Kuala Lampur, Sept. 6 -- When President Xi Jinping, President Vladimir Putin, and Chairman Kim Jong-un appeared together at Beijing's Victory Day parade on September 3, 2025, the global optics were electrifying. Some observers dismissed the spectacle as little more than grandstanding, a showcase of military hardware designed for domestic audiences; even foreign buyers.

Yet to reduce it to mere theatrics and sales pitch would be dangerously naive. The alignment of these three leaders, standing shoulder-to-shoulder, no matter how complicated can be there actual inter personal relationship, reveals a gathering storm that Asean, and indeed the wider world, cannot ignore now or in future. Why?

This year's parade marked not only the 80th anni...