Originally Posted by
anacapamalibu
The parade of military vehicles and flybys of aircraft looked like they
are leftovers from the Vietnam war. I think definately it must have
been played up for the domestic audience as it doesn't show much
if any capabilities to western defenses.
Hu Jintao is considered relatively or even too moderate/liberal compared to the conservative hawks in the central committee so it was also a sort of personal display of leadership for him.
A few incidents in the past few months have indicated that his group is under pressure from within the party.