Beijing: No force can ever stop China from marching forward, President Xi Jinping asserted on Tuesday as he presided over the country’s largest parade, showcasing its military might and unity among top leaders, to celebrate the Communist Party’s hold on power for 70 years.
As China held its largest parade, Hong Kong witnessed one of its violent protests with thousands of pro-democracy activists, who burnt Chinese flags, demanding autonomy, universal franchise, and freedom for all the people to contest the elections for the territory’s legislature.
“No force can ever shake the status of China, or stop the Chinese people and nation from marching forward,” an assertive Xi said in his speech ahead of the parade, as the two-million strong world’s largest army flexed its muscles displaying some of its most sophisticated weapons, including long range Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs).
Regarded as the most powerful leader since the Communist Party of China (CPC) founder Mao Zedong, Xi, 66, who heads the party, the military and the presidency, said that the founding of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) under the leadership of the CPC has completely changed “China’s miserable fate” of being poor and weak and being bullied and humiliated for over 100 years since the advent of modern times.
Flanked by his predecessors, Jiang Zemin, 93 and Hu Jintao, 76, as a show of unity and solidarity of the CPC leadership in face of intensifying strategic competition with the US and emergence of China, Xi called on the people to uphold the CPC’s leadership.
The parade included decorated floats with huge photos of Mao, his successor Deng Xiaoping, Hu and Xi outlining their political and ideological contribution to the development of CPC and China. “Seventy years ago, on this day Comrade Mao Zedong solemnly declared here to the world that the PRC was founded and the Chinese people had stood up,” Xi said.
For the world, he assured that China would stay on the peaceful development path, allaying global concerns over China’s rise. “We will continue to work with people from all countries to push for jointly building a community with a shared future for humanity,” Xi said. (PTI)
