China pays respect to Mao ahead of 70-year celebrations
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Chinese Communist Party leader and President Xi Jinping led other top officials Monday in paying respects to the founder of the communist state, Mao Zedong, ahead of a massive celebration of the People’s Republic’s 70th anniversary that will emphasize its rise to global prominence.
The unusual move saw Xi bow three times to Mao’s statue at the former leader’s mausoleum in the centre of Beijing’s Tiananmen Square and pay his respects to Mao’s embalmed corpse, which has lain in state in the hulking chamber since soon after his death in 1976.
Xi also ascended the nearby Monument to the People’s Heroes to pay further tribute on what has been designated Martyr’s Day, just ahead of Tuesday’s National Day festivities, which will be marked by a massive military parade through the centre of the city of 20 million people.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (top) arrives at a wreath laying ceremony at the Monument to the People’s Heroes in Tiananmen Square, Beijing, China, 30 September 2019. China will celebrate the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) on 01 October 2019. EPA-EFE/THOMAS PETER / POOL
The nationwide celebrations seek to highlight China’s enormous transformation from an impoverished state ravaged by Japan’s World War II invasion and a following civil war into the world’s second-largest economy.
A parade Tuesday by China’s secretive military will be a rare look at its rapidly developing arsenal, including possibly a nuclear-capable missile that could reach the United States in 30 minutes, as Beijing gets closer to matching Washington and other powers in weapons technology.
In the meantime, Hong Kong authorities on Monday rejected an appeal for a major pro-democracy march on China’s National Day holiday after two straight days of violent clashes between protesters and police in the semi-autonomous territory raised fears of more showdowns that could embarrass Beijing.
The Civil Human Rights Front, which has organized several major rallies in recent months, said an appeals board upheld a police ban on Tuesday’s march in the city center. The group warned that denying a peaceful avenue for protesters could accelerate violence because citizens will turn up anyway, as they’ve done in past when rallies were banned.
