Pashinyan Attends China’s Military Parade and Strengthens Armenia-China Ties

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan attended a massive military parade in Beijing on Wednesday, joining more than 25 foreign heads of state and government. The parade, featuring 10,000 military personnel and hundreds of pieces of military hardware, marked the 80th anniversary of the surrender of imperial Japan, which ended World War II.

Chinese President Xi Jinping was joined by Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as they watched the 70-minute procession at Tiananmen Square. The event drew sharp criticism from U.S. President Donald Trump, who described the gathering as a conspiracy against the United States.

The parade came shortly after the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in the Chinese city of Tianjin, which aimed to highlight China’s growing influence in Southeast and Central Asia. Pashinyan participated in the summit earlier this week and met with Xi Jinping on the eve of the event.

During their meeting, Armenia and China issued a joint statement formally upgrading their relationship to a “strategic partnership.” The statement emphasized plans to deepen cooperation across many fields, including trade, economic development, and regional collaboration.

China is already Armenia’s second-largest trading partner after Russia. Armenian government data shows that trade between the two countries reached nearly $1.2 billion in the first half of this year.

Pashinyan also used the meetings to reaffirm Armenia’s interest in joining the SCO, a China-led alliance of 10 Eurasian countries that includes Russia. His government first announced plans to pursue SCO membership in July, shortly after committing to seek European Union membership. The EU initiative drew criticism from Russia but reflects Pashinyan’s broader strategy of balancing ties between East and West.

Analysts say the events in China signal a strengthening of Armenia-China relations at a time of shifting global alliances. Pashinyan’s participation in the parade and the SCO summit underscores Yerevan’s effort to expand international partnerships and boost its regional influence.

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