Taiwan's National Day celebrations put military hardware and a visiting Japanese parliamentary delegation front and center — a show of confidence aimed squarely at Beijing.

• A delegation of Japanese lawmakers rode through Taipei waving both Japanese and Taiwanese flags, led by the head of Japan's Taiwan-friendship parliamentary group.
• Fighter jets, attack helicopters, and patrol aircraft flew over the presidential office, closing with a five-plane aerobatic team trailing red, white, and blue smoke.
• The program leaned heavily on disaster readiness and "whole-of-society resilience," including a live helicopter rescue drill on the main boulevard.
• The coast guard debuted new drones and an unmanned boat, while the space agency displayed a model of its next satellite.
• Medal winners from the Nagoya Asian Games rode in a hero's motorcade past President Lai Ching-te and Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim.

Outlook: The open Japanese presence is likely to draw protest from Beijing, which treats any official Tokyo-Taipei contact as a red line.