Nearly 70,000 people celebrated the 100th birthday of the ruling Communist Party at Tiananmen Square in capital Beijing on Thursday as Chinese authorities strengthened their surveillance on pro-democracy activists.
The high-security event reached a crescendo with shouts and applause from the unmasked participants, after President Xi Jinping, head of the party, said in his one-hour keynote speech, "This is the great glory of the Chinese nation."
At the end of the speech, Xi, dressed in a grey Mao suit, raised his right fist and said, "Long live the great, glorious and correct Communist Party of China. Long live the great, glorious and heroic Chinese people."
Former Chinese President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao also attended the gathering, which took place as many democratic countries continue to criticize Beijing's growing assertiveness in nearby waters and its alleged human rights abuses in the far-western Xinjiang region.
Military aircraft and helicopters flew in formation above the participants, who were reportedly obliged to be vaccinated against the coronavirus, creating the numbers "100" and "71" with smoke to represent the centenary and the date July 1.
A massive band, meanwhile, played song after song without any break in front of the participants, who were also ordered by the authorities to take off face masks during the ceremony.
A huge military parade had been staged in Beijing on Oct. 1, 2019, as part of its celebrations marking the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, but one was not held on Thursday.
Instead, a 100-gun salute was fired in the heart of Beijing to commemorate the party's centenary, with tight security in place around the square.
Pro-democracy and anti-Communist activists, however, were forced by the authorities to leave Beijing, with some of them placed under house arrest, sources familiar with the situation said.
In 2018, China removed from its Constitution the two-term limit for the president and vice president, enabling Xi, who became the head of the party in 2012, to hold on to power for life.
As he is believed to be aiming for re-election as leader of the Communist Party at its twice-a-decade congress in autumn next year, Xi has been apparently attempting to elevate his status to that of the late Mao Zedong, the founder of modern China.
The atmosphere in China "has become similar" to that in North Korea, which is underpinned by the personality cult of leader Kim Jong Un, a diplomatic source said.
On Thursday, Kim sent a message of greeting to Xi on the occasion of the Chinese anniversary, North Korea's state-run Korean Central News Agency reported.
Kim was quoted by KCNA as telling Xi that the two nations should tide over "difficulties and ordeals by dint of their militant friendship and bonds of kinship."
