By Laurie Chen

BEIJING (Reuters) -China geared up to hold its largest-ever military parade on Wednesday, a show of its growing firepower and geopolitical clout as President Xi Jinping seeks to cast Beijing as the custodian of a post-U.S. international order.

Russia's Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who arrived in the Chinese capital on Tuesday with his daughter in tow, will flank Xi in an unprecedented gathering to mark 80 years since Japan's defeat at the end of World War Two.

Putin and Kim - pariahs in the West due to the Ukraine war and Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions - are among two dozen largely non-western leaders in attendance, including Indonesia's Prabowo Subianto making a surprise appearance despite widespread protests at home.

The highly choreographed "Vict

See Full Page