Chinese President Xi Jinping declared on Tuesday that “no force” could rattle his nation as it celebrated 70 years of Communist party rule by showcasing its military prowess in a highly choreographed parade of 15,000 troops and high-tech missiles and weaponry.

“There is no force that can shake the foundation of this great nation,” said Mr Xi, emphasising Chinese unity and development as he addressed his citizens and the world from Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, the symbolic seat of power.

“No force can stop the Chinese people and the Chinese nation forging ahead,” he told jubilant crowds waving the national flag during his eight-minute speech from the top of the Tiananmen Gate, where Chairman Mao Zedong announced the founding of the People’s Republic of China on October 1, 1949.

Hours later, however, huge and chaotic demonstrations by thousands of protesters in Hong Kong, and public shock after the police shooting of a teenager in the chest, threatened to steal President Xi’s thunder.