With its unprecedented military parade, China is reminding Asia and the world of war, rather than peace

Whenever the Chinese Communist Party departs from routine protocol, it is usually highly significant. Its military parade in Beijing on Thursday, which marks 70 years since the defeat of Japan in the second world war, is no exception.

It is only China's fourth military parade since the Mao era; it is the first time it has held a parade that does not commemorate the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949; it is the first such parade where the world's heads of state are invited.

It is a bold decision. It is also a major error of judgment. To openly show off its military might in this way will harm rather than aid China's ambitions to rally support in Asia for its claim to regional leadership and its efforts to marginalise Japan and reduce American influence in the region.

China's readiness to assert itself militarily is unnerving its neighbours. Such an overt display of military power clashes with the notion of China's "peaceful rise". It also signals the definitive departure from Deng Xiaoping's strategy of downplaying its military capabilities - China is set to showcase its most advanced weaponry, something it has refrained from doing in previous parades.

Those outside China will understandably ask: what will this military strength be used for? After all, the boy in the playground with the biggest muscles should have no need to flaunt them. As one of the Chinese government's own favourite sayings goes: "Listen to other's words; watch their deeds." The rest of the world is watching China's deeds.

The words the Communist Party is using are also crucial here. China is not marking an Allied victory and the end of the war in Asia. It is specifically celebrating "the 70th anniversary of China's victory in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression". The party is affirming its historical narrative that China defeated the Japanese under the party's leadership.