CPC centenary, President Xi strikes belligerent tone

Any "foreign force" trying to "bully" China will encounter a "great wall of steel" erected by over 1.4 billion Chinese people and its powerful military, President Xi Jinping warned on Thursday, as the ruling Communist Party celebrated its centenary with a massive show of strength at the historic Tiananmen Square here.

In his keynote address at a highly-choreographed ceremony from the balcony of Tiananmen Gate, which also adorns a giant size photo of 'Chairman' Mao Zedong, the founding father of the People's Republic of China, Xi also underlined that the reunification of Taiwan with the Chinese mainland is a historic mission and an unshakable commitment of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

Xi, who is also the General Secretary of the CPC and Chairman of the Central Military Commission, warned that any foreign force will not be allowed to bully China, an apparent reference to the US. China has repeatedly accused the US of trying to curb its peaceful rise, amidst concern in the neighbourhood about the growing assertiveness of the Chinese military in the strategic Indo-Pacific region and elsewhere. Both former US president Donald Trump and his successor Joe Biden have pursued a hardline policy towards China, targeting it on several fronts including trade, human rights and the origins of the Covid-19, which first emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan before becoming a pandemic.

"We Chinese are a people who uphold justice and are not intimidated by threats of force. We have never bullied, oppressed, or subjugated the people of any other country, and we never will," Xi said. "By the same token, we will never allow any foreign force to bully, oppress, or subjugate us," the 68-year old leader said. Anyone who would attempt to do so will find themselves on a collision course with a great wall of steel forged by over 1.4 billion Chinese people," he said.

Over 70,000 carefully vetted party workers and schoolchildren who took part in the event cheered Xi's over an hour-long speech which was telecast live. About 71 aircraft participated in the flypast which also included China's most advanced J-20 stealth fighter jets, helicopters, fighter jet trainers and others.