BEIJING: President Xi Jinping staged a show of strength in Beijing on Wednesday, overseeing a sweeping military parade designed to project China’s growing power and send a blunt message to rivals: Beijing will not bow to foreign pressure.
Fighter jets roared overhead, long-range missiles rolled through Tiananmen Square, and tens of thousands of troops marched in step as Xi, dressed in a Mao-style tunic, declared: “The Chinese nation is a great nation that fears no tyranny and stands firm on its own feet.”
The display was steeped in symbolism. Xi was flanked by Russian President Vladimir Putin, North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, and leaders from Iran, Pakistan, and other authoritarian-leaning states—while representatives from major Western democracies were notably absent. Cannons fired 80 times to mark the anniversary of WWII’s end, followed by a release of 80,000 pigeons and balloons.
The parade capped weeks of nationalist propaganda portraying the Communist Party as China’s savior from foreign aggression. By invoking wartime memories of Imperial Japan and denouncing US “containment,” Xi rallied domestic support amid slowing growth and worsening ties with Washington.
Xi later stood in the open sunroof of a Red Flag limousine, saluting People’s Liberation Army soldiers as he called out, “Greetings, comrades!” and “You are working hard!”
Among the cutting-edge weaponry on display were ship-killing missiles, undersea drones, and autonomous combat aircraft—evidence of China’s rapid advances in military technology as it seeks to rival US dominance in Asia.
“Today, mankind faces the choice of peace or war, dialogue or confrontation, win-win or zero-sum,” Xi said from Tiananmen Gate, beneath the portrait of Mao Zedong. “The Chinese people firmly stand on the right side of history.”
