By IAN JOHNSON
BEIJING -- China kicked off National Day celebrations Thursday with an old-style communist military parade featuring missiles and tanks and a series of floats touting its new prosperity -- an extravaganza involving hundreds of thousands of performers intended to showcase both its history and its rise as an economic power.
...The events were the culmination of months of careful planning to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the People's Republic of China, founded when China's civil war ended with a communist victory. Like the opening ceremony of last year's Olympics, it was a precision event with no detail too small to ignore -- even the marching soldiers had been selected to be almost the same height.
Security was tight, with huge swaths of the city under tight control. Over the past two years, China has experienced the first serious ethnic riots in recent history and officials have started to warn of a growing terrorist threat. Police closed the international airport for the three-hour event, while buildings half a mile away from the parade were sealed off and handed over to local police. As the parade got under way under blue skies, it resembled more of a solemn ceremony than a festive occasion. Every performer, float and slogan had been carefully chosen by the Communist Party's propaganda machine.
In rehearsals over the past few months, students carried large books they held up over their heads and opened in unison to make giant pictures or slogans. When they turned the pages -- always in unison according to radioed instructions -- new pictures and slogans appeared. The synchronized effort was the result of hundreds of hours of practice.
"Almost everyone wanted to participate because it looks good to have been selected," said Fu Yiran, a 14-year-old high school student who was to participate. "Only the best students get to do this." The viewers of this extravaganza: a television audience of hundreds of millions, and a hand-picked audience of dignitaries. On the north side of Tiananmen Square, the country's leaders solemnly reviewed the event.
As in past parades, much foreign attention was focused on the military hardware for clues to the country's rapid military modernization. At the 50th anniversary in 1999, 24,000 soldiers paraded by, often with outdated weapons. Reflecting the Chinese armed forces' shift from a large land-based army to a smaller, modern force, just 5,000 soldiers were scheduled to participate this time, but their weapons are the envy of many countries.
Businesses and ordinary life around Beijing came to a halt on Thursday as the country celebrates the 60th anniversary of its founding with a huge military parade. Chinese officials said 52 weapons systems -- all made in China -- will be on display. None were expected to be new for military experts, but many observers were still fascinated by the display.
One key weapon that has attracted attention is the "aircraft killer" Dongfeng 21, an antiship ballistic missile. Wendell Minnick, Asia bureau chief for Defense News, said the missile is meant to keep U.S. aircraft carriers at bay should they try to come to Taiwan's aid in the event of a Chinese invasion. (China claims democratically ruled Taiwan as part of its territory and has said that it could use force if Taiwan were to declare its formal independence.)
"This is going to give the China-threat crowd in Washington ammunition," Mr. Minnick said. Chinese officials said the display wasn't meant to intimidate, but simply to display the fruits of modernization. "A country's military ability is not a threat to anyone, what is important is its military policy," Gen. Gao Jianguo, executive deputy director of the office of the National Day Military Parade Joint Command, said earlier this week. The military parade is part of a new tradition, he said, and isn't meant to send other countries a message.
China Showcases Military in Anniversary Parade
