September 2021 - Page 2 of 3 - Friends of Socialist China

Jeffrey Sachs: stop demonizing China and build cooperation to solve global problems

The video clip embedded below is from a recent interview Professor Jeffrey Sachs did with Massachusetts Peace Action. Sachs highlights the absurdity of US politicians saying they want to cooperate with China over climate change whilst simultaneously waging a relentless propaganda war and ramping up military tensions. He calls for the establishment of a political and intellectual environment conducive to urgently-needed cooperation over climate change, pandemics, economic stability, and peace.

Joe Glenton: The new anti-China ‘defence’ pact shows no lessons were learned from Afghanistan

The following article by Joe Glenton (British military veteran and peace activist) discusses the new AUKUS military pact and the fact that the Western imperialist powers, having been forced to retreat from Afghanistan, are not giving up on their militarism and hegemonism, but rather shifting their attentions further East. Reproduced with thanks from The Canary.

Australia, the UK, and the US have signed a new military pact they say will protect their countries. The allies claim an AUKUS (pronounced ‘awk-us’) alliance will support a “peaceful and rules-based international order”. But critics have called the move a new Cold War against China. And some question the Western countries’ decision so soon after defeat and withdrawal from Afghanistan. It seems to ignore key lessons: that US power is in decline and that expeditionary warfare is a recipe for disaster.

Carlos Martinez: AUKUS is a racist, imperialist project designed to deepen the New Cold War on China

Friends of Socialist China co-editor Carlos Martinez was interviewed by Sean Blackmon and Jacquie Luqman on the Sputnik Radio show By Any Means Necessary on 17 September 2021. They discuss the recently-announced alliance between the US, Britain and Australia, and its clear purpose of advancing the war drive against China. The audio is embedded below.

Escucha”US Continues War Drive Against China With AUKUS Alliance” en Spreaker.

Xi Jinping speech at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit

Below we reproduce the statement by President Xi Jinping at the 21st Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) on 17 September 2021. The English translation originally appeared on Xinhua. Comrade Xi’s speech covers a number of important topics including the fight against Covid, Afghanistan, multilateralism, the Belt and Road Initiative, and the record thus far of the SCO.

Your Excellency President Emomali Rahmon,

Dear Colleagues,

I wish to thank you, President Rahmon, and Tajikistan for hosting this meeting under Tajikistan’s Presidency of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). As the SCO marks its 20th anniversary, together with all of you, I look forward to reviewing the proud history of the SCO and charting the course for even broader prospects of its future development.

Kate Hudson: why we say No to AUKUS

This important post by Kate Hudson, General Secretary of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), highlights the dangerous folly of the newly-announced military pact between the US, Britain and Australia.

If anyone thought that talking of a ‘new cold war’ with China was overstating the case, the recently announced AUKUS military pact must make them think again. Surely timed to deflect notions of US weakness after its defeat in Afghanistan, this major new multifaceted defence agreement between the US, UK and Australia sees the latter firmly jump into the US camp and the former strengthen and renew its Pivot to Asia through unashamedly militaristic means. The UK is coat-tailing the US as usual, hoping to garner some jobs in nuclear reactor production, and trying yet another gambit to boost the ‘global Britain’ profile.

Mike Klonsky: Biden’s strategic shift towards China brings us ever closer to war

This useful post from educator and activist Mike Klonsky discusses the announcement of the ‘trilateral security partnership’ between the US, UK and Australia (or as Klonsky describes it, a ‘white united front’) and its connection to the escalating New Cold War.

The new Cold War with China, begun under Trump and now escalating under Biden, once again pushes us closer to the nuclear abyss. How close are we? So close that according to a new book “Peril,” by the Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Robert Costa. General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was so consumed with fear that former President Donald Trump might launch “rogue” conventional or nuclear strikes against China, he acted twice to prevent it.

Trump’s defeat brought hope to many around the world that Biden and the Democrats would break from Trump’s anti-China saber-rattling, trade-war policies and shift towards repairing the breach and lowering the temperature. These hopes have grown more desperate during the global pandemic as the growing cold war now includes vaccine wars.

Webinar: From hunger and famine to feeding everyone (26 September)

On Sunday, 26 September 2021, the CPUSA is hosting a webinar on China’s elimination of extreme poverty.

Date: Saturday 26 September 2021
Time: 8pm US Eastern, 7pm US Central, 5pm US Pacific
Registration: Zoom

In 2021 China announced the elimination of extreme poverty, a historic accomplishment of socialism. Speakers from China and the USA will discuss the conditions of old China before the victory of the revolution in 1949: destitution, illiteracy and violence, as well as imperialist invasion and occupation. This will be followed by a discussion of today’s successful poverty alleviation program and the role of the Chinese Communist Party. The class will end with Q&A and discussion.

Speakers will include: Shen Ning (North American Bureau of Communist Party of China International Department), Norman Markowitz (Rutgers University); and Luo Xiaoping (sociologist from North China Electrical Power University).

Xi Jinping’s address at the 13th BRICS summit

On 9 September 2021, President Xi Jinping addressed the 13th BRICS summit via video link in Beijing. His speech provides a concise overview of China’s approach to international relations, focused on multilateralism, common development, and solidarity. He also used the speech to announce that China would be donating a further 100 million Covid vaccine doses to developing countries.

Dear Colleagues,

At present, the COVID-19 pandemic is still wreaking havoc around the world. The road to global recovery remains bumpy and tortuous. And the international order is going through profound and complex changes. Facing these challenges, we the BRICS countries must step forward to make an active contribution to world peace and development and advance the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.

Danny Haiphong: Racism denies common prosperity in the United States

In this article for CGTN, Friends of Socialist China co-editor Danny Haiphong argues that the United States, instead of constantly maligning China and interfering in its internal affairs, would do well to tackle its entrenched racism and learn from China’s commitment to common prosperity.

Mainstream U.S. media frequently depicts China as a “closed off” country that treats ethnic minorities with contempt and oppression. The New York Times took this baseless accusation further in an op-ed published on September 9 that claimed China was closing itself off from the world and rejecting the English language. No verifiable proof was offered beyond reforms to the education system that seek to address economic and social stressors faced by Chinese families.

The op-ed argued that China’s decision to place tighter regulations on its private tutoring and examination process is a sign that the country is closing itself off from the world. Yet China’s reforms actually achieve the opposite by adhering to the goal set out by the central government to ensure “common prosperity” for all. After eliminating extreme poverty last year, China has tightened regulations on tech companies and educational institutions in a bid to create an environment where citizens of lower income levels can enjoy the prosperity of the fast-growing socialist economy.

Towards a shared vision, a shared prosperity and a shared partnership between China and Vietnam

We are pleased to reproduce the following articles from CGTN and Nhân Dân, reporting on Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s recent visit to Vietnam. Both reflect a growing consensus between the two states to deepen cooperation, reject US interference and trouble-making, and settle historic differences in the spirit of peace and friendship.

CGTN: For Vietnam, China is a bulwark against Western interventionism

As a part of his tour of regional countries, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited Vietnam and participated in the 13th meeting of the China-Vietnam Steering Committee for Bilateral Cooperation. Vietnam official media described the visit and the meeting as two countries maintaining positive trends and that Vietnam’s Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh sees win-win cooperation in a number of areas, including senior leadership visits, security issues, economic cooperation and COVD-19 management.

Elias Jabbour: Socialist China is the last frontier between reason and barbarism

This speech by Elias Jabbour (Adjunct Professor of Economics, Rio de Janeiro State University) at the recent launch of Through Pluripolarity to Socialism usefully describes the current state of international relations, the global trajectory towards socialism, and the vanguard role of the People’s Republic of China.

First of all, I would like to thank the organizers of this Manifesto for the invitation to be here with you today. Thank you for the opportunity to be part of a document which summarizes not only the fundamental contradictions of our epoch, but mainly the solutions towards pluripolarity and socialism. This Manifesto not only demonstrates the defense of socialist experiences, but also shows to the world that we don’t deny the history of the international communist movement. On the contrary. We are proud of our history. The Soviet Union was responsible, for the first time in history, for giving women equality before the law.

Review: Serve the People – The Eradication of Extreme Poverty in China

This article by Carlos Martinez was originally published – in slightly condensed form – in Beijing Review on 10 September 2021.

In late 2020, the Chinese government announced that its goal to eliminate extreme poverty by 2021 (the centenary of the founding of the Communist Party of China) had been met. At the start of the targeted poverty alleviation programme in 2013, just under 100 million people were identified as living below the poverty line; seven years later, the number was zero.

To eradicate extreme poverty in a developing country of 1.4 billion people, which just 72 years ago (at the time of the founding of the People’s Republic of China) was one of the poorest countries in the world – characterised by widespread malnutrition, illiteracy, foreign domination and technological backwardness – is a truly extraordinary achievement.

Webinar: Why Meng Wanzhou should be released NOW! (22 September)

The Hamilton Coalition To Stop The War is organising a webinar on Wednesday 22 September 2021 at 7pm EDT with a set of expert panelists explaining the many reasons why Meng should (and can legally be) released now in order to restore friendly relations with China, and to set a new and independent course in foreign policy for Canada.

Hong Kong: From Royal Colony to Color Revolution

In this China Is Not Our Enemy webinar, hosted by CODEPINK and Massachusetts Peace Action, Madison Tang interviews Julie Tang (co-founder of Pivot to Peace and Hong Kong native) and Michael Wong (Vice President of Veterans for Peace San Francisco) about the context and consequences of British and US interference in Hong Kong.

The liberation of Shanghai: ‘I found PLA soldiers sleeping on the pavement’

In this short video from CGTN, Betty Bar and her husband George Wang discuss their experiences living in Shanghai, from the 1930s up to the present. They remember the intense poverty in the city before liberation; the horrors of the Japanese occupation; the professional, disciplined and people-oriented nature of the People’s Liberation Army when entering Shanghai; and the extraordinary improvements in people’s lives in the ensuing decades. George Wang comments: “Without the Communist Party, without Mao Zedong, what would our life be today?”

Infographic: on China’s achievements in the Mao era

9 September marks the 45th anniversary of Mao Zedong’s death. After all this time, historians in the capitalist world continue to portray Mao as a monster. But China’s achievements under his leadership (1949-76) tell a completely different story.

Wang Yi on the 50th anniversary of the restoration of China’s seat at the UN

This speech by China’s foreign minister Wang Yi, delivered at the Join Hands for a Shared Future Seminar to Commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the Restoration of The Lawful Seat of the People’s Republic of China in the United Nations, provides a succinct and powerful outline of China’s foreign policy framework and its approach to international relations. It sets out a clear vision of multilateralism and cooperation to tackle shared problems and build global peace and prosperity.

Distinguished Guests,

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the restoration of the lawful seat of the People’s Republic of China in the United Nations. It is of great significance that we have in-depth discussions under the theme “Join Hands for a Shared Future.” Let me extend my congratulations on the successful opening of the seminar and express my appreciation to all the guests for your active participation and contribution.

At its 26th Session in 1971, the UN General Assembly adopted Resolution 2758 with an overwhelming majority, restoring all the lawful rights to the People’s Republic of China in the United Nations. This was a landmark in history. It signified that the UN had truly become the most representative and authoritative inter-governmental organization. It also opened a new chapter in China’s cooperation with the UN. Over the past 50 years, China, with concrete actions, has lived up to the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, and has served as an important builder of world peace, the biggest contributor to global development, and a firm defender of international order.

Li Jingjing interviews Medea Benjamin from CODEPINK on US militarism, China’s poverty alleviation, and the New Cold War

Embedded below is a very interesting and useful interview by Li Jingjing (for CGTN) with CODEPINK co-founder Medea Benjamin. They discuss CODEPINK’s history of opposing US militarism, PBS’s shameful censoring of the documentary ‘Voices from the Frontline: China’s War on Poverty’, the China is Not Our Enemy campaign, and the dangers of a New Cold War.

Cheng Enfu speech at the launch meeting of ‘From Pluripolarity to Socialism’

On 5 September 2021, the International Manifesto Group held a launch meeting for its manifesto, entitled From Pluripolarity to Socialism. Friends of Socialist China’s editors support the manifesto, and we encourage people to read and sign it.

We reproduce below the text of a speech given at the launch event by Cheng Enfu, former president of the Academy of Marxism at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), currently Academician of CASS, principal professor of the University of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and president of the World Association for Political Economy (WAPE).

I would like to thank the drafters of the manifesto for presenting many new ideas of contemporary Marxism, and for writing a declaration that reflects the voices of a vast number of workers and oppressed nations. After reading it, I found the following elements and features are particularly important:

First, it objectively describes the tortuous history of the socialist movement under the theoretical guidance of scientific socialism founded by Marx and Engels.

Month: September 2021