The parade would help to rally the entire country in shared patriotic spirit around the party and Xi, and bring “the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation” even closer, Wu said.
WARTIME LEGACY
After seizing a swath of northeastern China in the early 1930s, the Japanese imperial army launched a full-scale invasion of the country in 1937, costing millions of lives.
The war ended with Japan’s surrender in 1945, but China then descended into a civil war that only ended with the Communist Party’s victory in 1949.
China’s wartime experiences have continued to shape regional geopolitics ever since, especially its ties with Japan.
At the 70th anniversary parade in 2015, China held a 70-gun salute as thousands of troops marched in tight formation through Tiananmen Square.
Tanks and missiles followed, while nearly 200 aircraft performed a flypast in powder-blue skies.
Chinese authorities mobilised hundreds of thousands of spectators, closed roads across much of the city centre, shuttered airports and curtailed pollution-spewing factories and vehicles to ensure blue skies.
Tuesday’s announcement comes less than two weeks after US President Donald Trump hosted the largest American military parade in decades on his 79th birthday.
