satellite launches and even rocket servicing and replenishment support to multiple private space companies. Commercial players such as SpaceX, Firefly Aerospace and Rocket Lab are the mainstays.

Two years ago, analyses weighed the relative strengths of the Chinese and American space programs. Commentators argued that NASA's shift from "designing and building in-house" to "commercial contracting" would push national scientific talent out of front-line positions. Over the long run, that would weaken the state's "deep control and independent assessment capability" over space technology.

And if complex spaceflight life-support systems or new space station designs were left entirely to private leadership, NASA would face the twin hazards of technology and risk. Boeing's Starliner saga, which stranded two American astronauts on the International Space Station for a full nine months, is in its own way the same tune as today's USS Abraham Lincoln incident. Go figure.

The pair finally left the station "smoothly" aboard a SpaceX Dragon on March 18, 2025. They landed safely back on Earth the next day. Trump sang Musk's praises for a job well done.

A quick explainer: history has seen a so-called "Sputnik moment." In truth, it was a "Sputnik" crisis for America. In 1957, the Soviet Union successfully launched Sputnik 1, humanity's first artificial satellite. The phrase has since come to describe the turning point when a nation suddenly realizes it is lagging a rival in technology or a critical field. That realization triggers an acute sense of crisis and an urgent drive to catch up.

President Kennedy led America out of the Sputnik crisis with the Apollo lunar landing program. Today, can America build a crewed Mars program to overtake its rival? Musk, this round is all on you. Stop firing off low-orbit satellites like crazy to rake in cash. The day a crewed Mars landing succeeds will be the ultimate MAGA moment. Let's keep at it, together.