On October 1, tens of thousands of students of all ages will join a tightly choreographed march across Tiananmen Square along with tanks, rocket launchers and the People's Army. In China, where a cyclical view of history still lingers, anniversaries have more resonance than in the West where linear time puts history irretrievably in the past. Anniversaries are loved and dreaded precisely because they bring past events to mind. On October 1, the founding of People's China will be relived, with Chairman Jiang instead of Mao reviewing the troops. Security is so tight that office buildings facing the parade will be closed, and hotels are asking guests to keep curtains drawn.
Cooking gas is banned from the area and the massive rows of temporary toilets are under watch.
Even the sky has been painted blue, almost. To ensure good weather, the authorities have cut off sources of pollution, including the Capital Steel and Ironworks, that normally make Beijing one of the world's smoggiest cities. Given the desire to throw a perfect party, the Taiwan earthquake could not have come at a worse time. This unluckiness, above and beyond normal humanitarian concerns, has presented Beijing-controlled media with a dilemma. In the season designated to orchestrate praise of half a century of communism, Taiwan, the province that got away, commands attention.