The security measures before Thursday’s celebration have been extensive. For several days, the police have checked all cars and passengers who have arrived in Beijing, which in several places has first to long queues.
Thursday morning, the celebration began with a grand ceremony in Tiananmen Square, where President Xi Jinping took the podium in front of a jubilant audience.
In his speech, he drew long historical lines back to the opium wars and to the struggle for a socialist revolution in China, and he praised China’s path from being a humiliated colony to becoming a great power.
– The party ensures success
The Chinese people will never allow foreign forces to bully, oppress or force them to submit, he said.
– Anyone who tries to do so will end up on a collision course with a large steel wall shaped by 1.4 billion Chinese, said the president, who was wearing a gray Mao uniform.
– We must maintain the party’s leadership. China’s success depends on the party, Xi stressed, pointing to the great economic progress China has made since the Communist Party came to power.
“The people of China are not only good at destroying the old world, they have also created a new world,” he said.
The podium was adorned with a large portrait of Mao Zedong, who proclaimed China as a Communist People’s Republic in 1949.
100 helicopters
Around 70,000 invited guests filled the square, which was decorated with 100 Chinese flags. In a large-scale air show, the audience could, among other things, witness 100 helicopters that formed a formation in the air above the square.
Neighborhood committees have mobilized thousands of volunteers who are tasked with keeping order in the streets. Soldiers are deployed to guard the subway stations.
Xi Jinping’s speech lasted over an hour. Here he also dealt with criticism from outside.
“The Chinese will not accept hypocritical sermons from those who feel they have a right to teach us,” he said.
The United States has stepped up its rhetoric against China since Joe Biden became president, and recently NATO declared China a “systemic challenger.”
Hong Kong and Uighurs
Western countries criticize, among other things, China for the authoritarian course in Hong Kong, with the imprisonment of pro-democracy activists and the gagging of the free press. They also accuse the country of gross human rights violations against the Muslim Uighur minority in the west of the country, and of settling in sea areas that other Asian countries also claim.
During his time as president, Xi Jinping has consolidated his own power and made sure to get rid of members of the Communist Party who could challenge him.
In his speech, Xi spoke out against the so-called “independence forces” in Taiwan, which China considers part of its territory. He called for a “peaceful reunion” with the island.
– No one should underestimate China’s willingness and ability to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity, said Xi, who also called for a modernization of China’s defense.
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