China turns 60

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China turns 60

Thursday October 1, 2009

Beijing, 10 am local time

Last night, we reporters were left out of the lottery for the passes to the parade. So it fell on Suresh, our cameraperson colleague to get up at 5 am, leave for the Tiananmen Square and endure the stringent security checks before he would have got in at the parade venue. As I write this and watch the parade on a giant screen along with curious onlookers, Suresh is shooting the parade at Tiananmen.

True to their promise, the authorities cleared the skies by artificial cloud seeding last night. Now the sun is shining gloriously, the skies are perfectly blue and the people dressed in their Sunday best have crowded in huge numbers at the Tiananmen Square.

President Hu Jintao inspected the parade after delivering a short speech and then watched the march, along with all the top leaders. A surprise participant on the VIP gallery was Hu's predecessor Jiang Jemin.

As China's rapidly modernising military demonstrated its newly-developed missiles and aircraft, the message was clear: China is no longer afraid of openly flexing its military muscle. This nation now knows that it is right there at the top with America as the world's leading power. This morning's impressive display was just the reaffirmation of what we have known for some time: the term "Chimerica," indicating China and America as two pre-eminent superpowers is no longer a chimera. It is a fact now.

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Posted by Pratheek on Oct 01, 2009

Every gun that's made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and not clothed. This world in arms...is spending the genius of its scientists, the sweat of its laborers,%u201D Dwight D Eisenhower said this long ago but its very apt for the situation. China should concentrate on its poor rather than showoff its military might. Thats how it will be a super power.

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Nitin Gokhale

A student of conflicts, insurgencies and wars, Nitin Gokhale has spent 26 years reporting on military and militants from various hostile fields like India's north-east, Kashmir valley, the Kargil war, China and Sri Lanka, among others. He's currently NDTV's Defence and Strategic Affairs Editor.

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