In this livestream, the host walks viewers through Tiananmen Square and the underground passage to the Mao Memorial, providing a first‑hand view of the 2025 Victory Day military parade. He describes the crowded, rainy conditions, the opening of the square to the public, and the visual layout of the parade site. The commentary interweaves a reinterpretation of Chinese contributions to World War II, arguing that Western narratives marginalize China’s role against Japan and the Soviet Union. The host critiques the dominant U.S.‑centric view of the war’s outcome and uses the parade as a case study to illustrate China’s historical resilience. He details specific military hardware displayed—intercontinental ballistic missiles (DF‑31, DF‑61), the H‑5 missile, and laser‑equipped vehicles purportedly capable of disabling satellites—highlighting the technological progress and precision of the troops’ marching drills. The host emphasizes the parade’s symbolic message to the United States and the West: China is no longer the geopolitical underdog of four decades ago. Throughout, he engages the live chat, asking viewers to confirm whether Western media covered the event, and notes logistical aspects such as long queues, rain, and restrictions on filming law‑enforcement personnel. The overall narrative frames the parade as a multifaceted showcase of historical memory, military capability, and China’s emerging global posture.
Chapters
Tynanmen Square once again. As a matter of fact, I'm glad it works out that the sound didn't work so I can be on the square because yesterday I wasn't able to get in. So today they opened the square for everybody, so you're gonna have a closer look into the, uh, the square where the ceremony for the victory parade took place. So what I'm gonna do is I'll show you in the area here Then I'm going to cross underground all the way to the Mao Memorial there. Then I'll share with you the building. This is for the People's Hall, and we'll just go from there. And I will, of course, talk to you about the, the significance of the parade. So I'm going to now pay close attention to when I flip the screen so I won't mess it up again. So let me do this again. There we go. Now, before I move an inch, can you please give me a thumbs up if you can hear me? And it starts to rain here, so, but it won't matter. So if you can please give me a thumbs up. Let me see again, because when your screen— when you change the screen, it won't show up here, so Okay, I can hear. Thank you very much, Sinyumi, appreciate it. So I just want to make sure, uh, Fernando Guero, yes, I am in China. I'm in Beijing right now. So great. So let's, uh, let's move on with our conversation here. So I'm gonna take you closer. It starts to rain, so I don't care for the rain. It won't matter, it's just water and it will dry up. So I'm gonna take you closer to the square exactly where the signs for I'm sure you remember if you watch the, the news and what have you. So this is the sign for the 1945, and this is the sign for the 2025. If you, if you notice, there are a lot of, a lot of visitors here. Those are from China, Chinese people here visiting from different parts of the country. They're holding the flag, but there are also some foreigners here visiting. Uh, oh, Super Untouched, thank you so much for your Super Sticker. Truly appreciate you, man. It means a lot. So, and as I said, you have now a better view because I am on the square here. So since they open it for the public to see, so you will be able to— of course, I had to wait for 2 hours in the line. The line is so long. Yesterday was different, but today it's okay. I don't complain about stuff like that. So I'm just excited to be here, on the square to share this livestream with you. Then I'm gonna be talking to you about the significance of the parade. But before I'll do this, I wanna do just a panoramic, uh, tour or, or, or show here by showing you different parts of— it's a big square, so I can see why they close it at night. So if you notice, and once again, I'm gonna cross over to the Mao Memorial, but I'll go underground there. Hopefully I won't lose you guys with the communication, and we just go from there. So yeah, it's a very, very, very, uh, and it's nice, it cools off a little bit now since it's raining. So all right, let's, uh, let me walk you a little bit through, uh, as I walk to the other side. And explain to you at least my perspective regarding how I saw the Victory Parade. It was just more than just a military parade. This is very significant given the history of China and what it has experienced from 1931 all the way to 1945. And this is again something that has been sort of ignored, I would say intentionally, by Western powers not disclosing the role, the pivotal role China has played in World War II and ending fascism as well. So of course, it goes without saying as to the atrocities the Japanese committed, and especially in Nanjing. You all know by now, you know, I talked about it enough time, the Nanjing Massacre. But it makes more sense for us to understand and bring to light this reality and this truth that has been some sort of marginalized, if I may use the term, when we talk about the history of World War II. As the saying goes, the history is written by the victorious, right? Well, that is not true sometimes because when you consider the declarations that it was the United States, my country, that won World War II, when in reality it wasn't. It was not if it weren't for the Soviet Union engaging and the role that China played on this side of the world, especially against imperialist Japan at that time. So, and this is again, most Americans, like I said yesterday, and I know you because the sound went off. I said to you yesterday that when I was teaching the graduate program for international relations, I will ask students just out of curiosity, and I said, "Who in your opinion won World War II?" I will say about 85 to 90% will say, "Well, Dr. O, it was the United States." And I say, "How so?" They said, "Well, because that's what the history says." And I said, "But that's what's been written, but is it accurate?" This is what you guys need to know. As far as— and they got it. They got it. We just, you know, that's part of learning, in my opinion. So once they realize, and I share with them the history briefly of what's going on, they come to understand, oh, wait a minute, the United States just used the occasion to rewrite history to its favor, which is true. So that is the harsh reality. And this victory parade that the Chinese just had 2 days ago launching from this part here of the square reflects that reality. So this is one thing that I need you to understand. It's because the military parade, the Victory Day parade, it's more than just military, just military show of the units and the weapons and so forth. It has to do with exemplifying the resiliency that the Chinese have displayed throughout this particular time in its history, in its dark history, because it was a dark history. So suffice it to say, which I will address certain key aspects of the military part of it, especially when it comes down to weapons without going into details. And also because I don't have images at my disposal to show you a comparison. So for example, I saw the DF-31, the DF-61, the H, I believe, H-5, 05, which is, those are the type of nuclear missiles that shows you exactly the advancements China has achieved in this realm. But also what the parade, in my opinion, suggests is that it sends a message, and that message was loud and clear, not only to the United States, but the Western world. And this is not about flexing muscle or domination and so forth. No, no, none of that. The message is we are no longer, sort of the West should no longer think of China as it was 40 years ago, because things have changed. And this is the harsh reality that I believe, in my opinion, the victory parade has displayed. That's one thing. I'm gonna get closer to the— because there is a good scene from here I want you to see. So right here. Yeah, this is the— and I'm gonna cross over it just because there are barriers, as you see, you can't get closer to that, and they are very strict about this. I was also told not to put the faces of the law enforcement on a camera, which I will respect, of course. And they said, you know, just ask permission first. I say, okay, but I'm not gonna do it anyway. So, all right, let me walk on the other— I don't know how to get over there, but actually I'm gonna cross over. I'm gonna cross over and go underground. Hopefully I won't lose the communication with you guys. Once again, I want you just take a look at this site here, right there, and I'm gonna cross over the other side. This is again, this big building here is the People's, uh, People's Hall. It was a map, a nice, uh, structure of a map. I don't know, I can— I'm gonna go see if I can get closer to it. And once again, I need you to understand the importance of this victory parade. And that is the highlights of why it was very, very important to— why I wanted to do a livestream for you. It's because I want you to understand the other side of arguments that has not been made. I don't know if it showed that the parade was showed on mainstream media overseas in the West. I don't know. I don't have access to that here. So what do you guys— was it— if you guys saw it on the— especially for my viewers in the US, can you just please share with yes or no? Was it displayed on the mainstream media in the West? Yes or no, please. Okay, let me see here because I can't see this from— this side. Let me read this one here. You said yes, it was— no, yes, I see it. Salut. Okay, so, Rafael, so they did show it. Okay, I just wasn't sure because I couldn't see this one here. But I don't know about what type of analysis they presented regarding this. To me, it wasn't about the show of force. It was about the show of progress in the military because this is what the significance of this, in my opinion, is the prowess, the economic, the military, and the technological advantages and progress that China has made. I was even surprised to see some type of weapons pertaining to laser. There were 4 vehicles that sort of had the laser units, big ones, those ones They could shut down a satellite, in my— to my knowledge, how those lasers work. So it was very, very interesting to see. One thing that I wanted to— which I said to you yesterday, I was very, very amazed by— is the formation. As a former military myself, you know, you kind of go through the drills of marching and so forth. And it was something that, you know, it just, it blows my mind regarding the precision of the steps, the precision of where the hand is holding the rifle, and everyone on an equal height. That's what I found very, very interesting as well. I'm gonna go under, under passage here, so, uh, hopefully I won't lose you guys. I'm nervous about going there and I'll lose the, uh connection, but I'll take chance with it. Why not? That's part of how life is. So I'm gonna go on the other side. This one is too crowded here. So the precision, and just to let you know, this kind of drills, it takes a while to reach that, that precision. So there is no way they've been practicing that for last month. That's been in few months because that's the importance of this. And here is one fact that I need you to know. I was just happen to be lucky being here in Beijing, thanks to you and for your support. You know, the last time China did a military parade like this was about a decade ago. Yeah, that's how long it's been. So to me, that's why I got so excited about being here having the ability to see this firsthand and be now on the square. I'm going to show it one more time because I'm going to go the other side. I'm going to show it to you one more time here before I go. So, so what I'm going to do, I'm going to go underground under the tunnel and cross into the Mao Memorial there. So, so this is what we're going to do. All right, let me go down the steps here. It's very wet, so it's slippery, and I have, uh, some sort of type of shoes that, that, uh, very slippery here. So, so let's hope I don't lose you guys, but if I do, just stand by, I will reconnect once again. So as you see, a lot of people came down here because it's raining. That is just water, and I'm gonna keep walking and cross the other side. What's, uh, what I said yesterday— it wasn't this crowded here yesterday, uh, because it wasn't raining, for a simple reason. What I said
