Conference to Commemorate the 80th Anniversary of the Victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War 纪念中国人民抗日战争暨世界反法西斯战争胜利80周年大会 | |
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![]() Logo of 2025 China Victory Day Parade | |
Genre | Military parade |
Date(s) | September 3, 2025 |
Location(s) | Chang'an Avenue, Tiananmen Square, Beijing, China |
Coordinates | 39°54′26.4″N116°23′27.9″E / 39.907333°N 116.391083°E |
Previous event | 2015 China Victory Day Parade |
Participants | Party and state leaders |
General Secretary of the CCP | Xi Jinping [a] |
Organised by | Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Central Military Commission (CMC) |
People | Li Qiang (Premier and host) |
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The 2025 China Victory Day Parade (officially the Conference to Commemorate the 80th Anniversary of the Victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War) was a Victory over Japan Day military parade held on Chang'an Avenue, Beijing, on 3 September 2025 to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Second World War.
Over 12,000 troops of the People's Liberation Army participated in the parade. Chinese Communist Party general secretary Xi Jinping inspected the troops, Premier Li Qiang was the master of ceremonies and Lieutenant-General Han Shengyan was the chief commander of the parade.
The official logo for the event was officially unveiled by the State Council Information Office on 13 May 2025. [1] Senior PLA officer Wu Zeke stated in June 2025 that the parade will feature "new-type combat capabilities" as well as a speech by CCP general secretary Xi Jinping. [2] [3]
In his opening remarks, Xi stated that "through immense national sacrifice, the Chinese people made a major contribution to saving human civilization and safeguarding world peace" [4] and that the People's Liberation Army has always been a "heroic force that the party and the people can fully trust." [4] He went on to say that "Today, humanity is again faced with the choice of peace or war," that the Chinese people "firmly stand on the right side of history," that China will "never intimidated by any bullies" and that the "rejuvenation of the Chinese nation" was unstoppable. [4] [5]
The following are the parade groups attended the parade marchpast: [6] [7] [8]
In order of appearance:
In order of appearance:
In order of appearance:
The music is conducted by the Central Military Band of PLA, with the music setting below: [10] [11] [12]
Session | Songs |
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Prelude | Along the Songhua River (松花江上), On the Taihang Mount (在太行山上), Yellow River Cantata (保卫黄河), Without the Communist Party, There Would Be No New China (没有共产党就没有新中国) |
Arrival of guests and flag raising | Welcome March (欢迎进行曲), March of the Volunteers (义勇军进行曲), Bugle of Attendance (出场号角) |
Inspection | Bugle of Inspection (检阅号角), Bugle of Salute (敬礼号角), Military Anthem of the People's Liberation Army (中国人民解放军进行曲), Inspection March (检阅进行曲), The People's Army is Loyal to the Party (人民军队忠于党), Three Rules of Discipline and Eight Points for Attention (三大纪律八项注意), Song of a Strong Army (强军战歌), Rush to Glory (光荣奔赴), Please Inspect (请你检阅) |
Ground Marchpast | Bugle of Marchpast (分列式号角), Marchpast March (分列式进行曲), March of the Steel Torrent (钢铁洪流进行曲), People's Army March (人民陆军进行曲), People's Navy Marches Forward (人民海军向前进), Chinese Air Force March (中国空军进行曲), March of Information Thunderstorm (信息风雷进行曲), March of Unmanned Intelligent Victory (无人智胜进行曲), Logistics Support Force March (联勤保障部队进行曲), Rocket Force March (火箭军进行曲) |
Flyby squad | I Love the Motherland's Blue Skies (我爱祖国的蓝天), Victory March (胜利进行曲) |
End of Parade | Ode to the Motherland (歌唱祖国) |
The reception was held at 11:30 am BST. CCP general secretary Xi Jinping received guests from the party, government and military, veterans and their descendants, and invitees from Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and the diaspora. [13]
A gala performance was held in 8pm BST, the sequence of the performance is listed below: [14]
Act | Programme | Songs & Dances |
---|---|---|
Prelude | 1. Symphonic Poem "Remember the Mountains and Rivers" | |
Act 1: Rage, Yellow River | 2. Dramatic scene "The Chinese Nation at the Most Critical Period" | The Sungari River |
3. Song-and-dance “The Blood-Stained Birch Forest” | ||
4. Dance “Elegy (Shāng)” | ||
5. Recitation & chorus “Roar, Yellow River” | ||
Act 2: Red Star Over China | 6. Poetic scene recitation “This Beam of Light” | Ode to Yan'an |
7. Song-and-dance “Yan’an! Yan’an!” | Northern Shaanxi folk song “The East Is Red” | |
Shaanxi–Gansu–Ningxia folk song “Great Military–Civilian Production” (melody, excerpt) | ||
Song “Anti-Japanese Military and Political University Anthem” | ||
Shaanxi–Gansu–Ningxia folk song “A Tower Ten-Thousand-Zhang High Rises from the Plain” | ||
8. Dramatic scene “Cave Dwellings and Trenches” | Children's rhyme “Big Red Dates” | |
Northern Shaanxi folk song “Song of the Anti-Japanese Soldiers Setting Out” | ||
Act 3: An Invincible Strength | 9. Group dance & group song “Beacon Fires Everywhere” | Song “Song of the Qiongya Independent Column” |
“Guerrilla Song” | ||
“Tunnel Warfare” | ||
“Pluck My Beloved Rustic Pipa” | ||
“Go to the Enemy’s Rear” (melody, excerpt) | ||
10. Dramatic play “The Eternal Unit Number” | ||
11. Men's group dance “Fight to the Bitter End” | Song “On the Taihang Mountains” | |
Act 4: A Shared Dawn | 12. Dance “Riding the Wind” | |
13. Situational singing “Immortal Melody” | Song “The Little Path” | |
Song “Red River Valley” | ||
Song "Ah, Friends, Goodbye" | ||
14. Song “Medal of the Nameless” | ||
Act 5: Justice Everlasting | 15. Dialogic scene “As You Wish” | “I Love You, China” (melody, excerpt) |
16. Ceremonial guard performance “Guarding Justice” | “March of the Steel Torrent” (melody, excerpt) | |
17. Lead singing & chorus “Unstoppable” | ||
Epilogue | 18. Song-and-dance “Shared Destiny” |
According to the Chinese assistant foreign minister Hong Lei, a total of 26 world leaders attended the parade. [15] The following leaders and dignitaries attended the parade:
A hot mic incident occurred as the leaders are walking on their way up to Tiananmen Gate, Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin discussed organ transplants and "immortality". This conversation is caught recorded by China Central Television's public broadcast. During the conversation, Putin spoke about biotechnology and "human organs will continue to be transplanted, and people will became younger and younger". Xi responded Putin, talking about how people predicted that life expectancy can reach up to 150 years and how 70 years old still is quite young compared to the past. [51] [52] [53] At the press conference during the evening, Putin clarified to Russian media that he and Xi did discuss about the topic of human lifespan. [54] The Chinese government subsequently censored the exchange, ordering news agencies such as Reuters to remove it. [55]
While waiting to watch the parade at the Tiananmen Gate Tower, South Korean National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and the two shook hands and had a brief conversation. According to Woo's entourage, Woo said "We met again after 7 years" (referring to the 2018 inter-Korean summit) and Kim replied with the single word "yes". [56] Woo also met with Putin and Putin asked Woo if there is any message he can relay to Kim, with Woo responding by saying that it is important to build peace in the Korean Peninsula despite difficulties. [56]
On the day of the parade, in a WeChat group called "Huaibei Cadillac Car Club" with 496 members, a user shared a live broadcast link for the parade at 9 a.m. At 9:28, another user criticized it, saying "What era is this, still doing this kind of bullshit?" 3 hours later, this user was arrested by Shanghai police and given a 10-day administrative detention. [57] [58]
In a separate incident on the same day, the official Weibo account of the Xiangyang internet police announced that a 47-year-old man surnamed Meng from Hubei was detained. The man had forwarded the parade live broadcast on his WeChat Moments and added comments that "slandered and defamed" the commemoration of the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, insulted and mocked other users who expressed patriotic sentiments, and had spread rumors. [59] [60]
NBC News described the domestic public enthusiasm for the parade as "palpable". [4] Trends related to the parade included military themed haircuts. [61] Chinese authorities widely censored and even arrested those who criticized the parade. [58]
High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas states that the presence of Russian, North Korean and Iran (CRINK) leaders at the military parade represents "a direct effort to challenge the rules-based international order by establishing an anti-Western coalition." [62]
As reported in Kyodo News, Japan had urged European and Asian leaders to not attend the parade, citing that the event "excessively exhibits anti-Japanese sentiment and seeks China's interpretation of the war to spread." [63] The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in return lodged a protest against Japan. [64] Chief Cabinet Secretary Hayashi Yoshimasa declined to comment on whether Japan had called on any nations not to attend. [65] Speculations against Japan's diplomacy pressure raised when a Victory Day event hosted by the Chinese Consulate to Australia in Australian Parliament House was forced to change the venue, however, informants from the Australian government dismissed the claim. [66]
Kiichirō Hatoyama of the Democratic Party for the People, the son of former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, expresses his opposition towards his father's attendance in the parade, while party leader Yuichiro Tamaki similarly expressed his opposition towards Yukio's attendance and said that facing history seriously and being used by a foreign power are "two different things." [67]
In Taiwan, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) imposed a ban on specific groups of persons to attend the parade, and called for members of public to refrain from the parade, any actions regarding to "collaboration with Mainland authorities" will face heavy fines, stripping of pension and honors. [68] Several celebrities were reported to have been investigated by the MAC for reposting information about the parade. [69]
Taiwan criticized the parade celebrations in China as historical revisionism, stating that the CCP "attempted to steal credit for leading the fight during the war" and pointing out that "most of the combat forces were made up from the forces of the Republic of China." [70] [71] China replied stating that Taiwan's criticism was "blaspheming those who died on behalf of the entire Chinese nation." [71] China's Taiwan Affairs Office spokesperson Zhu Fenglian went on to said that Taiwan "should not and cannot be absent from the relevant commemoration activities" and dismiss the attempt by Taiwan as "despicable acts that betrays history and the nation." [71] The Mainland Affairs Council of Taiwan criticized the parade's cost, with deputy minister Shen Yu-chung stating that China was "willing to spend NT$150 billion on the event while neglecting its domestic economic, labor, and social issues." [72] Shen also said that "the commemoration in China is a great irony considering how China's actions speaks equivalently to fascism masquerading as nationalism." [73]
Kuomintang chairman Eric Chu states that cross-straits visits must comply with the laws passed after hearing that former chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu would attend the military parade. [74]
As the parade occurred, Russia had fired more than 500 drones and two dozen missiles at Ukraine overnight, targeting mostly western and central Ukraine and wounding at least five people. Later that day, Putin said that his country is "willing to fight to achieve all its objectives if Ukraine does not agree to a peace deal" while Trump had persuaded Putin to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. [75] [76] [77]
On his social media platform Truth Social, President of the United States Donald Trump stated, "Please give my warmest regards to Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un, as you conspire against the United States of America." Trump also reaffirmed his "very good relationship" with Xi Jinping and he did not see the military parade event as a "challenge to the United States." [78] He also questioned whether Xi recognizes the "massive amount of support and blood" the United States has given to defend China's freedom. [79]
The American Institute in Taiwan stated that the PRC used to parade to distort World War II history concerning documents such as the 1943 Cairo Declaration, Potsdam Declaration, and Treaty of San Francisco in order to promote Chinese unification. [80]
An Indian government official told Jiji Press that despite the schedule convenience, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi does not attend the September 3rd Victory Parade as the parade itself is "a commemoration of China defeating Japan" and "India has no intention to harm Japan" as concerns mounted over the fate of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue after India's worsening ties with the United States. [81]
President Prabowo Subianto's decision to attend the parade after initially cancelled his invitation due to the August 2025 Indonesian protests sparked international headlines as protests still rages on despite cooling down. [21] [82] Minister of the State Secretariat Prasetyo Hadi explained that Prabowo had received reports on the demonstration that public life has gradually returned to normal, hence the decision made to resume his invitation. [83]
Leader of the Fourth Commission of the House of Representatives of Indonesia and Prabowo's former wife Titiek Suharto posted a picture of Prabowo together with Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un in admiration, stating that as an Indonesian, she is proud to see her president stand together with "World Tigers". [84]
Similarly, Indonesian netizens in Twitter reacted to an editorial of Yomiuri Shimbun that shows a similar photo which cropped Prabowo out. Some of the reactions include mocking Prabowo and his voters while comparing him to the three leaders standing beside him. [85] However, Yomiuri's editorial focuses on the three leaders and only mentioned Prabowo at the end of the article as Yomiuri viewed that Indonesia is a democracy unlike China, Russia and North Korea, justifying its different treatment. [86]
Secretary of National Defense Gilbert Teodoro states that the presence of China, North Korea and Russian leaders standing side by side in the parade is a form of intimidation against smaller countries. He also condemn the three leaders for not abiding to international law. [87] Teodoro also condemned Xi's speech as an attempt of historical revisionism in their expansionist narrative. [87] A spokesperson from the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines condemned Teodoro's statement as anti-Chinese and Teodoro's remarks revealed his arrogance and lack of understanding of historical facts. [88]