February 2022 - Page 3 of 3 - Friends of Socialist China

The Beijing Winter Olympics are a symbol of multipolarity and international friendship

In this article, originally published in the Global Times, Carlos Martinez addresses the pathetic attempts by a handful of imperialist countries to organise a ‘diplomatic boycott’ of the Beijing Winter Olympics, noting that the vast majority of the world’s countries have no interest in participating in the US-led New Cold War. Meanwhile the Games will showcase a modern, socialist China that is a leading force in the construction of a multipolar world.

With over 30 heads of state and government gathered in Beijing to attend the opening ceremony of the 2022 Winter Olympics, in spite of the pandemic which is still raging in most of the world, the Games will prove to be a symbol of a deepening multipolarity and global solidarity.

A tiny handful of imperialist countries, led by the United States, tried and failed to coordinate a so-called ‘diplomatic boycott’, based on absurd and debunked fabrications about the treatment of Xinjiang’s Uyghur population.

When Joe Biden announced a year ago that “diplomacy is back,” most people around the world hoped he had a more positive program in mind. Tellingly, the only countries that have supported this highly undiplomatic boycott are the same countries that have been waging genocidal wars on the Muslim world for the last two decades. Britain for example was an enthusiastic participant in the wars on Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya. One wonders why it didn’t boycott its own London 2012 Olympics, as a statement of condemnation of its state terrorism in the Middle East.

Justin Podur: Why comparing Chinese Africa investment to Western colonialism Is no joke

We are very pleased to reproduce this article from FAIR (Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting) in which Justin Podur dissects a recent broadcast by South African comedian Trevor Noah, which made facile claims that China was colonising Africa. Whilst not hesitating to acknowledge shortcomings and mistakes, Podur presents a detailed refutation of Noah’s claims and, in so doing, draws apt comparisons between China’s contributions to Africa’s development and the truly murderous and rapacious history of imperialism and colonialism on the continent.

“Why China Is in Africa” (12/16/21) is a question Trevor Noah took up last month for Comedy Central‘s Daily Show. As with many of the topics taken up by the Daily Show, the issue is no joke: China has a large and growing economic presence in many African countries. The China/Africa deals cry out for analysis: Are they different from the deals on offer from Western countries like the US, Britain or France?

Post-independence Africa’s economic relationship with the West has been mediated through the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Funding for projects comes with a range of conditionalities; when Western loans come due, the IMF demands painful cuts to health and education programs as the price of refinancing. In the past, the IMF has taken outright control of African governments. At other times, the US has sponsored coups, assassinated leaders and fomented civil wars on the continent.

President Isaias Afwerki on China-Eritrea friendship

Eritrea and China enjoy a deep bond and a strategic partnership, based on mutual respect and interests, and a healthy space for hashing out differing opinions and working towards common understandings. This friendship goes back to 1965 when China welcomed Eritrean freedom fighters and was the first foreign country to support the struggle with arms. China’s position at the time, even when it was not yet the powerhouse that it is today, was clear and had a notable appreciation for the Eritrean people’s struggle for freedom. It is important to keep in mind that this partnership did not develop because of China’s current standing in the world or for our own narrow interests. It is rather a longstanding relationship based on mutual interest and respect, one which highlights each country’s contributions and creates a platform for engagement in all strategic areas.
Eritrea: Interview of President Isaias Afwerki

It's become fashionable in recent years, with rising Chinese investment in Africa, to express concerns about China's "imperialism" on the continent. This betrays ignorance and/or anti-China bias. China-Africa relations are based on solidarity, equality, respect and mutual benefit pic.twitter.com/rIidoBDkwy
— Friends of Socialist China (@socialist_china) February 2, 2022

US media attacks China’s Covid-19 policies for saving lives, while Americans die

Republished below is a detailed and valuable article by Joe Scholten comparing the Covid-19 suppression strategies employed in the US and China, and exposing the absurdity of the US media which, instead of trying to learn something from China’s success in saving millions of lives, disparages and condemns it. This article first appeared in Multipolarista.

The People’s Republic of China has a population of more than 1.4 billion people, yet has had fewer than 6,000 Covid-19 deaths in the entirety of its territory. The Western press corps insists this is a bad thing.

The New York Times published an opinion piece on January 25 titled “China’s Zero Covid Policy is a Pandemic Waiting to Happen.” In this article, the authors argue that the pandemic will inevitably become endemic, and that the Chinese policy of eradicating Covid has “set the nation up for disaster.”

This proposal made in the New York Times opinion page is lunacy. In the two weeks leading up to the opinion piece, there were two days in which the United States saw more than a million daily Covid cases (January 18 and 24). From January 4 to 31, the US did not have a seven-day average below half a million cases.