BEIJING on Monday celebrated the 69 th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China with pomp and pageantry, while across the border in Hong Kong, protests challenging the shrinking political arena took centre stage. A day before the official celebration and flag-raising, President Xi Jinping paid tribute to national heroes at the Monument to the People’s Heroes in Tiananmen Square in the capital. Xi, China’s most powerful leader since the nation’s founder, inspected members of the two million-strong People’s Liberation Army (PLA). During his visit, he stressed the importance of military strength and war preparedness, highlighting the efforts being made to improve the PLA’s capability to win wars, state-run Xinhua news agency reported. On Monday, the guard of honour from the PLA escorted China’s national flag to the flag tower in Tiananmen Square; the same place Chairman Mao Zedong declared the establishment of the People’s Republic on the...