China's Biggest Military Pageant Sends a Powerful Signal

Beijing's most ambitious military parade in decades will do more than honor the past. It is a gesture to rivals and a boost for its legitimacy.

- Tan Dawn Wei

On Sept 3, much of Beijing will come to a standstill when China stages what is expected to be the largest military parade in its modern history.

It is orchestrating a performance of military scale and precision, diplomatic significance, and ideological storytelling, carefully calibrated for both a global audience increasingly wary of its ambitions and its citizens as it aims to stir nationalistic pride and provide some relief and distraction from its economic woes.

Already, firepower junkies have been geeking out on Chinese social media as they catch sight of the hardware rolling in to prepare for the long march down Beijing's Chang'an Avenue, the capital's main boulevard.

The parade, held to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, comes at a time when China is seeking to expand its geopolitical influence as the US administration under President Donald Trump upends the global order, undermines alliances and destabilizes international trade.

At home, the Chinese economy faces headwinds at the same time, with a nagging property slump dragging down investments, consumption and jobs.

Tens of thousands of troops in 45 formations will march. Hundreds of cutting-edge home-grown land, sea and air systems — from tanks, drones to hypersonic missiles — will be on show in a 70-minute spectacle that also features over 200 aircraft in a fly-past.

For Beijing, the parade achieves three major ends: it honors painful historical memory, signals modern military prowess, and reinforces the Communist Party's central role in China's national story past and present.

WEAPONS ON SHOW

China has been dropping teasers, letting cameras catch glimpses of never-before-seen weapons as they rumble towards the capital for rehearsal.