China is set to hold a grand military parade in central Beijing next month, featuring tens of thousands of participants, to mark 80 years since Japan’s surrender and the end of World War Two, in a major show of national pride and military strength.
Hundreds of aircraft including fighter jets and bombers as well as ground equipment, some of which have never been seen in public before, will be featured in the parade, military officials said at a press conference.
Show Of Military Strength
The September 3 parade, the second such procession since 2015 to observe the formal surrender of Japanese forces in 1945, will be a show of China’s military strength as some of its neighbours and Western nations look on with concern over the projection of power by the People’s Liberation Army in recent years.
From trucks fitted with devices to take out drones, new tanks and early warning aircraft to protect China’s aircraft carriers, military attaches and security analysts say they are expecting China to display a host of new weapons and equipment at the parade.
Additions to its expanding suite of missiles, particularly anti-ship versions and weapons with hypersonic capabilities, will be particularly closely watched as the US and its allies prepare to counter China in any future regional conflict.
Putin To Attend Parade
The 70-minute-long “Victory Day” parade, comprising 45 contingents of troops will be surveyed by President Xi Jinping at Tiananmen Square alongside a number of foreign leaders and dignitaries including Russian President Vladimir Putin, who also attended the 2015 parade.
Authorities have significantly heightened security across downtown Beijing since early August, when the first full-scale rehearsal for the upcoming military parade took place. Multiple checkpoints have been set up, road traffic has been diverted, and several shopping malls and office complexes have been temporarily shut to ensure smooth preparations and maintain public safety.
(With inputs from Reuters)
