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Missiles and fireworks: China to mark 70 years with a bang
BEIJING, Sept 30, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Beijing’s massive 70th anniversary
celebrations for the People’s Republic of China on Tuesday will be tightly
choreographed and controlled.
The secretive Communist Party has made a few details about the event
public.
Here is what we know:
– Xi speech –
President Xi Jinping, who is also the general secretary of the Communist
Party, will open the celebration with a speech.
Xi is the country’s most powerful leader since Mao Zedong, who founded the
People’s Republic of China on October 1, 1949, at the end of a civil war that
drove nationalists out to Taiwan.
The current Chinese leader bowed three times in front of a statue of Mao
at Tiananmen Square and paid respects to his embalmed remains on Monday,
according to state media.
Xi is likely to address familiar themes during his speech, such as his
vision of the “Chinese dream” of “rejuvenation” to restore the country’s
former glory.
– Tanks, missiles and drones –
The anniversary will be a chance for China to show the world its growing
military might, with a phalanx of weapons and 15,000 soldiers parading across
Tiananmen Square.
Tanks, bombers, a supersonic drone and a new intercontinental ballistic
missile capable of reaching the United States are expected to be among nearly
600 pieces of military hardware and 160 aircraft on display.
Xi is expected to watch from the south entrance of the Forbidden City, the
same spot where Mao proclaimed the founding of the PRC.
– Doves and floats –
Soldiers will not be the only ones marching on Tuesday.
Some 100,000 civilians will walk along the parade route, along with 70
floats highlighting the country’s accomplishments.
A replica of a space rocket has been spotted sticking out from behind a
wall around the parking lot of the Workers Stadium along with other floats.
Numeric symbols will feature prominently, with the organisers releasing
70,000 doves and 70,000 balloons.
In the evening, artists will take over Tiananmen for a performance that
will be capped by a fireworks show.
– Smog and accidents –
There are some things that the image-conscious Communist Party can’t
control.
Authorities usually manage to clear Beijing’s notoriously polluted sky by
temporarily shutting down factories ahead of major events.
But thick, toxic smog has blanketed the city in recent days and the
forecast for Tuesday looks grim.
Chinese media outlets were given instructions to avoid giving too much
prominence to bad news stories ahead of the anniversary.
It took 24 hours for local media to report news of a factory fire than
left 19 people dead in eastern China and a major road crash that killed 36
others on the weekend — a highly unusual delay.
– Restricted event –
Most ordinary citizens hoping to catch a glimpse of the parade will likely
have to settle for watching it on live television, as security will be tight.
The procession will also be shown in 70 movie theatres across the country.
Roads will be closed in a massive perimeter spanning several blocks around
Tiananmen Square.
Authorities banned the flying of kites and homing pigeons ahead of the
event.
Censors have tightened control of social media and severely disrupted
virtual private networks (VPN) — software that enables people to circumvent
the Great Firewall and access blocked sites such as Twitter and Facebook.
BSS/AFP/MSY/1224 hrs