With fighter jets roaring overhead, China's
leader presided Thursday over a massive parade of tanks, missiles and troops
that displayed growing military might, but also pledged to reduce the army by
300,000 troops in a bid to show his country poses no expansionist threat.
The
spectacle through the heart of Beijing commemorated Japan's World War II defeat
seven decades ago, with helicopters zooming across the sky in an array forming
the number 70, but the event also underlined President Xi Jinping's determination
to make China the pre-eminent Asian power.
Xi
kicked off the proceedings with a speech from atop iconic Tiananmen Gate,
flanked by Chinese leaders past and present along with foreign dignitaries
including Russian leader Vladimir Putin, South Korean President Park Geun-hye
and U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
"The
experience of war makes people value peace even more," Xi said.
"Regardless of the progress of events, China will never seek hegemony,
China will never seek to expand and will never inflict the tragedies it
suffered in the past upon others."
To
underline that point, Xi said the 2.3-million-member People's Liberation Army
would cut 300,000 troops. However, it would still remain the world's largest
standing military and the reduction comes at a time when growing technological
capabilities reduce the need for large numbers of troops.
Wearing
a grey high-buttoned suit of the sort worn by past Chinese leaders, Xi then
drove past the assembled troops in a Chinese-made Red Flag limousine. Standing
in the sunroof with four microphones mounted in front, he called out
"Greetings, Comrades" every few moments before the troops started
their marching.
The
event involved more than 12,000 troops, 500 pieces of military hardware and 200
aircraft of various types, representing what military officials say is the
Chinese military's most cutting-edge technology.
The
parade is part of commemorations packaged to bolster the ruling Communist
Party's self-declared role as the driving force behind Japan's defeat 70 years
ago and savior of the nation, though historians say the rival Nationalists did
most of the fighting. The events also minimize the role of the U.S., Britain
and others, although Beijing has attempted to stress the support it has
received from a wide spectrum of foreign nations.
Most
leading democracies kept high-level representatives away, reflecting concerns
over the parade's anti-Japanese tone and China's recent aggressive moves to
assert territorial claims. The U.S. sent only its ambassador to observe. In
Washington, U.S. Defense Department spokesman Bill Urban said that the U.S.
maintains such commemorations should be about reconciliation and that a
"large military display would not appear to be consistent with this
theme."
Under
Xi, who took power as party leader in late 2012, Beijing has sent ships to
confront Japan's coast guard near disputed islands in the East China Sea,
challenged Philippine outposts near the country's shores and constructed whole
islands from reefs, topping them with airstrips and other military
infrastructure.
e
appeared to be little few surprises.
China's latest model Type 99A2 tanks
led the armored contingents, followed by self-propelled artillery,
anti-aircraft systems and a variety of short, intermediate and long-range missiles.
Unmanned aerial vehicles were loaded aboard trucks, while aircraft including
China's domestically developed J-10 fighters and H6 bombers flew overhead
streaming trails of colored smoke.
Of special interest was the
appearance of the DF-21D anti-ship ballistic missile, potentially capable of
sinking a U.S. Nimitz-class aircraft carrier in a single strike. Although
questions remain over its reliability on the battlefield, the weapon has
stirred concerns in the Pentagon about the vulnerability of U.S. military
assets in the case of an attack on Japan, Taiwan or American bases in Asia.
"This will terribly complicate
Washington's ability to fulfill defense guarantees to its major Asian allies
and implicit guarantees made to Taiwan," said Richard Fisher, a senior
fellow at the Washington think tank International Assessment and Strategy
Center.
The parade took place under blues
skies and heavy security, with the route along central Chang'an Avenue closed
to the public. Beijing residents greeted the event with a mix of pride and
annoyance at the accompanying inconvenience.
"Military parades are fine, but
we're losing business," said the clerk of a convenience store located east
of Tiananmen Square that had been forced to close on Wednesday afternoon.
"It was really exciting,"
said street vendor Huang Mei. "But I don't think it was any big deal. It
didn't really have much to do with us regular people."
