China's President Xi Jinping opened celebrations on Tuesday to mark 70 years of Communist rule vowing that "no force" would be able to shake the country, as a massive parade of troops and military hardware showcased Chinese muscle in the face of an unprecedented challenge to its authority in Hong Kong.
"There is no force that can shake the foundation of this great nation," Xi told invited delegates as he stood at the Tiananmen Square gate where Mao Zedong declared the People's Republic of China in October 1949.
"No force will be able to stop the steady march forward of the Chinese people and Chinese nation."
Authorities in Beijing have closed roads, banned the flying of kites, and even ordered pigeons to be caged amid tightened security for the invitation-only event to celebrate China's journey from war-ravaged country to the world's second-largest economy.
After his speech, Xi, the country's most powerful leader since Mao, reviewed the massed troops from the rear of an open-topped Red Flag or Hongqi limousine.
New weapons - including a hypersonic ballistic nuclear missile capable of breaching anti-missile defences to reach the United States - were rolled out across the tarmac.
Behind the projection of strength at the tightly-choreographed event, Xi is facing a clutch of challenges that are testing his ability to maintain economic and political stability at home and abroad.
"The party hopes that this occasion will add to its legitimacy and rally support at a time of internal and external challenges," Adam Ni, China researcher at Macquarie University in Sydney, told AFP.
A crackdown in Xinjiang, where as many as 1.5 million ethnic Uighurs and other Muslims are being held in what China calls vocational training centres, as well as a trade war with the US are among the problems.
But the major headache is Hong Kong, where pro-democracy protesters plan to grab the spotlight from Beijing on Tuesday with their own rally against what they see as the erosion of their special freedoms.