China flexed its military muscle at a huge military parade in Beijing to mark 80 years since the end of World War II, displaying its latest generation of stealth fighters, tanks and ballistic missiles amid a highly choreographed cast of thousands.
The parade through Tiananmen Square on Wednesday morning was overseen by Chinese President Xi Jinping, who is also the head of China’s military and the Chinese Communist Party.
After greeting foreign leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Xi moved on to welcome Chinese military veterans before taking his place at the centre of the event.
Xi watched on from the Gate of Heavenly Peace before making a speech to the 10,000 assembled members of the People’s Liberation Army, Navy and Air Force, stating that China would continue to “adhere to a path of peaceful development”.
“Humanity is again faced with a choice of peace or war, dialogue or confrontation, and win-win outcomes or zero-sum games,” Xi said, according to an official readout of his speech.
“The Chinese people will stand firmly on the right side of history and on the side of human progress, adhere to the path of peaceful development, and join hands with the rest of the world to build a community with a shared future for humanity,” he said.
Dressed in a grey Mao suit, Xi then toured Tiananmen Square, standing in a vehicle, before the parade finally commenced down Beijing’s Chang’an Avenue, a major thoroughfare in the Chinese capital.
China’s most advanced weaponry took front and centre in the parade, including clearly labelled DF-5 intercontinental missiles – capable of delivering a nuclear warhead – alongside tight formations of military personnel.
“For Xi, the point is to reinforce the impression that the [People’s Republic of China, PRC] has arrived as a great power under his leadership,” said Ian Chong, a political scientist at the National University of Singapore.
“Another is the array of leaders at the parade, which suggests that the PRC cannot be isolated and is unafraid of pressure and bullying, particularly from the United States,” he said.
Above the parade, the air force staged a flyover, including helicopters with banners declaring, “Justice will prevail”, “Peace will prevail”, and “The people will win”.
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