Minnie Chen and Andrea Chen
South China Morning Post
January 27, 2015
Second world war anniversary march-past will also bolster president’s power, say analysts.
A huge military parade to be held in Beijing later this year to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of the second world war will also show off the nation’s growing international influence and military might and bolster the political power of President Xi Jinping, according to analysts.
The event will probably be held on September 3, according to academic and military sources, and it will the first time the president has attended a full-scale military parade in the capital since he took office in 2012. The events are usually held every 10 years in Beijing on China’s National Day, October 1.
“The parade will show the outside world that President Xi has full control of the party, government and army as well as highlight his success in the ongoing nationwide anti-corruption campaign,” said Li Jie, a Beijing-based retired senior colonel.
Macau-based military expert Antony Wong Dong said the parade would help the president further consolidate his personal prestige at home and overseas and would give the world a glimpse of China’s achievements in modernising its army.
“Military enthusiasts and politicians are waiting for more surprises in this year’s parade because China has been reported testing so many advanced fighter jets and missiles in recent years,” Wong said.
The last National Day parade in 2009 surprised many overseas military observers because it featured many of the PLA’s latest generation of weapons, he said.
An opinion piece published on the social media account of the People’s Daily
said the parade would display new-generation fighter jets such as the J-20 and J-31, and showcase new missile systems.
The signed commentary also said the parade would show corrupt elements in the country that Xi had a tight grip on power, with the military, domestic security apparatus and the government’s anti-corruption agency now firmly under his command. The government has initiated a sweeping anti-graft campaign since the president took office, with hundreds of officials under investigation.
Foreign heads of state will also be invited to attend the military parade as guests for the first time. Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has confirmed he will attend.
The gesture shows the two countries’ political ties are strengthening, according to Tian Chunsheng, an analyst at the government’s Russian Development Research Centre of the State Council.
“Beijing and Moscow want to reiterate their consensus in upholding Japan’s post-war pacifist constitution, which the administration of [Prime Minister] Abe is trying to overturn,” Tian said.
Deng Xiaoping resumed the convention of holding the National Day military parade in 1984 after the event was dropped in the 1960s.
