Beijing’s Parade Preparations Pose Headache for Some Residents
Beijing’s Parade Preparations Pose Headache for Some Residents
(Bloomberg) -- Beijing’s preparations to celebrate 70 years since the founding of the People’s Republic are posing a hurdle for some of the Chinese capital’s residents.
The government has blocked off several major roads and buildings in the city of 22 million as the military rehearses for its parade, inhibiting deliveries to businesses and even preventing some people from leaving their homes. A convenience store in the northeast of Beijing ran out of chopsticks earlier this week when it wasn’t able to receive a new order. Tourists were turned away as major tourist attractions such as the Forbidden City were shut last weekend.
Residents near the intersection of Beijing’s Wangfujing Street and Chang’an Avenue -- which passes in front of Tiananmen Square -- were notified not to leave their apartments or open their window shades every weekend this month from Saturday afternoon until Sunday morning, as military officials practice for the upcoming parade on Oct. 1.
The disruptions present mostly minor inconveniences, and have also come with the potential for bluer skies. The government could temporarily reduce industrial activities to ensure an “azure sky” for the festivities, Nomura Economist Lu Ting said earlier this month, a move that may weigh on economic growth.
The military parade is part of an elaborate ceremony to celebrate the day Communist forces took power after defeating Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalist army in a civil war. Mao Zedong, Chairman of the Central People’s Government, declared the founding of the People’s Republic of China on Oct. 1, 1949, and the Nationalists subsequently retreated to the island of Taiwan.
The government has introduced a range of temporary measures around the festivities, including a ban on television shows that are “too entertaining,” heightened security and ID checks at subway stations, and tightened internet censorship that even drew complaints from the editor-in-chief of one of China’s most prolific state-run newspapers.
On Monday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reminded journalists not to fly small aircraft or birds in areas near the parade in order to not interfere with military planes. Flying pet birds is a common past-time among older people in China.
--With assistance from Fran Wang, Li Liu, Gao Yuan and Selina Wang.
To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Carolynn Look in Beijing at clook4@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Sharon Chen at schen462@bloomberg.net, James Mayger
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With assistance from Bloomberg