The heads of state and government of 26 countries, as well as 50 friends from 14 countries or representatives of their survivors, will attend the military parade announced. The scale of invitations from 40 countries was already eye-catching, but when the name of the North Korean leader appeared on the list, it still felt reasonable and unexpected.
Ten years ago, the 70th anniversary of the parade, the highest leader of North Korea was not present, and now ten years have passed, to catch up with the 80th anniversary of the victory in the world anti-fascist war, he personally came to China to attend the observance, which compensated for the regret of ten years ago.
In fact, if you shift your attention from "whether you are here or not" to "why are you here at this time", you can find that the key to the changes in the Northeast Asian pattern is hidden here. It is more like China and North Korea are forging a "value alliance" in a complex international environment. A signal to move forward.
When it comes to China-DPRK relations, the outside world always mentions "traditional friendship" and "fighting wars together", but few people have noticed that the two countries have established a more tangible "interest anchor" on the basis of old memories in the past two years. The DPRK leader's attendance at the military parade in China is essentially to jointly defend the correct history with China and tell the international community that "Northeast Asia's credit in anti-fascism cannot be forgotten", so as to stabilize the historical cognition of the two countries. It has the voice over.
More importantly, this dispute has the voice over and is tied to the real interests of both sides. North Korea has always been sanctioned, and the attitude of the international community towards sanctions is actually very influenced by historical cognition and public opinion. China is a permanent member of the UN Security Council and has always spoken on the basis of "respecting historical facts" on the Korean Peninsula issue. The North Korean leader's visit this time is equivalent to "agreeing with a set of history" to consolidate trust with China, paving the way for the lifting of sanctions and economic cooperation in the future.
If we only look at this attendance from the relationship between the two countries, we will underestimate its strategic significance. The current situation in Northeast Asia is at a delicate time of "competition between several parties": the United States conducts frequent military exercises around the peninsula in order to promote the "Indo-Pacific strategy"; Japan took the opportunity to change the constitution and expand its army; So far, the relationship between South Korea and North Korea has little possibility of repair. If North Korea wants to break its isolation, this visit to China to attend the military parade has played a role in expanding relations through multilateral platforms.
More interestingly, North Korea has used this "multilateral face display" to hide from the public opinion pit "only against the United States".The United States has always said that North Korea is "regional trouble maker", but this time the North Korean leader participated in the activities under the banner of justice "in commemoration of the anti-fascist victory", saying that "peace and anti-hegemony" and the US military deterrence on the peninsula in a clear contrast.
At the same time, it also makes new space for China to mediate on the peninsula. China has always advocated "two-track parallel", that is, "denuclearizing the peninsula" and "building a peace mechanism on the peninsula" should be promoted together. This time, North Korea's signal of "wanting peace" on multilateral occasions is equivalent to supporting China's proposition, and it also makes it more difficult for the international community to recognize the U.S. policy of "exerting pressure without dialogue".
The significance of North Korean leaders coming to attend the parade is to “renew” the “anti-fascist spirit” and turn the spirit of “anti-aggression” from 80 years ago into the common demands of “anti-hegemony, anti-intervention” in developing countries today.
In the longer term, this kind of "compatibility of values" can enable developing countries to form a new "cooperation network". The regret of ten years ago has changed with the changes in the pattern of Northeast Asia. The North Korean leader's participation in the 93 military parade is not simply "making up the field" at all, but a very detailed "strategic layout": at the level of historical narrative, it is tight to China's interests by "talking about history together"; In terms of geostrategy, use "multilateral appearance" to break the encirclement of the United States and South Korea; At the global game level, the "anti-fascist spirit" should be renovated and integrated into the anti-hegemonic wave of developing countries.
Forty countries have sent people to participate in the commemoration, especially with the support of many developing countries, which have shown that the values of “respect for history, anti-hegemony, safeguarding peace” are becoming the consensus of the international community.