China’s parade tomorrow to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II would be the country’s largest to date, and is aimed at flexing its military might, a Taiwanese official said.
China is expected to showcase new strategic weapons at the parade in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square to mark the anniversary of what it calls its victory in the “War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression,” the national security official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
The massive display is aimed at boosting China’s regional and global influence, consolidating ties with authoritarian states, rewriting the historical narrative of World War II, and easing internal and external political pressure, they said.
Photo: Reuters
Beijing is believed to have spent more than 36 billion yuan (US$5.05 billion) on the event, which would showcase Dongfeng-41 intercontinental ballistic missiles, Julang-3 submarine-launched ballistic missiles and Dongfeng-17 hypersonic missiles in an apparent show of force aimed at the US, they said.
The KJ-600 airborne early warning aircraft is also expected to make its debut at the parade, they added.
Troops have been rehearsing for the parade, expected to be one of the largest in years, since March in Yangfang, a “parade village” outside Beijing, they said.
China ordered nearby factories to be shut down for the month leading up to the parade to ensure clear skies, while on the day of the parade, commercial activities, tourism and food-delivery services would also likely be suspended, the official said.
The parade would comprise of three parts: a march showcasing the military’s reorganized structure, which would also involve troops from countries such as Russia and Belarus; a procession of advanced domestically developed weapons; and an aerial display featuring combat and support aircraft, with the KJ-600 likely appearing for the first time, they said.
The firepower segment would prominently showcase long-range and intercontinental missiles, underscoring China’s nuclear deterrence capabilities, they said.
The parade is to be the costliest to date, with training expenses alone totaling 800 million yuan, while fuel and maintenance for the 45 ground and air formations would cost 200 million yuan, they said.
The largest single expense for the event would be security, with about 4.6 billion yuan spent on police and security forces across Beijing, the official said.
Temporary factory closures lasting two to four weeks would require subsidies of about 29 billion yuan, while lost ticket revenue and suspended commercial activity would cost about 1.1 billion yuan, they added.
A 72-year-old man in Kaohsiung was sentenced to 40 days in jail after he was found having sex with a 67-year-old woman under a slide in a public park on Sunday afternoon. At 3pm on Sunday, a mother surnamed Liang (梁) was with her child at a neighborhood park when they found the man, surnamed Tsai (蔡), and woman, surnamed Huang (黃), underneath the slide. Liang took her child away from the scene, took photographs of the two and called the police, who arrived and arrested the couple. During questioning, Tsai told police that he had met Huang that day and offered to
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
BETTER SERVICE QUALITY: From Nov. 10, tickets with reserved seats would only be valid for the date, train and route specified on the ticket, THSRC said Starting on Nov. 10, high-speed rail passengers with reserved seats would be required to exchange their tickets to board an earlier train. Passengers with reserved seats on a specific train are currently allowed to board earlier trains on the same day and sit in non-reserved cars, but as this is happening increasingly often, and affecting quality of travel and ticket sales, Taiwan High-Speed Rail Corp (THSRC) announced that it would be canceling the policy on Nov. 10. It is one of several new measures launched by THSRC chairman Shih Che (史哲) to improve the quality of service, it said. The company also said
A magnitude 6 earthquake last night at 9:11pm struck off northeastern Yilan County, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The earthquake’s epicenter was located in waters between Toucheng Township (頭城) and Turtle Island (Gueishan Island, 龜山島), about 22.1km northeast of Yilan County Hall at a depth of 112km, CWA data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake’s intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Yilan’s Dongshan (冬山) and Nanao (南澳) townships and Taipei’s Xinyi District (信義), where it measured 4 on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale. It measured 3 in other areas of Yilan and Taipei, as
RSS