China began a military spectacle on Wednesday that will rumble through the ceremonial heart of the capital, featuring fighter jets, tanks and the latest in Chinese military technology in the country’s most ambitious display of power and diplomatic reach in years.
As China’s leader, Xi Jinping, presided over the parade, he was flanked by President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, along with about 20 other leaders. It was a rare gathering of autocrats who have positioned themselves in opposition to the U.S.-led world order.
The event was rich in symbolism. Senior Chinese officials, current and retired, gathered in the rostrum of Tiananmen Gate above a large portrait of Mao Zedong, overlooking the Avenue of Heavenly Peace.
The parade, which honors the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, is the highlight of a weekslong campaign by the ruling Communist Party to stoke nationalism, recast China’s role in that conflict, and project the party as the nation’s savior against a foreign aggressor, Imperial Japan.
As cannons fired 80 times to mark the anniversary, soldiers carrying the Chinese flag goose-stepped across a red carpet. Crowds watching the parade waved flags and saluted as the national anthem was played and the flag was raised.
The evoking of wartime memories serves to rally domestic Chinese support in the face of economic uncertainty and rising tensions with the United States over trade and other disputes.
“The Chinese nation is a great nation that fears no tyranny and stands firm on its own feet,” Mr. Xi said in a speech. “When faced in the past with a life-and-death struggle between justice and evil, light and darkness, progress and reaction, the Chinese people united in hatred of the enemy and rose up in resistance.”
Later, Mr. Xi, in a Mao-style suit, stood in the open sunroof of a Chinese-made Red Flag limousine as he reviewed People’s Liberation Army troops. He called out, “Greetings, comrades,” and “Comrades, you are working hard!”
The troops turned their heads in perfect synchronicity as Mr. Xi’s car passed them, and responded in unison: “Follow the Party! Fight to win! Forge exemplary conduct!”
China and Russia have echoed each other’s version of World War II and the role their countries played in ending it.
“For both Xi and Putin, victory was costly, but incomplete. They believe that ‘hegemonic forces’ still want to impose a foreign model upon them and block their rightful place in the world,” said Joseph Torigian, an associate professor at American University. “Now, they want to use the memory of the war to inoculate future generations against western values and legitimate the global order they envision.”
The parade is also a warning to countries like the United States that Beijing regards as seeking to contain China’s rise. And Mr. Xi offered an implicit message to Taiwan and its international supporters of the perils of any move toward formal independence.
In his speech, Mr. Xi vowed to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity, and he said: “The Chinese People’s Liberation Army has always been a heroic force on which the Party and the people can totally rely.”
The parade was expected to display new ship-destroying missiles and an array of weaponry — including undersea drones and crewless combat planes — that highlight China’s investments in military innovation.
The event opened under extremely tight security, with many roads closed ahead of time. Journalists had been told to assemble at a site shortly before 3 a.m. for equipment checks before being led to Tiananmen Square three hours before the start of the parade.
The guest list of over two dozen world leaders is as notable for who is attending as for who is not, underscoring how much the divide between Beijing and the West has deepened, particularly over China’s close alignment with Russia in its war in Ukraine.
Conspicuously absent are high-level representatives from major Western democracies including the United States, Britain, France, Germany and Australia.
But the leaders of many Southeast Asian and Central Asian nations attended the parade, and that, along with a gathering of a Eurasian security grouping in Tianjin that ended Monday, showed China’s success in strengthening regional partnerships.
”Xi is driven to gain acceptance of China as a central global power and to revise the international system to better suit China’s preferences,” said Ryan Hass, director of the John L. Thornton China Center at the Brookings Institution. “He views the presence of other leaders at his parade as validating progress toward his goals.”
Chris Buckley and Lily Kuo contributed reporting from Taipei, Taiwan.
David Pierson covers Chinese foreign policy and China’s economic and cultural engagement with the world. He has been a journalist for more than two decades.
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