CASC Weibo Fuses China SLBM Launch With Marco Polo Anniversary
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- CASC posted on Weibo commemorating the 89th anniversary of the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, visually fusing the July 6 PLAN SLBM launch with imagery of the Great Wall, resistance fighters, and the number 77 under the slogan "Never Forget History, Strive to Build National Strength" (勿忘历史，奋斗图强).
- The Marco Polo Bridge Incident of July 7, 1937 began as a localized clash over a missing Japanese soldier, but Japan's hardline Imperial Army faction exploited it to expand operations into northern China, launching an eight-year war that became central to the CCP's narrative of national resistance.
- The aircraft carrier Liaoning (CV 16) transited between Japan's Yonaguni and Iriomote Islands on September 18, 2024, passing through Japan's contiguous zone en route to the Philippine Sea — a movement that coincided with the anniversary of the Mukden Incident (September 18, 1931), which justified Japan's invasion of Manchuria.
- Chinese state media framed the 2024 Liaoning transit as routine, calling it "in accordance with the annual training plan," and did not connect it to the Mukden Incident anniversary, while online nationalist commentators linked the timing to the anniversary as proof of China's growing military edge over Japan.
- In 2017, China officially shifted the start date of the War of Resistance from July 7, 1937 to September 18, 1931, folding the earlier Mukden Incident into the official frame of "imperial Japan's invasion of China."
- PLA operations are officially scheduled independently of historical anniversaries per official statements, but military demonstrations gain additional meaning when integrated into the CCP's national rejuvenation narrative, with official channels keeping distance while online commentary connects the dots.
Why it matters: The CASC poster shows how Beijing packages PLA capability demos inside the CCP's national rejuvenation narrative, with the missile contractor voicing what official media keeps at arm's length. The 2024 Liaoning transit near Japan followed the same pattern — state media called it routine while online commentators linked it to the Mukden Incident anniversary.
