SELF-DEFENSE IN NATURE
As the military parade went on, 80,000 children
holding red, green, blue plastic wreath and flowers spelled out slogans, turning
the vast Tian'anmen Square into a sea of color.
The slogans included "Ting Dang Zhi Hui (follow the
Party's orders)", "Fu Wu Ren Min (serve the people)", "Ying Yong Shan Zhan(fight
valiantly and skillfully), "Zhong Cheng Yu Dang (be loyal to the Party)" and
"Bao Xiao Zu Guo (serve the country)".
As the military parade came to an end, the slogans
were changed into images of a peace dove and the Great Wall, indicating that the
country is peace loving and the PLA has solid defensive capability.
The military parade, with little doubt, will be
closely scrutinized by domestic and overseas military watchers for clues about
China's development trends.
In an effort to ease concerns over of its growing
military might, senior PLA officials have on many occasions stressed that a
stronger PLA will not be a threat to other countries.
General Gao Jianguo, spokesperson of the National Day
Military Parade Joint Command, said last week that the display of China's armed
forces and weaponry should be seen as an open, transparent, peaceful and
friendly gesture rather than "a show-off of military might."
Gao dismissed the allegation that a powerful military
capability shown by the high-profile parade might worry China's neighboring
countries, saying that holding a military parade on major festivals is an
international practice.
"Whether a country's military power would raise
threats to other nations depends on the nature of the country's defense
policies," he said.
China's White Paper on National Defense issued in
January 2009 said China pursues a national defense policy which is purely
defensive in nature.
Before the funding of New China, China had suffered
from repeated invasions of foreign powers.
In August 1900, the Eight-Power Allied Forces
(Britain, France, Germany, Austria, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States)
lined up the Tian'anmen Squre for a military review after they gunned their way
into Beijing and looted the 3,000-year-old city.
"That is one of the darkest moments in China's
history, a huge humiliation. But I think that will never happen again. That's
why we need a strong army and strong national defense," 23-year-old postgraduate
Tang Liang, majoring in rocket design in the Beihang University in Beijing, said
after watching the parade on Internet.
Female pilots flying training jets conclude air display
BEIJING, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese People's Liberation Army's 15 female pilots ridding 15 training jets K-8 appeared as the final formation of an air display at the end of a grand military parade in Beijing Thursday morning.
With music of a popular military song to express pilots' enthusiasm for the nation's blue sky echoing around Tian'anmen Square, five training jets flew over hundreds of thousands of spectators, leaving red, yellow and blue smoke trails behind to conclude the air show that lasts for nearly ten minutes. Full story
China National Day parade crescendoed when nuclear weapon appears
BEIJING, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- China's National Day military parade culminated in the final staging of giant nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missiles Thursday.
The camouflage nuclear missiles, riding on 18 launch vehicles, rumbled past Tian'anmen Square and were reviewed by Chinese leaders and foreign guests. Full story
China's first early warning aircraft hints strategic leap in air defense
BEIJING, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- The organizer of China's National Day parade showed the most important hardware progress the country's Air Force made in the past decade as the long-range Kongjing-2000 and two other smaller Kongjing-200 aircraft led air formations.
The Kongjing-2000 is China's first generation of military airborne early warning and control (AEWC) system developed with its own technology. The plane was deployed around 2004 after decades of trade embargo by Western countries and unsuccessful acquisition of Russia-made equivalent. Full story
China new missile weapon to curb war threat
BEIJING, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- A new type of surface-to-surface intermediate and long-range missiles rumbled past the Tian'anmen Rostrum Thursday morning.
This type of missiles of DF series can be armed with either nuclear or conventional warheads, military experts say. Full story
Indigenous J-10 fighters become Air Force's backbones
BEIJING, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- Although China's indigenous J-10 multirole fighter was officially unveiled in 2006, it still deserved a new aircraft at the National Day parade.
As a third-generation fighter in the world, the single-seated J-10 reserves many independent intellectual property rights for its Chinese developers and manufacturers especially for its high-agility aerodynamic layout with its delta wings and a pair of canards. Full story
China's cruise missiles "sharp swords" for precision attacks
BEIJING, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- China's land-based cruise missiles debuted at a National Day parade Thursday morning, marking the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.
The missiles, painted in camouflage, were one of the most advanced domestically-made weaponry of the People's Liberation Army (PLA). Full story
Nuclear-capable intercontinental missiles bring climax to China parade
BEIJING, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- China's National Day military parade culminated in the final staging of giant nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missiles Thursday.
The camouflaged nuclear weapon rode on 18 launch vehicles. Full story
China displays its most advanced weapons in National Day parade
BEIJING, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- China on Thursday displayed some of its most sophisticated weaponry in a grand military review to mark the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic.
Fifty-two types of new weapon systems developed and made in China, including the country's most advanced nuclear-capable missiles, were displayed. Ninety percent of the weapons were exposed to paraded for the first time. Full story
China's conventional missiles aimed at winning information warfare
BEIJING, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- China's first missile brigade, carrying the country's surface-to-surface conventional missiles, rumbled past Tian'anmen Rostrum Thursday.
The homegrown missiles were carried by 18 mobile launchers, in a specially-designed formation. Full story
Military reserves marching past Tian'anmen Rostrum
BEIJING, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) - A formation of Chinese military reserves, with bayonet fixed, marched past the Tian'anmen Rostrum in the center of Beijing on Thursday.
Members of the group are selected from a reserve division in Beijing and include civil servants, company officials, workers, college students and retired servicemen, Bai Zhihong, head of the formation, said before the parade. Full story
China's armored vehicles roll into Tian'anmen Square
BEIJING, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- Fifteen formations of armored vehicles from the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and the People's Armed Police Force (PAPF) rumbled past Beijing's Tian'anmen Square Thursday.
The armored vehicle show was the biggest and most varied in the history of the National Day military parades since Oct. 1, 1949, when the People's Republic of China (PRC) was founded. Full story
First three-service women formation debuts in military parade
BEIJING, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) - A military formation, consisting of women soldiers from the land, naval and air forces, made its debut in the National Day military parade in Beijing on Thursday.
The formation had 378 soldiers, 26 more than other groups and also the largest in the world's modern military parade history. Full story
PLA to intensify aeronautic courses to cultivate information-savvy pilots
BEIJING, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- Wearing white helmets and blue flying uniforms, the pilot trainees goose-stepped toward the center stage of China's National Day military parade.
The 352 pilot trainees, 25 in each of 14 rows and two vanguards, were selected from students of the People's Liberation Army (PLA)'s Aviation University of Air Force based in Changchun, capital of northeast China's Jilin Province. Full story
Snapshot: Naval forces in National Day parade
BEIJING, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- Sailors and marines in the National Day parade Thursday impressed the audience on Tian'anmen Square and nationwide with the country's growing ability to guard its coast and territorial waters.
Formations of cadets, sailors and marines represented the progress the country had made in building a multi-dimensional naval defense capable of diversified missions. Full story
March-past showcases changes of PLA
BEIJING, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- China on Thursday staged a spectacular march-past in front of Tian'anmen, or the Gate of Heavenly Peace, in downtown Beijing, to mark the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic.
Thousands of crisp-uniformed Chinese servicemen and women, in 14 phalanxes, marched past the Tian'anmen Rostrum, where Chairman Mao Zedong proclaimed the founding of New China. Full story
BEIJING, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- The special operations forces of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) made their first public appearance Thursday in the National Day military parade on Tian'anmen Square.
The soldiers, in brown camouflage uniforms, were holding silenced submachine guns. Full story
BEIJING, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) - China's military parade reached a climax as a formation of Guard of Honor of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) three services marched past Tian'anmen in the center of Beijing.
The tall and handsome soldiers, dressed in green, white and blue ceremonial PLA uniforms, marched past Tian'anmen in swift and impeccable goosesteps, leaving spectators intoxicated in admiration. Full story
BEIJING, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Hu Jintao on Thursday called on the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and the People's Armed Police Force (PAPF) to make new contributions to safeguarding national sovereignty, security and territorial integrity, as well as to maintaining world peace. Full story
