{"id":186792,"date":"2015-09-04T21:20:09","date_gmt":"2015-09-05T04:20:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/?p=186792"},"modified":"2015-09-04T21:20:09","modified_gmt":"2015-09-05T04:20:09","slug":"how-chinas-public-saw-the-beijing-parade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2015\/09\/how-chinas-public-saw-the-beijing-parade\/","title":{"rendered":"How China’s Public Saw the Beijing Parade"},"content":{"rendered":"

Though Thursday’s grand military parade in Beijing<\/a> cast a barrage of accusations at Japan, a glimpse of carrier-killing missiles at the U.S., and a catalog of other weaponry at potential buyers<\/a>, its primary audience was at home. At Medium, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s Yinuo Li reported that the event was warmly received by many Chinese, and explained why<\/strong><\/a>:<\/p>\n

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On WeChat (the largest social media platform in China), postings regarding this parade are overwhelmingly positive, including postings from my own \u201cfriend circle\u201d, many of them in the US. [\u2026]<\/p>\n

[\u2026] The emotion behind this positivity is not for the \u201cshow\u201d itself, rather a memory of history and the long way China has come in these 70 years. As I wrote in an earlier issue, the ~ 100 years of history in China following the 1840 Opium War has been an endless stretch of darkness\u200a\u2014\u200ainvasion, defeat, failure and humiliation. Troops from multiple countries came and invaded, looted, and colonized. This stretch culminated with the Japanese invasion from 1931\u20131945, during which time there were 35 million casualties in China, accounting for 1\/3 of the world\u2019s total casualties during WWII. China also faced 2\/3 of the armed forces of Japan, making a major contribution to the allied victory in WWII. The 1945 victory was China\u2019s first in a stretch of 105 years.<\/p>\n

[\u2026] Many of the postings on social media in China are people sharing old pictures and stories of their grandparents, reflecting how much the country had changed from a place of despair and devastation to independence and prosperity. This sentiment is quite a contrast to what\u2019s on the western media, most of which took a distant and detached observer role in their coverage. They all seem to be busy coming up with smart opinions and judgments of this event, as a habitual behavior when it comes any topics related to China, with a lack of empathy and little effort of even trying to understand the historical context for this event. [Source<\/strong><\/a>]<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

President Xi Jinping’s pre-parade address focused heavily on this national journey from humiliation to rejuvenation<\/strong><\/a>, describing Japan’s defeat as the key turning point and stressing the Party’s role in its continuation. From Xinhua:<\/p>\n

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The victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression 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 colonize 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. This great triumph 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.<\/p>\n

[\u2026] As an ancient Chinese saying goes, “After making a good start, we should ensure that the cause achieves fruition.” The great renewal of the Chinese nation requires the dedicated efforts of one generation after another. Having created a splendid civilization of over 5,000 years, the Chinese nation will certainly usher in an even brighter future.<\/p>\n

Going forward, under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, we, people of all ethnicities across the country, should take Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought, Deng Xiaoping Theory, the important thought of Three Represents and the Scientific Outlook on Development as our guide to action. We should follow the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics, pursue the four-pronged comprehensive strategy, promote patriotism and the great spirit of resisting aggression and forge ahead as one to reach our goals. [Source<\/strong><\/a>]<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Xi’s emphasis on the Party’s leadership, which did not take hold nationally until after the war, conveyed the heavy political subtext to the celebration. The New Yorker’s Evan Osnos described the parade as a move to bolster the Party’s legitimacy<\/strong><\/a> in the face of slowing economic growth and stock market upheaval<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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If the economy can only provide a diminishing political dividend, Chinese leaders will encourage their people to feel pride and vigor in other ways. \u201cIn defiance of aggression, the unyielding Chinese people fought gallantly and finally won total victory against the Japanese militarist aggressors, thus preserving China\u2019s five-thousand-year-old civilization and upholding the cause of peace of mankind,\u201d President Xi Jinping told the crowd on Thursday. \u201cThis remarkable feat made by the Chinese nation was rare in the history of war.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u2026 F]rom the organizers\u2019 perspective, the world was a secondary audience. The goal was to rally support and pride at home, and in that respect it was a great success. Those following on social media appeared to be thrilled; even snarky college students took a moment to marvel at how far China has come in building a national defense that could prevent the country from being brutalized as it was in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. At the end of the parade, seventy thousand doves fluttered past the missiles, up into the Beijing sky.<\/p>\n

Chinese leaders aren\u2019t foolish, and know that the outside world will be slightly spooked by the display. But, for the moment, there are more pressing matters: keeping their own people onside at a moment of acute economic distress. [\u2026] [Source<\/strong><\/a>]<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Others provided similar but sometimes more mixed assessments of the prevailing mood online:<\/p>\n

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Lots of sniggering about parade here on Twitter but for many Chinese watching, ample pride in knowing China will never again be invaded.<\/p>\n

— Kaiser Kuo (@KaiserKuo) September 3, 2015<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n