Media: Xi Jinping Is Paranoid

In the background of the parade in Beijing.

Preparations are being finalized in downtown Beijing for a massive military parade that will be a showcase of China's power and Chinese leader Si Jinping's personal influence. Tribunes have been set up in Tiananmen Square for 26 country leaders, including dictators Putin and Kim Jong-un - the first participation by a DPRK leader in a Chinese parade since 1959, writes BBC (translated by Charter97.org).

Officially, the event is timed to mark the 80th anniversary of Japan's surrender, but for Xi it has become a platform for power projection and image-building amid a troubled economy, rising unemployment and falling housing prices.

The parade is accompanied by unprecedented security measures. Drones are banned in the capital, additional scanners have been installed at building entrances, and guards are on duty on bridges and overpasses. Journalists are being visited at their homes to warn them of the rules. Residents of homes along the route have been told to stay off their balconies.

Schools, hotels and business centers along Chang'anjie are closed, parts of the subway are blocked, and traffic is paralyzed. Even rental bicycles have been removed from the streets. At night, tanks and columns of vehicles rehearse, and the sounds of marches spread far beyond the square.

This scale of control reflects the authorities' anxiety. Beijing does not want a repeat of the 2022 protests, when an activist unfurled an anti-government banner on a bridge. Now any attempt to express discontent is blocked at the root.

A demonstration of the latest hypersonic missiles and underwater drones is expected. For Xi Jinping, the parade is not just a military celebration, but an assertion of absolute power.

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