The 2017 PLA Day parade was a

military parade A military parade is a formation of soldiers whose movement is restricted by close-order manoeuvering known as drilling or marching. The military parade is now almost entirely ceremonial, though soldiers from time immemorial up until the lat ...

Zhurihe Training Base The Zhurihe Training Base (), also called the Zhurihe Combined Tactics Training Base, is a People's Liberation Army (PLA) base in Inner Mongolia, China, founded in 1957. The largest military base in China, Zhurihe covers , has its own hospital, ...

Inner Mongolia Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. Its border includes most of the length of China's border with the country of Mongolia. Inner Mongolia also accounts for a ...

, on 1 August 2017 to celebrate the 90th anniversary of founding of the

People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the principal military force of the People's Republic of China and the armed wing of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The PLA consists of five service branches: the Ground Force, Navy, Air Force, ...

(PLA) and the

Nanchang uprising The Nanchang Uprising () was the first major Nationalist Party of China–Chinese Communist Party engagement of the Chinese Civil War, begun by the Chinese Communists to counter the Shanghai massacre of 1927 by the Kuomintang. The Kuomint ...

that caused its founding. The parade was the first one to be held outside of

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

since 1981 and the only one to date to only include military equipment and no marchpast. It also was the first organized event to be held on 1 August, which is

PLA Day PLA Day () also known as Army Day is a professional military holiday celebrated by the People's Liberation Army of the People's Republic of China on 1 August. It commemorates of the founding of the PLA during the 1927 Nanchang Uprising. Six years la ...

in China. Central Military Commission (CMC) Chairman and Party General Secretary

Xi Jinping Xi Jinping ( ; ; ; born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has served as the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), and thus as the paramount leader of China, s ...

inspected the troops while CMC vice chairman

Fan Changlong Fan Changlong (; born May 1947) is a retired general in the People's Liberation Army (PLA) of the People's Republic of China. He was a Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission, and formerly served as commander of the Jinan Military Regio ...

was the parade's master of ceremonies and General

Han Weiguo Han Weiguo (; born January 1956) is a general (''shang jiang'') of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA). He has been Commander of the PLA Ground Force from August 2017 to June 2021, and formerly served as the inaugural Commander of the Cent ...

of the

Central Theater Command The Central Theater Command () is one of the five theater commands of the People's Liberation Army of China, and was founded on 1 February 2016. Its predecessors were the Beijing Military Region and Jinan Military Region. The International I ...

was parade commander. 12,000 troops participated in the parade dressed up in combat garb instead of the usual

Type 07 Type 07 () is a group of military uniforms used by all branches of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) of the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the paramilitary Chinese People's Armed Police Force. Introduced in 2007, the Type 07 uniforms repl ...

full dress uniform Full dress uniform, also known as a ceremonial dress uniform or parade dress uniform, is the most formal type of uniforms used by military, police, fire and other public uniformed services for official parades, ceremonies, and receptions, inclu ...

. According to the

Minister of National Defense A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...

, this was done to replicate troops in a "dust-covered battlefield atmosphere". A key cause for controversy was the fact that during the parade when the CPC Flag was paraded ahead of the

Flag of China The National Flag of the People's Republic of China, also known as the Five-star Red Flag, is a Chinese red field with five golden stars charged at the canton. The design features one large star, with four smaller stars in an arc set off t ...

Voice of America Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is the state-owned news network and international radio broadcaster of the United States of America. It is the largest and oldest U.S.-funded international broadcaster. VOA produces digital, TV, and radio content ...

pointed out that this violated Article 15 of the Law of the Flag of China. Network commentators in China saw this an inappropriate move.

References

External links

China holds military parade to mark PLA 90th birthday 庆祝中国人民解放军建军90周年阅兵Full video: China’s grand military parade marks PLA 90th birthday , 中国人民解放军建军90周年阅兵
{{Military Parades of the People's Liberation Army Military parades in China 2017 in China Military history of the People's Republic of China 2017 in military history August 2017 events in China