Videos circulating on Chinese social media that appear to show rehearsals for a major military parade are providing an early glimpse of the scale and symbolism expected when China marks the 80th anniversary of its Victory Day in September.
On Wednesday, a clip posted to the Instagram-like platform RedNote – also known as Xiaohongshu – showed at least 45 People’s Liberation Army helicopters flying in formation.
The aircraft formed ceremonial patterns, including a heart, the numbers “8” and “0”, and also flew in groups of three, with each carrying red flags representing the Communist Party, the nation and the PLA. This was taken by many as a clear reference to the coming anniversary on September 3.
A similar aerial flag guard formation opened the Victory Day parade over Tiananmen Square a decade ago. It commemorated the 70th anniversary of China’s victory in World War II, officially termed the “Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War”.
Also on Wednesday, more images– including high-definition photos purportedly showing China’s J-35 stealth jets with the serial numbers 3501, 3505, and 3506 – emerged on the platforms Weibo and X.
The fighters were pictured flying in formation with several J-15T carrier-based fighter jets, hinting at their potential inclusion in the coming parade, according to the social media user who posted the images.
