Public not welcome at Beijing's party

[FT_news]

A grand procession featuring more than 200,000 participants, 150 aircraft and new military hardware will celebrate People's Republic's 60th anniversary, but residents living near the route have been warned to stay away.

Imagine if all but a few handpicked commoners were forbidden from central London while British nobility attended a royal pageant or if the citizens of New York were barred from attending the Macy’s Thanksgiving day parade.

On Thursday a grand procession featuring more than 200,000 participants, 150 aircraft and some of China’s newest military hardware will parade down Beijing’s Avenue of Eternal Peace to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China on October 1 1949.

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