Sieren's China

The 70 minutes were planned to the last detail and nothing went wrong. On Thursday, China celebrated the biggest military parade in its history on Tiananmen Square. The only thing that the government could not control was which guests would turn up to its "Commemoration of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and Victory in the World Anti-Fascist War," as it was put by the official invitation that was sent out around the world.

On this square, of all places

Some Westerners were disturbed by the fact that the parade unfolded exactly where the bloody crackdown on the Chinese pro-democracy movement took place in the summer of 1989. Others did not want to be instrumentalized against Japan. For others, the parade was the power display of a one-party state which places strong restrictions on its citizens' human rights. For the US, the parade was a symbol of the new power of its worst adversary.

For Washington, one thing was certain - it would not send more than its ambassador. As a result, the guest list was rather mixed: On the VIP stand, there were 30 elected officials, including of course Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose military parade just a few weeks ago to celebrate 70 years since the end of the war in Europe was attended by China's head of state and party Xi Jinping. Putin had to come to show the West that he still has powerful friends. His South Korean counterpart Park Geun-hye was also there, although her country has close military ties with the US. However, Korea also suffered during the Japanese occupation. North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un, usually demure, was represented by his country's number three, Choe Ryong-hae.

Europe as un-unified as ever

It was clear that Japan and India's prime ministers Shinzo Abe and Narendra Modi would not come. Their differences with Beijing are too extreme. Of the most important European countries, France and Italy were most obliging towards China: French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius and hit Italian counterpart Paolo Gentiloni were on the VIP stand, alongside UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon.

The Chinese foreign ministry was also able to attract such guests of honor as former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and former Japanese Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama, who is the only Japanese politician to have apologized for his country's war crimes in a form acceptable to Beijing. Japan's current prime minister Shinzo Abe not only refuses, but recently put forward bills to expand the role of the military to counter China's growing presence. Like the Chinese government, as Xi repeatedly says, Abe wants to contribute to international peace.

Pragmatic decision in the German chancellory

Chancellor Angela Merkel was not able to show any enthusiasm for the parade and did not send any ministers but went for the minimum solution: Germany was represented only by its ambassador. This was probably the biggest disappointment for China. However, Merkel realized instinctively that to send a minister would cause more domestic trouble than it was worth in terms of international relations. For China, Europe is nothing without Germany anyway.

The parade was not only an indication of Xi Jinping's power, but also a test of how firm in the saddle China's partners are. However, this failed. It was not a disaster, but not a triumph either. Perhaps, some of China's leaders will acknowledge that in the 21st century military parades are not a good way of testing the value of international partnerships.

Our correspondent Frank Sieren is one of Germany's leading China experts. He has lived in Beijing for 20 years.