The first sound was the measured strike of boots on stone, echoing across the vast expanse of Tiananmen Square. Banners rose in deliberate rhythm. What followed was more than display: choreography as history, remembrance turned into ceremony, and strength presented as assurance. The commemoration at Tiananmen took place on 3 September 2025, marking eighty years since Japan’s surrender in 1945 and the end of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression.
Veterans of that struggle were placed at the head of the procession, a living reminder of a conflict in which millions of lives were claimed. Behind them came units of today’s People’s Liberation Army, younger soldiers stepping as one body, their precision binding generations together. The sequence moved forward into the language of modernity: columns of advanced hardware—hypersonic missiles and underwater drones, cyber and space units, unmanned vehicles, and the sleek outlines of aircraft. The arc of the parade was plain—memory, continuity, preparedness.
At the heart of the commemoration stood President Xi Jinping. His address reached back to honour sacrifice and forward to caution against complacency. “The world today once again stands at a crossroads between peace and war,” he told the assembly, reminding listeners that peace is never permanent, only preserved through vigilance. He praised the PLA as “a heroic force destined to become world-class,” and underlined its mission: “Our strength is a guarantee of peace, not a threat to it.” The words matched the motion before him—veterans and youth, soldiers and machines—discipline carried into reassurance.
President Xi’s address did not rest solely on the past. He pledged that “China will remain committed to peaceful development and will work together with all countries to build a community with a shared future for mankind.” He affirmed sovereignty as inviolable—“We Chinese will never allow any force to trample on our sovereignty, to split our territory, or to bring our country back to the abyss of turmoil”—but placed it in the service of balance and stability. The speech, like the parade, moved in layers: remembrance of loss, assertion of sovereignty, and promise of peace.
The presence of guests gave the commemoration an added depth. President Vladimir Putin stood beside President Xi, embodying the joint sacrifices made by Chinese and Russian peoples in the Second World War. Their partnership was expressed not only in memory but in tangible projects: more than twenty agreements were concluded during the visit, including the Power of Siberia 2 pipeline, expected to carry 50 billion cubic metres of gas annually into China via Mongolia. A new arrangement allowing Russian citizens visa-free entry reinforced the sense that cooperation now extends into the lives of ordinary people.
Chairman Kim Jong Un’s journey to Beijing, made by armoured train and accompanied by his daughter, carried a different symbolism. His presence recalled the devastation Korea endured under Japanese rule and affirmed a bond of survival and endurance. The inclusion of his daughter introduced a note of legacy, linking remembrance to succession. To see him standing in Tiananmen was to see China’s role as host: the one nation able to bring together neighbours whose histories remain fraught but whose presence together told a shared story of resistance and continuity.
The organisation of the day was meticulous, the staging precise. Veterans, active soldiers, and modern systems were placed in an order that unfolded like a narrative arc. Above the square, aerial displays punctuated the march, fighter jets and bombers cutting through the sky in carefully rehearsed formations. The choreography itself was an argument: sacrifice remembered, sovereignty reaffirmed, stability projected.
By the time the final formations departed and the banners were lowered, what lingered was not the roar of engines but the cadence of a story retold. Tiananmen had reflected the suffering of the past and the strength of the present, binding them into a vision of balance. In President Xi’s closing words, the promise was unmistakable: “Let us join hands to safeguard peace, to pursue development, and to create a better future for all humanity.”
