China today displayed its military might by showcasing more than a dozen long-range missiles billed by state media as "aircraft carrier-killers" during an unprecedented massive military parade to commemorate the 70th anniversary of its victory against Japan in the World War II.
Ballistic missiles, tanks, amphibious assault vehicles, drones and other military equipment rolled through the sprawling Tiananmen Square here, with President Xi Jinping hailing China's victory against Japan in WWII as a "great triumph" which "crushed Japanese militarists".
Over 80 per cent of the war machines on display was being shown to the public for the first time, state media reported.
Troops from 17 countries, including Pakistan and Russia, formed part of 1,000 foreign soldiers who took part in the parade. Some 200 fighter jets took to the skies and 70,000 doves and balloons were released capping the extravaganza.
Flanked by Russian President Vladimir Putin, South Korean President Park Geun-hye and around 30 other world leaders like UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and India's Minister of State for External Affairs General V K Singh, Xi minced no words in targeting Japan for the WWII excess in which he said over 35 million Chinese suffered casualties.
Xi, the country's most powerful leader in decades after the first reformist leader Deng Xiaoping, said China would remain committed to "the path of peaceful development" and unexpectedly announced to cut 300,000 troops from its 2.3-million strong military, but gave no timeframe.
Xi made use of the occasion to rally round national sentiments highlighting the humiliation suffered under Japanese in the eight year war starting from 1937.
"In that devastating war, the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression started the earliest and lasted the longest," he said.
The massive victory parade was also a triumph of Xi’s leadership as he displayed complete control of the military against which he launched a massive anti-corruption crackdown leading to investigations into 40 top military Generals.
The unprecedented display of military might comes at a time when China is in a standoff with its neighbours over South China Sea and East China Sea.
China's claim of sovereignty over almost all of South China Sea is hotly contested by Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan.
The US, India and other countries have been stating that the disputes should not hinder the freedom of navigation in SCS which is a busy international shipping trade route.
China has also territorial disputes with Japan in the East China Sea.
This is the first time China has held a military parade to mark the victory against Japanese aggression. It is held in the background of growing tensions with Japan over the disputed islands in the East China Sea over which China has stepped up its claims in the last three years.
Ravaging through Asia, Europe, Africa and Oceania, the Japanese war inflicted over 100 million military and civilian casualties. China suffered over 35 million casualties and the Soviet Union lost more than 27 million lives, Xi said in a nationally televised speech.
In an emotionally chocked voice, Xi said the victory of the Chinese people against Japanese forces is "the first complete victory" won by China in its resistance against foreign aggression in modern times.
"This great triumph crushed the plot of the Japanese militarists to colonise and enslave China and put an end to China's national humiliation of suffering successive defeats at the hands of foreign aggressors in modern times," Xi said.
He said this victory also re-established China as a major country in the world and won the Chinese people respect of all peace-loving people around the world.
"This great triumph opened up bright prospects for the great renewal of the Chinese nation and set our ancient country on a new journey after gaining rebirth," he said.
China has strongly criticised Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's recent efforts to change Japan's post WWII pacifist constitution, saying it may revive the old military doctrine of aggression and demanded that he should apologise for the excesses committed by Japanese troops.
last month, Abe offered his "deep remorse" for all those who died as a result of Japan's WWII actions but avoided explicitly repeating the apologies of his predecessors.
More than 40,000 spectators, including Chinese officials, citizens and foreign guests took part in the event which was held under massive security blanket.
In a rare appearance, former Presidents Jiang Zemin, Hu Jintao and ex-Prime Minister Wen Jiabao also shared the stage along with Premier li Keqiang and other serving top leaders.
A 2,400-member military band and chorus performed classic songs well known in the war, including the song "Safeguard the Yellow River" from the Yellow River Cantata, composed in 1939 it inspired numerous Chinese in the dark moments.
A total of 50 formations of the People's liberation Army, including 11 foot phalanxes, 27 armament phalanxes, 10 echelon formations of aircraft and two veteran teams attended the ceremony.
The highlight of the parade was display of more than 500 pieces of China's latest weaponry as well as nearly 200 aircraft of about 20 different models.
Most of the Beijing has been shut down for past few days. The city's international airport was closed for two hours.