Blue Skies Bring out Baseball Caps for China Military Parade

  • President Xi oversees parade involving 12,000 soldiers
  • Xi speaks of China's rise while announcing troop cuts

China's Flexes Military Muscle in Victory Day Parade

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It was almost too perfect a day in Beijing.

Having gone into overdrive to ensure clean air for President Xi Jinping’s military parade, officials started to wilt in the sun on a flawless autumn morning during the two hour display. Visiting dignitaries sitting on a balcony overlooking Tiananmen Square and Mao Zedong’s portrait resorted to baseball caps, sunglasses and surreptitious sips from bottles of water.