VICTORY DAY PARADE AND CHINESE MILITARISM



Military Parade A. Image by Military-history.org

The victory day parade set for September 3 2015 is to commemorate Chinese struggle and resistance in the face of Japanese invasion prior and during the Second World War which lasted from 1937 to 1945. This is to celebrate the heroes who fought and died during the war and to bring to mind the atrocious manners of the Japanese military and how they dealt with Chinese people in the face of despair. Dignitaries from seventeen countries including Russian President Vladmir Putin would be in attendance. It has been seventy years since the end of the Second World War (1945-2015).

The seriousness China showed towards this victory day celebration has attracted worries from the world super powers and Japan in particular. United States, Britain and other and other Western leaders had turned down the invitation by China as Barak Obama and David Cameron are both expected to shun the event. This clearly showed western protest against China's militarism and swaggering viewed by many as a calculated attempt to intimidate Japan and muscle down other Asian Nations. China has been condemned for building artificial islands in areas of the South China Sea that are also claimed by Vietnam, The Philippines and other countries.

China is also embroiled in a dispute with Japan over ownership of a group of uninhibited islands in the East China Sea called the Senkakus in Japan and the Diaoyu by China. Large swaths of Beijing went into shutdown last weekend as tanks, missiles launchers and thousands of troops poured into the city Centre for a rehearsal. These features 12,000 troops, 500 vehicles, 200 aircrafts. China is expected to parade her new military equipment and missile stockpiles, including ZTZ-99A main battle tank will be one of the parade attractions. This tank weight over 60 tons, the heavily armored ZTZ-99A is the largest tank in the world not of U.S or allied design.

 Also the PGZ-07 is China's frontline air defense vehicle. Its medium armored chassis carried a twin barrel 35mm cannon turret that fires smart shells, which are programmed to explode at precise distances, making them ideal for taking down aircraft, drones and missiles. With all those, it will be hard to downplay opinion from many quarters that this magnitude by China is a smoke screen towards intimidating her neighbors.

China has continued week long publicity through every medium available to expose Japanese war time atrocities to the new generations. The government has banned all entertainment TV shows to get people in the mood for its Victory Day parade. Censor has been placed on internet to caution negative comment against the planned parade by Chinese people. This did not go down well with Tokyo as Shinzo Abe might not show up for the celebration to protest Chinese continued propaganda to paint Japan in bad light despite several years of apology. Abe instead will oversee the passage of controversial security legislation at home which has seen the Upper house debate bills intended to expand the role of Japan military including fighting overseas for the first time since world war two.

Finally, historians will be more worried than every other people in the international community for the fact that propaganda and militarism are usually followed by devastated wars. Illustrations could be seen in the build up to the first world war (1914-1918) and second world war (1939-1945). China warned Japan over her on-going legislation on military expansion, who will caution China for her heavy re armament which is obviously provocative, and could tempt countries like Japan, India and other smaller Asian Nations into military readiness and preparedness for unforeseen or unexpected war. Without doubt, Chinese swaggering, with an obvious element of brag, bully and arrogance will send a shock wave to Japan and other Asian Nations while Western powers watch carefully.