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The theme of following the Partys command dominated Chinas massive military parade held on July 30.

By Charlotte Gao for The Diplomat

August 01, 2017

On July 30, China held a massive military parade to commemorate Chinas Army Day marking the day the Communist Party of China (CPC) founded the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) in 1927 for the first time, in celebration of the PLAs 90th anniversary. Although China has conducted multiple military parades for various days, this parade is undoubtedly an unprecedented one to reaffirm the CPCs absolute control over the army. The theme of following the Partys command dominated the whole event.

During the parade, as Xi Jinping, Chinese president, the current general secretary of the CPC, and chairman of the Central Military Commission, was driven past ranks of troops, the troops shouted out loudly: [We] follow the Partys command; [we] can win the battle; [we] have excellent behavior! This is actually the newest goal and slogan for all the military to memorize and following the Partys command is obviously the priority.

The most striking and iconic signal on the day was that as shown in the picture the banner team held the flags sothat the Partys flag went right in the front of Chinese national flag, and the national flag was in front of the armys flag.

As if the scene itself was not clear enough, the host of China Central Television (CCTV) , which live-broadcasted the parade, made a further elaboration to the whole world:

Following the Partys command is the soul of the military The Partys banner is the armys banner; the Partys will is the armys will; the direction the Party leads is the direction the army advances Wherever the Party points, the army will attack

The next day, the picture depicting that the Partys flag leading the way was also widely publishedon the front page of most Chinese national media websites.

In addition to the theme of following the Partys command, following Chairman Xi was another significant agenda of the parade.

As The Diplomat notedregardingthe Hong Kongs military parade, held on June 30, the previous tradition insuch military parades was that the CMC chairmanwouldshout Greetings, comrades! to the troops and the troops would shout Greetings, leader! in return. Yetat the Hong Kong military parade, the protocol was slightly changed, rather unprecedentedly. Instead of shouting Greetings, leader! the comrades shouted Greetings, chairman! to Xi.

At that time, it was still unclear if the unusual change of wording was specifically designed for the Hong Kong parade or not. Now we know thatits a more long-term change, as the troops in the Army Day Parade also shouted Greetings, chairman! to Xi.

In this case, the Hong Kong commentator Ma Dingshengs analysis during the Hong Kongs military parade is proved right: Chairman demonstrated Xis paramount status, since there are many leaders, but only one chairman.

In other words, according to a Chinese national media commentator,[Greetings, chairman] embodies that the chairman of the Central Military Commission takes full responsibility [of the army] it highlights the important identity of the chairman of the Central Military Commission.

Charlotte Gao holds a MA degree in Asian Studies. Her research interests center around East Asian topics. She has worked in the past as a news editor, reporter, and writer for multiple traditional, online, and new media outlets.

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China's Military Parade Reaffirms Communist Party's Absolute Control Over Army - The Diplomat