China is celebrating 70 years since it became a communist state but Hong Kong protests could overshadow the day.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has made absolutely no secret of his desire to evoke memories of the country’s revolutionary founding father. His brief speech touched on familiar themes: unity, on-going struggle, China’s inexorable progress.

Then he was carried along, standing, in a car for a lengthy review of the military parade. He waved occasionally, they replied with shouts of loyalty.

'No force can stop the Chinese'

As Xi Jinping drives along this VAST line up of troops and military equipment, here's a little more from the speech he just gave.

"The Chinese people managed to stand up on their feet and embark on the green journey of national rejuvenation...

"Today China is standing in the gates of the world and there is no force that can shake the foundations of this nation. No force can stop the Chinese people and the Chinese nation forging ahead."

That last line is really underlined by the scale of the military hardware on display right now. China wants to show the world - and crucially its own people - that it is now a force to be reckoned with. 

Though the consistent messaging before today has been this is a peace-loving nation, with a military primarily aimed at defence. Officials have stressed that this parade is not aimed at any particular country.

Military leaders have said this isn’t "muscle flexing", but note that this key moment, this celebration of 70 years of Communist Party control, is focused overwhelmingly on military might.

Standing in the exact spot where Mao declared the foundation of the People’s Republic of China, Xi Jinping was the only one among the country’s senior leaders wearing the Mao-like suit.

Cheers and abuse on parade 

As hundreds of millions in China and elsewhere watch the parade live on television, thousands are also watching livestreams online around the world.

State broadcaster CCTV's livestream has, in an unusual move, opened its comment section, featuring a steady torrent of patriotic slogans, such as "Long live the People's Republic of China!"

But there's also abuse. "Evil Chinese empire!" said one commenter. "Remember June 4th!" said another commenter, in a reference to the Tiananmen Square massacre which took place on the site of this very parade. Others are calling for a free Hong Kong.

Here come the planes

We're expecting more than 150 planes to fly over the city today - and we've just seen the first of them. As expected, one flyby was in a "70" formation - hard to hide rehearsals of that.

Hypersonic glide vehicle on show

Xi has now reviewed the troops lined up along Chang'an Avenue.

The Sharp Sword batwing stealth drone is there along with what appears to be a new and quite large unmanned underwater vehicle.

Xi's limousine turned around to head back to the rostrum next to the DF-41 - that's China's new intercontinental ballistic missile at the end of the missile line-up.

And we have just seen a close-up of the new DF-17 with the hypersonic glide vehicle warhead mounted on the missile.

China's military on display

President Xi Xinping is parading up and down long lines of chanting soldiers and military hardware while there's patriotic music blasting from speakers across the square. We're checking in on the equipment on show - there's excitement from military analysts about whether new gear might be revealed today.

'Thank you for your hard work!"

Xi Jinping is greeting the soldiers as he is driven past in his inspection of troops. "Good job, Comrades! Thank you for your hard work, Comrades!"

Source: BBC
BDST: 1140 HRS, OCT 1, 2019
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