BEIJING. With the largest military parade to date, the Chinese president intended to demonstrate his country's growing power to the world on Wednesday – at his side were Russian leader Putin and North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un.

Symbolism counts in politics—especially in China. Wearing a jacket like the one Mao Zedong, the revolutionary leader and founder of communist China, Chinese President Xi Jinping reviewed China's largest military parade to date on Wednesday in Tiananmen Square in Beijing.