“Distrust compassion; prefer dignity for yourself and others.” —Christopher Hitchens
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I was physically present in Chang’an Avenue, Tiananmen Square in Beijing when the People’s Republic of China celebrated its 50th anniversary on October 1, 1999.
We were a group of Filipino journalists including publishers Teddy Boy Locsin, Jake Macasaet, and editors Joann Ramirez and Beting Dolor. Beijing invited some 1,000 media persons from many countries to attend the ceremonies, which featured a military parade, mass pageant, music and dance gala.
Secretary General Jiang Zemin delivered an emotional and inspiring speech, inspected the troops of the People’s Liberation Army, the People’s Armed Police, the Militia, and greeted Chinese officials. I remember seeing huge posters of Sun Yat-sen, Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping and Zhou Enlai leading the parade.
To our Filipino eyes, the 1999 military parade was already impressive—yet the visuals, technological realities and coercive capabilities of the recent Tiananmen Square parade under China President Xi Jinping this week would make that extravaganza 26 years ago look like a boy-scouts procession.
China officially observed the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War 2 last September 3 with the now historic 2025 China Victory Day Parade.
It is an ironic paradox that while China celebrates victories, our own beloved Philippines chooses to celebrate defeats, such as the Fall of Bataan—a question first proffered in public by former senator Rene Saguisag.
Well, China’s celebration was officially called Conference to Commemorate the 80th Anniversary of the Victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War.
It was reported that 12,000 troops of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) participated in the parade while Chinese Communist Party general secretary Xi Jinping inspected the troops. Chinese Premier Li Quiang was the master of ceremonies while General Han Shengyan was the chief commander of the parade.
President Xi delivered the opening remarks, pointing out that through immense national sacrifice, the Chinese people made a major contribution to saving human civilization and safeguarding world peace. He heaped praises on the PLA, calling it a heroic force that the party and the people can truly trust.
There are two facets of the celebration that should stand out. First, Xi’s statement that “Today, humanity is again faced with the choice of peace or war, dialogue or confrontation, win-win or zero-sum” and with these realities of the global stage, the Chinese people “firmly stand on the right side of history.”
The second important thing that should be mentioned is the attendance of some 26 world leaders. Among these were Russian President Vladimir Putin, General Secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea Kim Jong Un, and Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko.
The fact that Xi, Putin and Kim Jong Un appeared in public together at a military parade is something for the West to be worried about. CNN noted that the three leaders stood together publicly for the first time at a military parade.
The event was considered a defiant challenge to the United States-led world order, a decaying concept if you will ask me. The parade featured thousands of advanced weapons, including cutting-edge drones and robots to be used exclusively for military purposes.
Imagine how the past 26 years of hard work, dogged research, training, innovation and engineering interventions aside from economic progress and discipline resulted in this kind of military capability for China.
It was actually the optics needed to confirm that President Xi is serious in pushing to modernize the world’s largest standing army.
It, too, was the nudge that prodded US President Donald Trump to comment that the US had helped China and should have been mentioned for its efforts in World War 2. Also, Trump dropped the hint (or the charge?) that maybe, Xi, Putin and Kim were conspiring against his country.
Always the self-centered individual, Donald Trump told reporters about the trio: “They were hoping I was watching, and I was watching. My relationship with all of them is very good. We’re going to find out how good it is over the next week or two.”
Trump indeed cannot pass this hurting scene without a threat of his own.
