Chinese president Xi Jinping reviewed a parade of camouflaged troops at the country’s largest training base this weekend, in an elaborate demonstration of fealty by the People’s Liberation Army ahead of the 90th anniversary of its founding on Tuesday. 

The Zhurihe base on the edge of the Gobi desert is China’s largest, offering a variety of terrains and even a building that closely resembles Taiwan’s presidential office building. Previous war games have pitted a “red” Chinese army against a “blue” army whose tactics borrow from Nato’s, according to reports in Chinese media. 

But the parade was more about politics than military readiness. Mr Xi’s anti-corruption campaign has been particularly intense within the army, as he consolidates power and tries to root out entrenched business interests that stand in the way of China mounting an effective fighting force.