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Sunday 4 October 2009
Celebration that stopped the nation
China celebrated 60 years of communist rule yesterday with a spectacular parade and extravagant pageantry to display the country’s growing military and economic might and national pride.
People around the country tune in to watch China’s big anniversary bash Spectacular ceremonies mark crowning moment of president’s political career
Cary Huang in Beijing 02 October 2009
China celebrated 60 years of communist rule yesterday with a spectacular parade and extravagant pageantry to display the country’s growing military and economic might and national pride.
While the nation’s leaders and privileged guests attended the tightly guarded official celebration in Beijing, people around the country stopped to watch the event on television and celebrate the milestone in gatherings of friends and families.
Standing atop Tiananmen Gate - the spot from which Mao Zedong in 1949 proclaimed the birth of a “new China” - President Hu Jintao declared: “A socialist China that faces the future and the world is standing tall and firm in the East.”
Yesterday’s celebrations were designed to send a clear message that China has taken its place as a global power and to cement the authority and legitimacy of the Communist Party.
Presiding over the Republic’s 60th birthday - an important year in Chinese culture that symbolises the beginning of a new era - was the crowning moment of Hu’s political career.
The president was flanked by past and present leaders, including his predecessor Jiang, on Tiananmen Gate to view the proceedings. His portrait was raised high alongside those of Mao, Deng Xiaoping and Jiang Zemin for the first time in a National Day celebration.
Political analysts were surprised, however, that China Central Television showed almost as many close-up shots of Jiang as Hu. Some interpreted it as a sign that Jiang retains much influence despite his retirement.
Before his speech, Hu, dressed in a grey high-collared Mao suit, rode in a made-in-China Red Flag limousine, to review more than 8,000 troops.
“Greetings, comrades,” Hu bellowed to the troops as his limousine drove past.
“Greetings, leader,” the soldiers shouted back.
Watching the live broadcast of the ceremony, Beijing resident Guo Jiantang , 79, reflected how his life had changed in the past 60 years. The landlord-turned-communist said that despite his family’s suffering in the early days of communist rule, the country would not be as good as it was today without the party.
Guo said he watched the 1984 National Day parade on a seven-inch black and white TV, and the 1999 parade on a 21-inch colour TV. This year, he watched in high-definition on a 42-inch plasma TV.
“I just can’t help but feel extremely proud as a Chinese every time I watch the parades. It’s not a showcase to the world, but rather a tribute to what we have been through and achieved in the past six decades,” Guo said.
Hu Xingdou, a commentator with Beijing University of Technology, said yesterday was a crucial day for Hu. “The event has cemented Hu’s status as one of the great communist leaders, alongside his three predecessors,” he said.
In his speech, the president lauded China’s achievements under communist rule. “The development and progress of the new China over the past 60 years fully proved that only socialism can save China, and only reform and opening up can ensure the development of China, socialism and Marxism,” he said.
Celebrations began at 10am with the firing of a 60-cannon salute and a flag-raising ceremony involving 200 soldiers.
In a display of military might, the People’s Liberation Army showed off its nuclear arsenal and intercontinental missiles. These included the DF-31A, China’s first mobile nuclear intercontinental ballistic missile with a range of more than 11,000km - enough to hit the United States. “The PLA is sending a message to the United States that China has a longer-range counter strike capability now,” said Andrei Chang, chief editor of the Canada-based Kanwa Defence Review.
Security was tight in central Beijing as most residents were kept well way from the parade area.
After the armaments, 60 patriotic floats showcasing China’s achievements rolled by. These included floats dedicated to everything from the Beijing Olympics to the manned space programme and ethnic unity. On the square, tens of thousands of students flipped coloured cards in unison to form symbolic images and spell out political slogans.
There were floats from each of China’s provinces and regions, including Hong Kong and Macau, as well as the self-ruled and democratic Taiwan.
While Hong Kong marked the day with fireworks, a flag-raising ceremony and other events, Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen and his predecessor, Tung Chee-hwa, joined the nation’s leaders on Tiananmen Gate.
In his speech, Hu said China had “scored great achievements that have attracted world attention in the past 60 years” as the nation had overcome difficulties and withstood various tests.
“At this festive and sublime moment, people of various nationalities [ethnic minorities] in the nation feel immense pride in the motherland’s development and progress, and are full of confidence in the bright prospects of realising the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation,” Hu said.
The president did not directly mention ethnic minority issues despite the ethnic riots in Tibet in March last year and deadly clashes in Xinjiang this summer.
However, solidarity of China’s 56 ethnic groups was the theme of last night’s grand gala in Tiananmen Square that featured what was touted as the world’s largest ever fireworks display and performances by some of the nation’s top singers and 60,000 dancers in colourful ethnic minority costumes.
During the gala the nine incumbent Politburo Standing Committee members and their predecessors walked down from Tiananmen Gate to join dancers on the square.
The symbolic image of Hu holding the hands of a Tibetan girl on one side and a Uygur girl on the other was broadcast nationwide.
Zhuang Jian, senior economist with the Asian Development Bank’s China mission, said it was a day for Chinese people to celebrate the nation’s great progress in economic development over the past 60 years, even though most achievements were made in the past three decades.
Sixty years ago China was one of the world’s poorest countries. More than 90 per cent of the people lived in rural areas, and the economy was almost entirely agricultural. Last year, the country’s gross domestic product exceeded 30 trillion yuan (HK$34.1 trillion), a more than 400-fold increase from a mere 67.9 billion yuan in 1952, and China is now the third largest economy in the world.
But Zhuang said China must address a series of issues before it could sustain its growth in the long term.
Political scientist Hu said the president’s speech failed to mention political reform despite extolling “the magnificent goals of building a rich and strong, democratic, civilised, and harmonious and modern socialist country”.
“Accomplishing the goal of bringing about a democratic, civilised and harmonious society is still a long way off for the Communist Party,” he said.
2 comments:
Celebration that stopped the nation
People around the country tune in to watch China’s big anniversary bash
Spectacular ceremonies mark crowning moment of president’s political career
Cary Huang in Beijing
02 October 2009
China celebrated 60 years of communist rule yesterday with a spectacular parade and extravagant pageantry to display the country’s growing military and economic might and national pride.
While the nation’s leaders and privileged guests attended the tightly guarded official celebration in Beijing, people around the country stopped to watch the event on television and celebrate the milestone in gatherings of friends and families.
Standing atop Tiananmen Gate - the spot from which Mao Zedong in 1949 proclaimed the birth of a “new China” - President Hu Jintao declared: “A socialist China that faces the future and the world is standing tall and firm in the East.”
Yesterday’s celebrations were designed to send a clear message that China has taken its place as a global power and to cement the authority and legitimacy of the Communist Party.
Presiding over the Republic’s 60th birthday - an important year in Chinese culture that symbolises the beginning of a new era - was the crowning moment of Hu’s political career.
The president was flanked by past and present leaders, including his predecessor Jiang, on Tiananmen Gate to view the proceedings. His portrait was raised high alongside those of Mao, Deng Xiaoping and Jiang Zemin for the first time in a National Day celebration.
Political analysts were surprised, however, that China Central Television showed almost as many close-up shots of Jiang as Hu. Some interpreted it as a sign that Jiang retains much influence despite his retirement.
Before his speech, Hu, dressed in a grey high-collared Mao suit, rode in a made-in-China Red Flag limousine, to review more than 8,000 troops.
“Greetings, comrades,” Hu bellowed to the troops as his limousine drove past.
“Greetings, leader,” the soldiers shouted back.
Watching the live broadcast of the ceremony, Beijing resident Guo Jiantang , 79, reflected how his life had changed in the past 60 years. The landlord-turned-communist said that despite his family’s suffering in the early days of communist rule, the country would not be as good as it was today without the party.
Guo said he watched the 1984 National Day parade on a seven-inch black and white TV, and the 1999 parade on a 21-inch colour TV. This year, he watched in high-definition on a 42-inch plasma TV.
“I just can’t help but feel extremely proud as a Chinese every time I watch the parades. It’s not a showcase to the world, but rather a tribute to what we have been through and achieved in the past six decades,” Guo said.
Hu Xingdou, a commentator with Beijing University of Technology, said yesterday was a crucial day for Hu. “The event has cemented Hu’s status as one of the great communist leaders, alongside his three predecessors,” he said.
In his speech, the president lauded China’s achievements under communist rule. “The development and progress of the new China over the past 60 years fully proved that only socialism can save China, and only reform and opening up can ensure the development of China, socialism and Marxism,” he said.
Celebrations began at 10am with the firing of a 60-cannon salute and a flag-raising ceremony involving 200 soldiers.
In a display of military might, the People’s Liberation Army showed off its nuclear arsenal and intercontinental missiles. These included the DF-31A, China’s first mobile nuclear intercontinental ballistic missile with a range of more than 11,000km - enough to hit the United States. “The PLA is sending a message to the United States that China has a longer-range counter strike capability now,” said Andrei Chang, chief editor of the Canada-based Kanwa Defence Review.
Security was tight in central Beijing as most residents were kept well way from the parade area.
After the armaments, 60 patriotic floats showcasing China’s achievements rolled by. These included floats dedicated to everything from the Beijing Olympics to the manned space programme and ethnic unity. On the square, tens of thousands of students flipped coloured cards in unison to form symbolic images and spell out political slogans.
There were floats from each of China’s provinces and regions, including Hong Kong and Macau, as well as the self-ruled and democratic Taiwan.
While Hong Kong marked the day with fireworks, a flag-raising ceremony and other events, Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen and his predecessor, Tung Chee-hwa, joined the nation’s leaders on Tiananmen Gate.
In his speech, Hu said China had “scored great achievements that have attracted world attention in the past 60 years” as the nation had overcome difficulties and withstood various tests.
“At this festive and sublime moment, people of various nationalities [ethnic minorities] in the nation feel immense pride in the motherland’s development and progress, and are full of confidence in the bright prospects of realising the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation,” Hu said.
The president did not directly mention ethnic minority issues despite the ethnic riots in Tibet in March last year and deadly clashes in Xinjiang this summer.
However, solidarity of China’s 56 ethnic groups was the theme of last night’s grand gala in Tiananmen Square that featured what was touted as the world’s largest ever fireworks display and performances by some of the nation’s top singers and 60,000 dancers in colourful ethnic minority costumes.
During the gala the nine incumbent Politburo Standing Committee members and their predecessors walked down from Tiananmen Gate to join dancers on the square.
The symbolic image of Hu holding the hands of a Tibetan girl on one side and a Uygur girl on the other was broadcast nationwide.
Zhuang Jian, senior economist with the Asian Development Bank’s China mission, said it was a day for Chinese people to celebrate the nation’s great progress in economic development over the past 60 years, even though most achievements were made in the past three decades.
Sixty years ago China was one of the world’s poorest countries. More than 90 per cent of the people lived in rural areas, and the economy was almost entirely agricultural. Last year, the country’s gross domestic product exceeded 30 trillion yuan (HK$34.1 trillion), a more than 400-fold increase from a mere 67.9 billion yuan in 1952, and China is now the third largest economy in the world.
But Zhuang said China must address a series of issues before it could sustain its growth in the long term.
Political scientist Hu said the president’s speech failed to mention political reform despite extolling “the magnificent goals of building a rich and strong, democratic, civilised, and harmonious and modern socialist country”.
“Accomplishing the goal of bringing about a democratic, civilised and harmonious society is still a long way off for the Communist Party,” he said.
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