My father-in-law was a mid-level Communist Party official (photo editor of the People's "Liberation" Army newspaper) who knew Mao personally. Years later Mao's people threw him in a concentration camp for "rightists" because he had made a joke about the Great Helmsman. When they ran out of cooking oil they would cook his food in used motor oil. The man they tortured and forced to rat him out never recovered from the shame. My wife and I had dinner with his daughter in Beijing two years ago. She still carries the shame for her father, even today. A little gift from Mao that keeps on giving.

They were the lucky ones, of course. The consensus estimate is that 70 million human beings have died so far during the CCP's reign of terror, mostly from starvation. My wife spent much of her youth hungry. She and her friends used to pull the stingers out of honeybees to get a bit of sweetness in their lives. The things little girls do, huh?

Not much terror these days of course, unless you're Tibetan, Falun Gong, or an enemy of the state. The strange thing for me, when walking around China, is that the monster's face is on the money. Statues of him are still common. He's the worst murderer who ever lived, and you have to look at him when buying a rose. Isn't life interesting?

The title should be "the ruling Communist Party of China celebrates 60 years in power". China, a sovereign entity, existed for far longer than that.

Still, a magnificent show and an epic display of might, the likes of which only China could pull off.

[edit: Video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwi_2GCthx0

]

Very spectacular but the normal Beijing people were kept well away from the parade. Like many things it does this display demonstrates the weakness of the regime rather than the strength. It needs such a display to attempt to show to its people (and in a smaller part to the world) that the Communist party is powerful and everlasting. That the Communist party brings great face to China through power and prosperity.

China is on the edge of the precipice. Especially with this recent economic turmoil. While they live in an authoritarian society, Chinese people are not sheep. There are far too many have nots and the memory of standing up and deposing the government is still in many peoples minds.

The irony of the Empire State Building being lit in red and yellow in deference to the commemoration is not lost.

In 2009, China is Maoist and "Communist" in name only; in fact, much of the awe-inspiring artifacts and sophisticated technologies on display in the parade are principally features of a >= Deng Xiaoping environment - well, maybe starting with Hu Yaoban.

Meanwhile, in 1949 when the authentic Maoists seized power, the US provided entirely nontrivial military aid and financial assistance to the retreating Kuomintang (nationalist) government, and did much to try to suffocate the revolution in its cradle after the PLA did seize power.

Now the US salutes them (and warmly encourages them to maybe continue buying Treasuries... please?), and meanwhile there is nothing in the faintest bit "Communist" about the establishment, save for the nomenclature and iconic imagery of the incumbent power structure.

Wonder how long it will be before Hacker News is blocked in China....

I watched it on TV. Highly impressive, perhaps more impressive than the opening ceremony of the Olympics. The pictures actually don't do it justice to the marches.

I wish my code was as neat as this ;)

I especially like the seventh picture. The guy should probably also put a bubble level on their heads.