A defiant President Xi Jinping on Thursday asserted that the Chinese people will not allow any “foreign force” to “bully, oppress or subjugate” China and spoke of its military might to defend its sovereignty, as the ruling Communist Party celebrated its centenary with a massive colourful show at the historic Tiananmen Square here.
Addressing a highly-choreographed ceremony from the balcony of Tiananmen Gate, which also adorns a giant size photo of ‘Chairman’ Mao Zedong, the founding father of the People’s Republic of China, Xi also said integrating Taiwan with the Chinese mainland is a historic mission of the party.
Xi warned that any “foreign force” will be allowed to bully China, an apparent reference to the US.
Both former US President Donald Trump and his successor Joe Biden have pursued a hardline policy towards China, targeting it on several fronts including trade, human rights and the origins of the Covid-19, which first emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan before becoming a pandemic.
“Chinese people will never allow any foreign force to bully, oppress, or subjugate us,” state-run Xinhua news agency quoted 68-year-old Xi as saying.