BEIJING • The centre of Beijing was under lockdown over the weekend for a night-time parade rehearsal by the Chinese army which is preparing for Oct 1 ceremonies to mark China's 70th anniversary.
The enormous Avenue of Eternal Peace, which leads to Tiananmen Square, was closed to traffic over a stretch of about 12km to allow troops to parade around Tiananmen Square, the symbolic heart of Chinese power. It is where Chairman Mao Zedong in 1949 proclaimed the founding of the People's Republic of China.
The official Xinhua news agency said about 90,000 people were "involved in the rehearsal and related supporting services", and organisers said the run-through "reached the expected results".
Areas around the Avenue of Eternal Peace were gradually closed to traffic from late Saturday afternoon and were off limits until yesterday morning, causing traffic jams. Security forces blocked access to residences with views of the avenue, ordering several foreign media outlets in the vicinity to leave their offices for the weekend.
"We warmly celebrate the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China," proclaimed immense signs being transported by trucks heading towards Tiananmen Square.
Other rehearsals are expected each weekend leading up to Oct 1, leaving residents facing the same restrictions, a guard told AFP.
Every 10 years, Beijing traditionally marks the country's anniversary with a giant military parade.
Late last month, the army said the upcoming parade would be larger than those in 1999 and 2009, and even bigger than the one in 2015 which commemorated the end of World War II 70 years earlier. On that occasion, 12,000 soldiers marched - far fewer than the number of people involved in yesterday's rehearsal.
The Oct 1 parade is expected to showcase some of the most advanced weaponry of the Chinese army, in an effort to drum up patriotic fervour.
But it will not be targeted "at any countries or districts", General Cai Zhijun, a member of the Chinese Army General Staff, said last month.
Gen Cai said the size of the military parade was not a sign of aggression and the Chinese army was "committed to safeguarding world peace and regional stability".
This year's anniversary comes at a sensitive time for Beijing. It is in a trade war with the United States, Hong Kong is rocked by demonstrations, and China faces criticism over the treatment of Muslims in the Xinjiang region.
China's two-million-strong armed forces is the world's largest and its military budget is the second-biggest, though still far behind that of the US.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
