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From Our Own Correspondent: The People's Republic of China on parade

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China prepares for celebrations marking the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China

28/09/2019 GMT

The People's Republic of China on parade

BBC World Service - From Our Own Correspondent, The People's Republic of China on parade

China's big show to mark 70 years of the PRC; plus stories from the US, Brazil and Japan

China readies a big show to mark 70 years of the People's Republic; rule of the gun in Brazil; a complex picture of Iranian-Americans; and a city reborn after tsunami in Japan

Beijing is getting ready to commemorate - and celebrate - seventy years since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949 with a huge parade on Tuesday. It plans to project power to an international audience, and unity to a domestic one, with impressive military hardware and well-drilled troops. John Sudworth reflects on the achievements the country and its ruling Communist Party can look back to with pride; but also wonders about those corners of the country's recent history which will NOT be remembered.

Pascale Harter introduces this and other stories from reporters and writers around the world. 

In Brazil, the number of people shot and killed by police has been rising across the country, particularly in its big cities. Hugo Bachega recently visited the favela (or neighbourhood) of Mare in Rio de Janeiro, where there's particular worry over trigger-happy officers and the deaths of innocents during chases and exchanges of gunfire. But local and national governments are backing police forces to the hilt, arguing they are the public's best defence against heavily-armed drug gangs which control some areas. 

Lois Pryce explores the passions and contradictions of a very special immigrant community in California: the state's exile and emigre Iranians and their Iranian-American children (though some still prefer the term "Persian".) As the US and Iran denounce each other in international forums, what's it like to live with both identities? And what do the people of "Tehrangeles" make of President Donald Trump's Middle East policies and objectives?

After the earthquake and tsunami hit Japan's northeastern coast in 2011, the damage done to the small city of Kamaishi was devastating - nearly nine hundred people died; floodwaters reached the fourth floor levels of many buildings; the school was completely destroyed. As the community tried to build back, some wondered whether it was worth prioritising the project to put up a new rugby stadium. But Ash Bhardwaj discovered that being able to host fixtures for the 2019 Rugby World Cup really has raised its morale - and he enjoyed the noodles and octopus balls on sale to spectators, too. 


(Image: A Chinese woman holds a national flag. Credit: Getty Images)

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