China held a grand military parade in Beijing on Wednesday to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. As is customary in all moderately democratic countries, Chinese President Xi Jinping was joined by leaders of similarly structured countries, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, all watching the street arms display, which had several messages. On the one hand, they were showing off their wares as a good kind of military expo, some of which they might even sell, on the other hand, they were demonstrating that there is life beyond the United States – this was perhaps most aimed at India, which Donald Trump is currently pushing into Beijing's arms with his tariff policy – and thirdly, it is appropriate to celebrate a great power on an 80th anniversary.

But China primarily sent a message to the West that it had caught up in the field of modern military technology.

Seeing the weapons lined up, several Western experts believe that China is no longer just copying Western devices or – as was typical in the twentieth century – Russian technology, but has entered the arms race in an innovative way, and may now even be a leader in some types.

Where it can be ahead of even the United States or Russia is in medium-range (500-5 thousand kilometers) missiles, as the two countries (or at the time the Soviet Union) signed a treaty limiting them in 1987. This was the INF Treaty (Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty), which was in force on the Russian side until 2007, and then the US withdrew from it in 2018. This did not apply to China, so they happily developed – and continue to do so to this day – their Dongfeng missiles, of which they have a serious repertoire.