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China plans largest-ever military parade
By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN,Associated Press Writer AP - Thursday, February 12
BEIJING - China will stage its grandest-ever military parade this year with a spectacle of homemade weaponry to mark 60 years of communist rule and lift national pride amid a grim economic forecast, state media reported Wednesday.
Homemade weapons systems will be center stage during the Oct. 1 national day parade to show off the fruits of years of double-digit annual percentage military spending increases, the official Xinhua News Agency said.
China has long relied on Russia for advanced military hardware, but its own industries have in recent years notched breakthroughs such as the J-10 jet fighter and DF-31 intercontinental ballistic missile.
Military spending increases _ last year the budget jumped 17.6 percent to 417.8 billion yuan ($61 billion) _ have drawn concern over China's intentions from the U.S. and neighbors such as Japan, although Beijing insists it intends no aggression.
The parade is significant not only in marking the sixth decade of communist rule, but also as a way to instill pride in a population now facing one of the bleakest economic outlooks in recent memory, Xinhua said.
It follows a year of triumph and tragedy in which China reveled in the success of the Beijing Olympics and its first space walk, but also suffered through natural disasters including the massive Sichuan earthquake that left almost 90,000 people dead or missing.
Xinhua and other state media reports said the parade would display China's "overall national strength" and be even grander than that held in 1999 to mark 50 years of the People's Republic.
Troops will march down the Avenue of Heavenly Peace through the center of the capital, with the ancient Forbidden City palace on one side and sprawling Tiananmen Square on the other. Audiences for such events are tightly controlled and security in the capital ratcheted up to high intensity.
The event allows President Hu Jintao the opportunity to leave a public legacy as head of the party and government committees that command the armed forces. All of his predecessors, from Mao Zedong to Deng Xiaoping and Jiang Zemin, presided at similar parades and images of them riding in open cars or waving from the rostrum are among the most indelible of their careers.
China plans largest-ever military parade
By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN,Associated Press Writer AP - Thursday, February 12
BEIJING - China will stage its grandest-ever military parade this year with a spectacle of homemade weaponry to mark 60 years of communist rule and lift national pride amid a grim economic forecast, state media reported Wednesday.
Homemade weapons systems will be center stage during the Oct. 1 national day parade to show off the fruits of years of double-digit annual percentage military spending increases, the official Xinhua News Agency said.
China has long relied on Russia for advanced military hardware, but its own industries have in recent years notched breakthroughs such as the J-10 jet fighter and DF-31 intercontinental ballistic missile.
Military spending increases _ last year the budget jumped 17.6 percent to 417.8 billion yuan ($61 billion) _ have drawn concern over China's intentions from the U.S. and neighbors such as Japan, although Beijing insists it intends no aggression.
The parade is significant not only in marking the sixth decade of communist rule, but also as a way to instill pride in a population now facing one of the bleakest economic outlooks in recent memory, Xinhua said.
It follows a year of triumph and tragedy in which China reveled in the success of the Beijing Olympics and its first space walk, but also suffered through natural disasters including the massive Sichuan earthquake that left almost 90,000 people dead or missing.
Xinhua and other state media reports said the parade would display China's "overall national strength" and be even grander than that held in 1999 to mark 50 years of the People's Republic.
Troops will march down the Avenue of Heavenly Peace through the center of the capital, with the ancient Forbidden City palace on one side and sprawling Tiananmen Square on the other. Audiences for such events are tightly controlled and security in the capital ratcheted up to high intensity.
The event allows President Hu Jintao the opportunity to leave a public legacy as head of the party and government committees that command the armed forces. All of his predecessors, from Mao Zedong to Deng Xiaoping and Jiang Zemin, presided at similar parades and images of them riding in open cars or waving from the rostrum are among the most indelible of their careers.
