Photo: Li Hao/GT

At a time when tension is rising in the Taiwan Straits amid US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's possible visit to the island of Taiwan, Chinese soldiers and people celebrated the special anniversary of the founding of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) on Monday, the Army Day, with a strong passion to demonstrate that whether they are soldiers or not, Chinese people always have the faith and spirit of the PLA in their hearts to firmly safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Starting on Monday morning, China's national flags were raised in multiple military camps and cities from the northernmost city Mohe to the southern Yongshu Reef to commemorate the 95th anniversary of the founding of the PLA.

The video of guards raising the national flag at Tiananmen Square in Beijing went viral on China's Twitter-like Sina Weibo, with many netizens saying that they were impressed and touched by the strong sound of the footsteps of the flag guards, which reminded them of the firm steps of the PLA, from where China was faced with enduring impoverishment and long-standing debility to where it is now.

"We guard the flight of 'Flying Sharks' in the Bohai Bay. Please rest assured, the Party and the people!" Standing next to the "Flying Sharks" (China's J-15 fighter jets), several PLA Navy officers and soldiers vowed to protect the country and the people in a video released by military.cnr.cn on Monday. 

The Eastern Theater Command also released a video on Monday showing advanced weapons and hot-blooded scenes of its training.

"We are fully prepared for any eventuality. Fight upon order, bury every intruder, and move toward joint and successful operations! We are PLA soldiers, we swear to defend the motherland to the death," soldiers from the command said in the video.

Traning scenes of two of China's aircraft carriers, the Shandong and Liaoning, are also displayed in the video. With growing combat capacity, it will be normal to see that the two Chinese aircraft carrier groups train together, executive officer of the Shandong Xu Ying told China Central Television (CCTV) on Monday.

Some veterans also sent their greetings on the social media platform and vowed that they would return to the army without hesitation whenever duty calls.

Hu Xijin, former editor-in-chief of the Global Times and a veteran, said on his Weibo account on Sunday that although he had retired, he is still hale and experienced in reporting under fire. "Whenever the country encounters a war and needs me, I surely will return!" he said. The post has drawn about 40,000 likes. 

An exhibition of over 100 photo portraits of PLA veterans was unveiled in Beijing on Monday. They were taken by Guo Haipeng, who spent 20 years taking photos of PLA veterans aged from 88 to 107 as a way to uphold their spirit of patriotism and resisting aggression.  

Chinese people sent their best wishes and respect to the army and Chinese soldiers - the most admirable people in China.  

A hashtag reading "the 95th anniversary of the founding of PLA" on Weibo had attracted nearly 1 billion views as of Monday. Another hashtag reading "respect to the people's own army" had been viewed nearly 300 million times as of the same day.

A Chinese military enthusiast made a miniature of China's third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, out of around 60,000 building blocks as a gift to celebrate the anniversary, which garnered wide interest from netizens.

The model has a length of 3.2 meters and weighs 150 kilograms, with models of J-15 and Z-20 aircraft landing on it. The military enthusiast also wrote on paper netizens' wishes for the motherland and the PLA, and inserted them into the model. 

In Zhangzhou, East China's Fujian Province, 600 drones formed the characters of "95," "support the army, support the government and love the people," as well as images of the aircraft carrier Fujian and J-20 fighter jets on Sunday night to celebrate the 95th founding anniversary of the PLA.

The Chinese people's great passion manifested in the anniversary shows that the country has a solid basis for the education of national security and patriotism. If every citizen in a country has a strong patriotic feeling, the country would be invincible, Song Zhongping, a Chinese military expert and retired military instructor, told the Global Times on Monday.    

On the eve of the anniversary, the PLA displayed its readiness to celebrate the day by not only revealing some of its latest achievement in weaponry and equipment development, but also with concrete and realistic combat preparations to warn off "Taiwan independence" secessionist and external interfering forces, who are just like what Chairman Mao Zedong once said, all reactionaries are paper tigers.

As the old Chinese saying goes, everyone is responsible for the rise and fall of a country. It is the same nowadays - the Chinese people will definitely realize the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation with firm faith, Song said.