China on 3 September 2015 held a special military parade to commemorate the 70th anniversary of its victory over Japan during the World War II (WW-II) in 1945.
The parade was held at the historic Tiananmen Square in the capital Beijing. It was attended by many foreign dignitaries including the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Russian president Vladimir Putin.
In the parade, China’s military power was displayed that included the anti-ship carrier killer missile Dongfeng-21D.
During the occasion, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced to reduce the strength of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) by 3 lakh by 2017.
At present, the PLA is the world’s largest military with 2.3 million members. China (130 billion US dollars) also has the second biggest defence budget after the USA (530 billion US dollars).
World War-II
- It was a global war that lasted from 1 September 1939 to 2 September 1945 killing millions of military personnel and innocent civilians worldwide.
- The war was fought between the Allies (the USA, the UK, Russia, China, France, etc) and the Axis (Germany, Japan, Italy, etc).
- In 1937, Japan invaded China that claimed 14 million Chinese lives.
- China’s victory over Japan in 1945 was a remarkable event that led to the end of war in Asia and the Pacifics.
