SHENYANG, China (AP) — Yang Huafeng, a 92-year-old Chinese army veteran, remembers the troops on horseback and the handful of planes that marked the founding of communist China in 1949.

It was a far cry from the military might the country will display Wednesday in a parade marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. A Japanese invasion before and during the conflict devastated China and left millions of people dead.

“Now you see our country’s planes ... , no one dares to mess with them,” the veteran told journalists at a war museum in the city of Shenyang. His chest covered with ribbons and medals, Yang expressed pride in his country's rise.

The ruling Communist Party is trying to amplify that feeling by playing up the war anniversary with spruced-up museums, new war movies

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