(News Focus) China to show off new weapons at military parade

By Kim Deok-hyun

BEIJING, Sept. 1 (Yonhap) -- China will use this week's massive military parade marking the end of World War II to show off its new machines of war, a show of force amid Beijing's increasingly assertive military actions in territorial disputes with its neighbors.

About 12,000 Chinese troops, along with a long convoy of some 500 military vehicles, will march through Tiananmen Square on Thursday. About 200 aircraft will also fly over the square during the 70-minute parade.

Neighboring countries are on alert as Beijing has made increasingly assertive actions in the South China Sea, sparking a series of diplomatic rows with neighbors like the Philippines and Vietnam. China is also engaged in a bitter dispute with Japan over disputed islands in the East China Sea.

About 30 heads of state, including South Korean President Park Geun-hye and Russian President Vladimir Putin, will attend the parade.

"All weaponry and equipment displayed are Chinese-made main equipment, 84 percent of which are shown for the first time," said Qu Rui, deputy director of the Office of the Parade Leading Team of the Chinese People's Liberation Army.

Among some of the military hardware to be displayed are inter-continental ballistic missiles, ZTZ-96A main battle tanks, HJ-12 anti-tank missiles and H-6K mid-range strategic bombers, according to Chinese state-run media.

While China's Communist Party has staged military parades to mark the party's founding anniversary, it will be the first time for Beijing to host a lavish military parade to mark Japan's defeat in the war, which is officially known in China as "Chinese People's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War."

In order to prevent Beijing's notoriously polluted air from affecting the parade, authorities have ordered thousands of factories to halt or restrict their production, according to state-run Global Times newspaper.

In another effort to clean up the air, Beijing has enforced odd-even car-license plate restrictions since Aug. 20.

Such restrictions were last imposed in November 2014, when Beijing hosted the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.

Authorities have also made efforts to ensure the military parade is held without any problems.

According to the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post, the Chinese authorities have reinforced censorship on the Internet.

Shops and restaurants on Changan Street, the long thoroughfare through Tiananmen Square where the military parade will be staged, will be closed Wednesday and Thursday.

Residents near the street were also told to follow certain guidelines.

"Please kindly offer your assistance by not opening windows on the side of buildings facing Jianguomenwai Dajie (Changan Street) or standing on balconies or taking photographs from 0:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., Sept. 3," reads a notice to residents at a diplomatic residence compound near the street.
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