A PARADE TO REMEMBER
As he reviewed the troops in a black open-top Red Flag limousine, Xi Jinping greeted his "comrades" from the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and the People's Armed Police who stood to attention down the length of Beijing's magnificent Chang'an Avenue.
"Follow the Party! Fight to win! Forge exemplary conduct!" over 10,000 servicemen and women saluted Xi and exclaimed.
At the height of the celebrations, helicopters carrying China's national flag and the PLA flag drew the curtains for the much-anticipated military parade. Another 20 choppers flew in a formation that spelt "70" in the air, followed by seven training aircraft trailing colored smoke.
On the ground, WWII veterans, chest bristling with medals, rode in convertibles amidst tides of applause.
From afar, the saluting veterans looked straightfaced but spirited. Only the occasional shake of hands, magnified on the big screens that stood on the two sides of Tian'anmen Square, betrayed their inner thrill.
Xi and all the other audience stood up as they passed by.
For many of the country's remaining WWII veterans, this anniversary could be the last they saw.
Ninety-five-year-old Zhang Yuanhe, in grey military uniform specially made for the parade, was gratified at the invitation to take part in the parade.
"It's a great honor," said Zhang who joined the Communist Party of China (CPC)-led Red Army at the age of 15.
More notably, veterans from counter-Japanese aggression forces led by CPC during WWII were joined in a Chinese military parade for the first time by their counterparts from the Kuomintang (KMT) forces who fought the same enemies 70 years ago.
Many of the KMT-led forces fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a civil war with the CPC. Confrontation between the mainland and the island in the following decades made it impossible for the two sides to acknowledge each other's contribution to the war.
The situation has begun to change in recent years with the improvement of relations across the Taiwan Strait.
Fu Longqian, 92, was among the KMT veterans invited to Thursday's celebrations.
"The country didn't forget us and it's a very high courteous reception," said the former artillerist who braved the gunfire of significant battles, including the Changsha Battle, the most time-consuming one between the KMT army and Japanese invaders that saw the largest-scale troops from both sides.
"It's the most memorable experience to fight against Japanese aggression in my life," he added.
A PARADE FOR UNITY
Excitement and thrill filled Tian'anmen Square as the PLA guards of honor and 10 foot formations - each named after a morale-boosting battle fought by Communist-led troops or Chinese war heroes and model combatants - marched by in impeccable synchrony and coordination.
Soldiers, drilled to perfection for months, barely blinked as they goosestepped past the Tian'anmen Rostrum in 128 carefully measured paces, each precisely 75 cm.
But the highlight for many of the 40,000 audience present and hundreds of millions more who watched the parade on television or via Internet was the first-ever participation of foreign troops in a Chinese military parade in Beijing.
Nearly 1,000 foreign troops from 17 countries marched at the heels of their PLA counterparts, drawing cheers and applause.
It was the first time that foreign troops had been invited to a Chinese military parade at the Tian'anmen Square.
Sara Imas in Shanghai was watching the live-show of military parade. The 65-year-old Jewish woman was born in Shanghai. Her parents came to the Chinese city in 1939. They were among 30,000 refugees who migrated from Europe during the war.
"Chinese put themselves in our position and offered help to us in the most difficult times," Imas told Xinhua. "So I am proud of the military parade."
Chinese people's empathy with Jewish refugees stemmed mostly from their own pains inflicted by the Japanese aggression.
China was the first country to face the onslaught of the Axis Powers in 1937, two years before Britain and France, and four years before the United States, Rana Mitter wrote in her 2013 book "Forgotten Ally."
But China's anti-fascist war began even earlier actually. On Sept. 18, 1931, Japanese army invaded northeastern China, marking the starting point of the Chinese people's courageous fight against fascism.
In the 14 years that followed, countries including the former Soviet Union and the United States among others, all came to China's aid in its struggle for national freedom.
