Massive parade marks China’s 70th anniversary

Alex Neill

International Institute of Strategic Studies

Commentators are placing emphasis on intelligent warfare, AI, quantum computing, big data and the internet of things, and linking this with the Chinese army’s new Strategic Support Force.

When he was leader, Jiang Zemin called for
China to be able to fight short, high intensity wars under “informationised” conditions – meaning China’s military needed to embrace the digital revolution. Today’s parade is emphasising that China has made big strides towards high-tech
warfare.

There’s also a lot of attention today on three new items
confirmed on display: a large UUV (underwater drone), the supersonic
targeting drone the WZ-8 and the Sharp Sword stealth drone.

Many residents of Beijing’s hutongs were eagerly waiting for the country’s biggest military parade. The BBC caught up with some of them this week.

Ms Feng, 81, said she took part in the National Day rallies in the 1950s and saw then-Premier Zhou Enlai. But she couldn’t go to Tiananmen Square today because of her health.

A nurse during the Korean War, Ms Feng said: “Stability is the most important thing for a country.”

“The country has improved in every aspect in the past seven decades,” she said. “I get a 5,000 yuan ($700; £570) pension every month. This would have been unimaginable in the past.”

I just refreshed my Sina Weibo page (China’s popular micro-blogging platform) and surprise, surprise: Tiananmen’s military show has soared to the top of its trending topics. Engagement is reaching the millions.

National Day military parade dominates Weibo discussion, with millions of reads and comments from Chinese social media users in the mainland pouring in. This user blogged about watching the parade live (with his cat) from his living room, praising the “strength and might” of the military. Citizens from other cities grumbled about the quality of the live stream. And others were just online to wish modern China a happy birthday.

But let’s not forget about China’s control over the internet: it heavily censors negative comments on Weibo so we’re unlikely to see critical comments there – at least not for long.

Here are a few pictures of the parade so far.

Robin Brant

BBC News, Beijing

Standing in the exact spot
where Mao declared the foundation of the People’s Republic of China, Xi Jinping
was the only one among the country’s senior leaders wearing the Mao-like suit.

President Xi has made absolutely no secret of his desire to evoke memories of the
country’s revolutionary founding father. His brief speech touched on familiar
themes: unity, on-going struggle, China’s inexorable progress.

Then he was
carried along, standing, in a car for a lengthy review of the military parade.
He waved occasionally, they replied with shouts of loyalty.

Military leaders
have said this isn’t “muscle flexing”, but note that this key moment, this
celebration of 70 years of Communist Party control, is focused overwhelmingly on
military might.

As hundreds of millions in China and elsewhere watch the parade live on television, thousands are also watching livestreams online around the world.

State broadcaster CCTV’s livestream has, in an unusual move, opened its comment section, featuring a steady torrent of patriotic slogans, such as “Long live the People’s Republic of China!”

But there’s also abuse. “Evil Chinese empire!” said one commenter. “Remember June 4th!” said another commenter, in a reference to the Tiananmen Square massacre which took place on the site of this very parade. Others are calling for a free Hong Kong.

Alex Neill

International Institute of Strategic Studies

Xi has now reviewed the troops lined up along Chang’an Avenue.

The Sharp Sword batwing stealth drone is there
along with what appears to be a new and quite large unmanned underwater
vehicle.

Xi’s limousine turned around to head back to the rostrum next to
the DF-41 – that’s China’s new intercontinental ballistic missile at the end of the
missile line-up.

And we have just seen a close-up of the new DF-17 with the
hypersonic glide vehicle warhead mounted on the missile.

President Xi Xinping is parading up and down long lines of chanting soldiers and military hardware while there’s patriotic music blasting from speakers across the square. We’re checking in on the equipment on show – there’s excitement from military analysts about whether new gear might be revealed today.

As Xi Jinping drives along this VAST line up of troops and military equipment, here’s a little more from the speech he just gave.

“The Chinese people managed to stand up on their feet and embark on the green journey of national rejuvenation…

“Today China is standing in the gates of the world and there is no force that can shake the foundations of this nation. No force can stop the Chinese people and the Chinese nation forging ahead.”

That last line is really underlined by the scale of the military hardware on display right now. China wants to show the world – and crucially its own people – that it is now a force to be reckoned with. Though the consistent messaging before today has been this is a peace-loving nation, with a military primarily aimed at defence. Officials have stressed that this parade is not aimed at any particular country.

Alex Neill

International Institute of Strategic Studies

Hi, I’m Alexander
Neill, Shangri-La Dialogue Senior Fellow from the International Institute for
Strategic Studies.

I’m joining the BBC team in Singapore to cover the parade,
keeping an eye out for latest weapons systems of the People’s Liberation Army
and their significance.

Sixty elite guards are setting the pace for the
parade under a blue sky. Xi has arrived in the open-top inspection limousine to review
the troops lined up along Chang’an Avenue.

As expected, Xi Jinping is delivering a message of unity and prosperity to the public. He’s pledging that the government will “put people first” and “meet people’s aspirations for a better life”.

He’s also mentioned Hong Kong and Macau – pledging to maintain their “long-term prosperity”.

“Forging ahead, we must remain committed to the strategy of
peaceful reunification,” he says. That’s a reference to Taiwan, which China believes is a province that brokeaway after the Kuomintang was defeated in 1949 and will one day be brought back to the mainland. They have never ruled out force in doing so.

Update on the guns – it was 56 guns which each fired 70 times.

The significance of the 70 is perhaps obvious, while the 56 represents the number of different ethnic groups that China recognises as making up its population. The most numerous of those is the Han Chinese.

We’ll almost certainly see representatives of all the ethnic groups marching in today’s civilian parade. Many people will be on the lookout for representatives of the Uighurs, the mostly Muslim ethnic group from western Xinjiang province who have been detained en masse in recent years in what China calls terrorism-prevention training camps.

China Uighurs: All you need to know on Muslim ‘crackdown’

Premier Li Keqiang has formally announced the opening of the celebrations. We’ve got a many-gun salute now – I’ve lost count. And soldiers marching slowly information towards the vast flagpole in Tiananmen Square where they’ll raise the Chinese flag.

Also on the podium, watching events along with China’s current leaders, are former leaders Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao.

It’s not just the live events that are being carefully choreographed – the domestic media coverage is as well.

While Anna and I are sitting in the BBC’s Singapore bureau and can write without censorship, things would be very different if we were working for a Chinese publication. We’d obviously be expected to toe the party line anyway, but starting this October, we’d even have to sit an exam on Xi Jinping’s teachings, officially called Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics.

“The fundamental point with this isn’t so much about the content,” David Bandurski of China Media Project told the BBC recently. “It is about reinforcing the message and understanding among journalists that they work, first and foremost, for the Chinese Communist Party, and serve its agenda.”