China’s Xi oversees military parade

BEIJING - China’s military has the “confidence and capability” to bolster the country’s rise into a world power, President Xi Jinping said Sunday as he oversaw a large-scale military parade meant to show off the forces at his command to foreign and domestic audiences.

Live state television broadcasts showed Xi, dressed in fatigues and speaking from an opentop jeep, telling his troops that China needed a strong military “more than ever” as it moved “closer to the goal of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.”

Xi, who commands the People’s Liberation Army as chairman of the Central Military Commission, has frequently spoken of his “China Dream” to restore China to a leadership position in international affairs with a modern, far-reaching military force to match.

The parade at the Zhurihe military training base in China’s Inner Mongolia region was also a sign domestically of how Xi has enhanced his control over the PLA, just as he has over every other political power base within the sprawling Communist Party, ahead of a pivotal party congress this autumn.

A Communist Party “princeling” fond of deploying revolutionary lore and nationalistic rhetoric, Xi declared the PLA ready to defeat all “invading enemies” as he celebrated the 90th anniversary of the PLA’s founding. It was the first time a parade has been held to mark the occasion.

The parade was blanketed by state media coverage and streamed for foreign audiences on YouTube, which is blocked inside China.