Impressive display of weaponry at parade is China's way of telling the world it is confident of defending itself effectively in any armed conflict, South China Morning Post 3 September 2015.

Generals marching ahead of their troops on Thursday - a departure from previous practice at China's military parades - demonstrated President Xi Jinping's resolve to rejuvenate an army plagued by corruption and complacency.
At previous parades, the top brass always viewed the displays from a comfortable distance, but at yesterday's ceremony to mark the 70th year since the end of the second world war, 50 generals joined the 12,000 troops in 50 formations for an inspection by Xi, who is also head of the powerful Central Military Commission.
Observers saw the massive parade - coordinated by General Song Puxuan, commander of the Beijing Military Command, and Lieutenant Wang Jian, deputy political commissar of the Beijing Military Region - as an indication of Xi's plan to boost the People's Liberation Army's combat ability.
Air force lieutenant Zheng Qunliang headed the leading plane formation, while the weaponry display was led by five lieutenant generals from the Beijing Military Command, the navy, air force, second artillery corps and the paramilitary police. Other major generals led their troops in the march at Tiananmen Square.
"It is believed many major generals in the army have poor stamina and discipline," Beijing-based military commentator Wu Ge said. Including the commanders in the parade showed they were good models for their subordinates, he said.
When Xi took full power of both the Communist Party and the military in early 2013, in an effort to transform the army into a modern, powerful force capable of winning wars, he ordered all division heads to spend at least a month every year living and training as a soldier. Senior commanders were also instructed to take part in the military's latest round of live-firing exercises, a PLA Daily report said.
State-run Xinhua reported that the military and armed police had vowed to resolutely follow Xi, including implementing a move - announced yesterday - to downsize military personnel by 300,000.
The parade was China's largest show of its air prowess yet, with the military flaunting a wide range of cutting-edge equipment with nearly 200 fighter jets, armed helicopters, bombers and drones.
The climax came as the latest-generation WZ-19 and Z-9 helicopters led the army aviation team in a 70-aircraft aerial display over the skies of Tiananmen.
Other impressive aircraft included home-grown carrier-based fighter jet J-15 and early warning airplane KJ-2000.
The missile formation, however, might have disappointed some military enthusiasts.
The formation was led by the "carrier killer" DF-21D anti-ship missile, whose range exceeds 1,450km; but many of the nation's most advanced weapons - including the intercontinental ballistic missile DF-41 - did not make an appearance.
The DF-41, which Pentagon has described as China's most powerful weapon, has an estimated 12,000km range and can carry up to 10 warheads.
"The DF-41 was not showcased because Xi might have wanted to send a message to the West that China is really a peace-loving country and would not emulate Russia, which is always keen to show off its weapons of mass destruction at its military parades," Hong Kong-based military commentator Liang Guoliang said.
"China is, however, capable of defending itself. That's why the display included the so-called 'Guam killer' DF-26, the 'carrier killer' DF-21D anti-ship ballistic missile … and other advanced home-grown weapons."
Xi's decision to cut 300,000 troops was aimed at further modernising and restructuring the army, Defence Ministry spokesman Yang Yujun said.
"The move will help concentrate resources to speed up the process of bringing the army up to date in this digital age," Yang said, adding that the downsizing would be completed by 2017.
The PLA is the world's largest army -