China marks 60 years with spectacle of power

By Ben Blanchard and Lucy Hornby

BEIJING (Reuters) - China celebrated its wealth and rising might with a show of goose-stepping troops, gaudy floats and nuclear-capable missiles in Beijing on Thursday, 60 years after Mao Zedong proclaimed its embrace of communism.

Tiananmen Square in central Beijing became a high-tech stage to celebrate the birth of the People's Republic of China on Oct. 1, 1949, with the Communist Party leadership and guests watching a meticulously disciplined show of national confidence.

Celebrations began in the morning with troops firing cannons and raising the red national flag while President Hu Jintao, solemnly-faced and wearing a slate grey "Mao" suit, looked on from the Gate of Heavenly Peace over the Square.

Hu descended to the street and inspected rows of troops, riding past them in a black limousine and bellowing repeatedly, "Hello comrades, hard-working comrades!"

"From here it was that Chairman Mao solemnly announced the founding of the People's Republic of China, and from then the Chinese people stood up," Hu told the guests and troops.

"Today a socialist China embracing modernisation, embracing the world and embracing the future stands lofty and firm."

The two-hour parade of 8,000 picture-perfect soldiers, tanks and missiles, 60 elaborate floats and 100,000 well-drilled civilians was a proud moment for many Chinese citizens, watching the spectacle across the country on television.

"I am very proud of the military today. You can see we are getting stronger and stronger as a nation," said Qiu Chengjie, a 25-year-old businessman from southern Guangdong province.