{"id":100248,"date":"2025-09-03T12:07:20","date_gmt":"2025-09-03T10:07:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/?p=100248"},"modified":"2025-09-03T12:08:19","modified_gmt":"2025-09-03T10:08:19","slug":"the-media-lens-34","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/the-media-lens-34\/","title":{"rendered":"The Media Lens"},"content":{"rendered":"

3 September 2025 | 12:10 CAT
\n3-minute read<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

China hosted its largest-ever Victory Day military parade this morning in Tiananmen Square, marking 80 years since Japan’s surrender in World War II. The event unfolded under clear skies, drawing unprecedented attention from across the globe.<\/p>\n

For the first time in the parade\u2019s history, 26 heads of state and government attended\u2014a tangible signal of Beijing\u2019s expanding diplomatic reach and ambition. Among the most prominent figures were Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un, who stood side-by-side with President Xi Jinping in a stark display of solidarity.<\/p>\n

According to Hafidh Ibrahim on this week\u2019s Media Lens<\/a>, this significant turnout underscores China\u2019s evolving role on the world stage. Reflecting on the parade\u2019s unprecedented scale, he observed:<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s so, you know, Xi Jinping meet with Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un. \u2026 I mean, entered the parade \u2026 first time a North Korean leader \u2026 attended the parade since 1959.\u201d<\/p>\n

This rare appearance by Kim, last seen in such a context over six decades ago, underscores a dramatic realignment of historical alliances.<\/p>\n

China\u2019s military parade wasn’t just about diplomatic optics\u2014it was a showcase of military modernisation. The PLA paraded cutting-edge weaponry including hypersonic missiles, drone systems, new intercontinental ballistic missiles, and naval unmanned vehicles. It highlighted the nation\u2019s push for a complete nuclear \u201ctriad\u201d\u2014land-, air-, and sea-based deterrence.<\/p>\n

Ibrahim framed this as a calculated message.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the first time ever \u2026 saw 26 heads of state attend. \u2026 And it comes after \u2026 the Shanghai cooperation meeting \u2026 What we’re seeing is China use these events and to actually project this image of multi-polarity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Indeed, last week\u2019s Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit\u2014which notably included Indian Prime Minister Modi for the first time in seven years\u2014foreshadowed this diplomatic momentum.<\/p>\n

Ibrahim critiqued how media across the spectrum portrayed the parade.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we look at media coverage \u2026 Western media \u2026 the China against the West \u2026 narrative that \u2026 conceals a lot more than it actually shows \u2026 there\u2019s not enough talk \u2026 that one is Trump’s policies \u2026 have alienated allies.\u201d<\/p>\n

He emphasised Western outlets tend to oversimplify the event as a monolithic challenge to the West, while Eastern or pro-China outlets often overlook critical issues like human rights or territorial disputes.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt does talk very pro-China. That doesn’t talk about China’s \u2026 aspirations in the South China Sea \u2026 very little about the Uyghurs \u2026 China’s human rights record.\u201d<\/p>\n

In both cases, media coverage\u2014whether sensationalist or celebratory\u2014often omits deeper context, leaving the public with a skewed or incomplete understanding.<\/p>\n

Ibrahim spoke about the broader implications, suggesting the parade reflects a realignment of global power.<\/p>\n

\u201cTrump and the tariffs have actually forced \u2026 many countries \u2026 to start taking sides \u2026 We’re seeing \u2026 the 50 % tariffs on India \u2026 there does seem to be this change happening \u2026 a multipolar world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Indeed, analysts link China\u2019s rising prominence to both Washington\u2019s trade policies and diplomatic alienation of traditional allies.<\/p>\n

Listen <\/strong>to the full interview<\/a> on Sabaahul Muslim with Moulana Sulaimaan Ravat.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

3 September 2025 | 12:10 CAT 3-minute read China hosted its largest-ever Victory Day military parade this morning in Tiananmen Square, marking 80 years since Japan’s surrender in World War II. The event unfolded under clear skies, drawing unprecedented attention from across the globe. For the first time in the parade\u2019s history, 26 heads of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":98476,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[28,4997],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-100248","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news","category-world"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Media-Lens-1.jpg?fit=375%2C376&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pc0QIf-q4U","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-24 14:47:08","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100248","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100248"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100248\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/98476"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100248"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100248"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100248"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}