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| China National Day Live Updates: Split Screens of Parade and Protests | |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| More than 100,000 soldiers and performers will parade through the streets of Beijing on Tuesday to commemorate 70 years of Communist Party rule in China. | More than 100,000 soldiers and performers will parade through the streets of Beijing on Tuesday to commemorate 70 years of Communist Party rule in China. |
| The parade, overseen by the top leader, Xi Jinping, is one of the largest in modern Chinese history and is the capstone of a week of events meant to celebrate the country’s rapid emergence as a global power. | The parade, overseen by the top leader, Xi Jinping, is one of the largest in modern Chinese history and is the capstone of a week of events meant to celebrate the country’s rapid emergence as a global power. |
| Early Tuesday morning in Beijing, troops marched along Chang An Avenue — the Street of Eternal Peace — in final rehearsals before the official parade. Organizers conducted microphone checks and played a recording of the national anthem and a soundtrack of marching steps. Nearby, a bus full of parade musicians carrying trombones, trumpets and tubas stepped onto the street and hurried over to their designated seats in front of the large portrait of Mao. | Early Tuesday morning in Beijing, troops marched along Chang An Avenue — the Street of Eternal Peace — in final rehearsals before the official parade. Organizers conducted microphone checks and played a recording of the national anthem and a soundtrack of marching steps. Nearby, a bus full of parade musicians carrying trombones, trumpets and tubas stepped onto the street and hurried over to their designated seats in front of the large portrait of Mao. |
| The order and pageantry of the parade in Beijing offer a stark contrast to a spectacle of different sort expected in Hong Kong. Some residents of the semiautonomous territory plan to turn the holiday into a day of protest, demonstrating against the central government and calling for police accountability and democratic reforms. | The order and pageantry of the parade in Beijing offer a stark contrast to a spectacle of different sort expected in Hong Kong. Some residents of the semiautonomous territory plan to turn the holiday into a day of protest, demonstrating against the central government and calling for police accountability and democratic reforms. |
| Antigovernment protesters are planning demonstrations in Hong Kong on Tuesday that could descend into violence and clashes with the police. | Antigovernment protesters are planning demonstrations in Hong Kong on Tuesday that could descend into violence and clashes with the police. |
| Organizers expect tens of thousands of people to take to the streets despite the government’s refusal to grant a permit for a public assembly. Instead, bands of protesters will gather across different districts in a show of resistance to the Communist Party. | Organizers expect tens of thousands of people to take to the streets despite the government’s refusal to grant a permit for a public assembly. Instead, bands of protesters will gather across different districts in a show of resistance to the Communist Party. |
| On Tuesday morning, police stopped two dozen antigovernment protesters dressed in black and holding a banner that read “End one-party dictatorship.” The protesters had tried to march to the Golden Bauhinia Square in the downtown Wan Chai district where the government was holding a flag-raising ceremony. The police used pepper spray to break them up and handcuffed a few protesters after some of them scuffled briefly with a small group of pro-government supporters. | On Tuesday morning, police stopped two dozen antigovernment protesters dressed in black and holding a banner that read “End one-party dictatorship.” The protesters had tried to march to the Golden Bauhinia Square in the downtown Wan Chai district where the government was holding a flag-raising ceremony. The police used pepper spray to break them up and handcuffed a few protesters after some of them scuffled briefly with a small group of pro-government supporters. |
| The protesters also chanted slogans referring to the Chinese military’s June 4, 1989 military crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations on Tiananmen Square, one of the most sensitive chapters in Chinese history | |
| Near Hong Kong’s famed Victoria Harbour, police in green fatigues walked along the waterfront, keeping a wary eye out for protests. For security reasons, the authorities did away with an outdoor viewing area and instead had local dignitaries gather in a convention center to watch a live broadcast of the flag-raising ceremony. Two government helicopters carrying China’s national flag and Hong Kong’s flag flew over the harbor. | |
| The city’s No. 2, Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung, who presided over the event, said the government was sparing no effort to restore peace. | |
| “Citizens at large are shocked and saddened by this unfamiliar Hong Kong, and are urgently hoping to find a way out of the current impasse as soon as possible,” Mr. Cheung said. | |
| The government has worked with “its greatest sincerity” to resolve the impasse, he said, pointing to its efforts to set up channels for communication with the public. | |
| Chinese hard-liners have long feared that hostile foreign forces are using Hong Kong as a base of subversion against the mainland and top officials do not want anything to overshadow their National Day celebrations. The Hong Kong police force on Monday arrested two high-profile democracy activists in connection with the storming of Hong Kong legislative office on July 1 by a small group of confrontational protesters. | Chinese hard-liners have long feared that hostile foreign forces are using Hong Kong as a base of subversion against the mainland and top officials do not want anything to overshadow their National Day celebrations. The Hong Kong police force on Monday arrested two high-profile democracy activists in connection with the storming of Hong Kong legislative office on July 1 by a small group of confrontational protesters. |
| Street violence has increased over the course of the protests, and the local police have made more than 1,700 arrests since June. Police officers have also deployed tear gas, pepper spray and rubber bullets against the demonstrators, in a use of force that many protesters have described as excessive. | Street violence has increased over the course of the protests, and the local police have made more than 1,700 arrests since June. Police officers have also deployed tear gas, pepper spray and rubber bullets against the demonstrators, in a use of force that many protesters have described as excessive. |
| The authorities closed or planned to close about a dozen subway stations in areas that protesters had said they would target. | The authorities closed or planned to close about a dozen subway stations in areas that protesters had said they would target. |
| For weeks, details of the military parade in Beijing have been guarded like a national secret. Residents near the parade route were ordered to close their curtains each night at 8 p.m. and rehearsals took place at midnight. | For weeks, details of the military parade in Beijing have been guarded like a national secret. Residents near the parade route were ordered to close their curtains each night at 8 p.m. and rehearsals took place at midnight. |
| The tops of some of the colorful parade floats could be seen poking over the gates at Workers’ Stadium, but residents who dared to take a look were shooed away by security guards. | The tops of some of the colorful parade floats could be seen poking over the gates at Workers’ Stadium, but residents who dared to take a look were shooed away by security guards. |
| Ahead of the holiday, the authorities have imposed measures around the country, particularly in Beijing, to ensure that the festivities are uninterrupted. | Ahead of the holiday, the authorities have imposed measures around the country, particularly in Beijing, to ensure that the festivities are uninterrupted. |
| The area around Tiananmen Square is on lockdown, and residents who live on nearby streets have been told to remain at home for the parade’s duration. Passenger trains will undergo security checks, and all unauthorized flying objects — including racing pigeons — have been banned. | The area around Tiananmen Square is on lockdown, and residents who live on nearby streets have been told to remain at home for the parade’s duration. Passenger trains will undergo security checks, and all unauthorized flying objects — including racing pigeons — have been banned. |
| The authorities are also policing cyberspace. Internet access in the city has been throttled and Weibo, the popular microblogging site, said it would delete content that “distorts” or “insults” Chinese history. | The authorities are also policing cyberspace. Internet access in the city has been throttled and Weibo, the popular microblogging site, said it would delete content that “distorts” or “insults” Chinese history. |
| The Communist Party controls many things in China but one thing that it could not rein in today was the pollution. | |
| Beijing woke on Tuesday to a pall of smog and dust ahead of the parade — despite the usual government diktats that have ensured blue skies on important holidays in the past. | |
| Industries north of the Yellow River were shut down, including a glass tempering factor in Shijiazhuang, south of Beijing, which confirmed that it had closed for the holidays five days ago and will remain shut until Friday. Construction sites in Beijing also went idle. Trucks were barred from the city center. | |
| To no avail. The air quality index reached 154, a level that is considered unhealthy. Outdoor activity is not recommended, which has been the case for several days now. | |
| One culprit, beyond heavy polluting industries, is the weather, which the authorities nowhere cannot control. An extended dry spell winds from the south have blown in pollutants from the country’s manufacturing heartland into the basin where Beijing sits. (Northern winds have the opposite effect.) | |
| Reporting was contributed by Russell Goldman, Gillian Wong, Keith Bradsher, Michael Ives, Andrew Jacobs, Li Yuan, Elsie Chen, Tiffany May and Elaine Yu in Hong Kong, and Christopher Buckley, Steven Lee Myers, Alexandra Stevenson, Edward Wong and Ian Johnson in Beijing. | Reporting was contributed by Russell Goldman, Gillian Wong, Keith Bradsher, Michael Ives, Andrew Jacobs, Li Yuan, Elsie Chen, Tiffany May and Elaine Yu in Hong Kong, and Christopher Buckley, Steven Lee Myers, Alexandra Stevenson, Edward Wong and Ian Johnson in Beijing. |