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Report: China to Hold Military Parade to 'Frighten Japan'

China will this year hold its first large-scale military parade since 2009, reports said Tuesday, with one key goal described as being to "frighten Japan".

Communist China generally shies away from the vast annual demonstrations of military might that were a hallmark of the Soviet Union.

But it held once-a-decade National Day parades in 1999 and 2009 to mark the 50th and 60th anniversaries of the October 1 establishment of the People's Republic of China.

On its instant messaging WeChat account the People's Daily newspaper, the official mouthpiece of the Communist Party, cited a Hong Kong report that a parade would be held this year to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II.

One reason for holding the parade was "to frighten Japan and declare to the world China’s determination to maintain the post-war world order", said the article, written by Chinese financial and global affairs commentator Hu Zhanhao.

"Only by showing its military capabilities can (China) show Japan its attitude and determination and let it know that whoever dares to challenge the post-war order related to China and touch China's core interests is its enemy and must be psychologically prepared for China's strong counterattack," it said.

Other reasons included showcasing China's military strength and increasing Chinese pride.

The report did not give a date for the event but said it would mark the first time it was not held on National Day.

Several Chinese media outlets on Tuesday described the People's Daily mention of the article as a confirmation.

It comes as Beijing has taken an increasingly hard line towards Tokyo amid disputes over territory and history.

Ties between Asia's two biggest economies have been soured by a tense dispute over control of uninhabited islands in the East China Sea, administered by Japan but also claimed by China, and Beijing's anger over a December 2013 visit by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine, which honors Japan's war dead including convicted war criminals from World War II. 

The countries have taken tentative steps to reduce tensions, with an agreement in November paving the way for the first formal bilateral meeting between Abe and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the APEC Asia-Pacific leaders' forum in Beijing, but it took place in a glacial atmosphere.

Beijing, which uses memories of the war with Japan as a key tool to galvanize nationalist sentiment and deflect any dissatisfaction with Communist Party rule, remains wary of moves by Tokyo to raise its military profile and frequently says its neighbor must face its wartime history and not repeat it.

China is also closely watching a statement on the anniversary of the war to be issued by Abe later this year to see if he alters the content of previous apologies for Japan's conduct.

Abe said early this month that he would release a fresh statement on World War II this year, but would stand by previous apologies for wartime misdeeds.

Source: Agence France Presse


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