BEIJING (Reuters) - China's capital readied for a day of extraordinary spectacle and security on Thursday, celebrating the country's ascendance as a prospering power 60 years after Mao Zedong proclaimed its embrace of communism.
Thousands of police and troops have cleared central Beijing of all passers-by before anniversary celebrations for the birth of the People's Republic of China on Oct. 1, 1949, and Tiananmen Square has become a high-tech stage to display the ruling Communist Party's achievements before invited guests.