Month: June 2024

Xi Jinping: Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence a groundbreaking achievement in the history of international relations

A conference marking the 70th anniversary of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, a cornerstone of Chinese foreign policy, was held in Beijing on June 28. With guests from around the world, including former political leaders from some 20 countries, President Xi Jinping made an important speech, and the event was moderated by Premier Li Qiang.

In his speech, President Xi said that the five principles, “marked a groundbreaking and epoch-making achievement in the history of international relations.”

He noted:

“The Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence answered the call of the times, and its initiation was an inevitable historic development. In the wake of the Second World War, national independence and liberation movements swept across the globe, and the colonial system around the world crumbled and collapsed. At the same time, the world was overshadowed by the dark clouds of the Cold War.”

Meanwhile, newly independent countries aspired to safeguard their sovereignty and grow their national economy. New China followed the principle of independence, actively sought peaceful coexistence with all countries, and endeavoured to improve its external environment, especially in its neighbourhood.

Having been endorsed in joint statements with India and Myanmar, in 1955, “more than 20 Asian and African countries attended the Bandung Conference. They proposed ten principles for handling state-to-state relations on the basis of the Five Principles, and advocated the Bandung spirit of solidarity, friendship and cooperation. The Non-Aligned Movement that rose in the 1960s adopted the Five Principles as its guiding principles. The Declaration on Principles of International Law adopted at the 25th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in 1970 and the Declaration on the Establishment of the New International Economic Order adopted at the Sixth Special UNGA Session in 1974 both endorsed the Five Principles.”

Xi Jinping went on to note that:

  • The principles fully conform with the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, with the evolving trend of international relations of our times, and with the fundamental interests of all nations.
  • When following the Five Principles, even countries that differ from each other in social system, ideology, history, culture, faith, development stage, and size can build a relationship of mutual trust, friendship and cooperation.
  • Inspired and encouraged by the Five Principles, more and more countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America have voiced and extended support to each other, stood up against foreign interference, and embarked on an independent path of development. The Five Principles have also boosted South-South cooperation and improved and further developed North-South relations.
  • The Five Principles were initiated with the purpose of protecting the interests and pursuits of small and weak countries from power politics. They categorically oppose imperialism, colonialism and hegemonism, and reject belligerent and bullying practices of the law of the jungle.

Seventy years ago, the Chinese leader continued, “our forefathers, who experienced the scourge of hot wars and the confrontation of the Cold War, concluded that the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence were the crucial way to safeguard peace and sovereignty. This answer has withstood the test of international vicissitudes and has become more appealing rather than obsolete. Seventy years later today, challenged by the historic question of ‘what kind of world to build and how to build it,’ China has answered the call of the times by proposing a community with a shared future for humanity.”

Xi went on to say that both the five principles and the concept of a community with a shared future for humanity “demonstrate the broad vision of the Communist Party of China to contribute more to humanity.”

“Looking at the past and future at this critical moment in history, we believe our exploration for the betterment of human civilisation will not end, and our efforts for a better world will not end. No matter how the world evolves, one basic fact will not change. There is only one Planet Earth in the universe, and the whole humanity have one common home.”

On this basis, Xi set out a number of imperatives:

  • We need to uphold the principle of sovereign equality.

The five principles reject the big subduing the small, the strong bullying the weak, and the rich exploiting the poor.

  • We need to cement the foundation of mutual respect.

We must jointly uphold the “golden rule” of non-interference, and jointly oppose acts of imposing one’s will on others, stoking bloc confrontation, creating small circles, and forcing others to pick sides.

  • We need to turn the vision for peace and security into reality.

All countries must work together to seek peace, safeguard peace, and enjoy peace. In today’s interdependent world, absolute security and exclusive security are just not viable.

  • We need to unite all forces to achieve prosperity.

Here Xi invokes a Latin American proverb: “The only way to be profitably national is to be generously universal.”

  • We need to commit to fairness and justice.

China believes in true multilateralism. Our goal is that international rules should be made and observed by all countries. World affairs should be handled through extensive consultation, not dictated by those with more muscles.

  • We need to embrace an open and inclusive mindset.

All countries are on board the same giant ship. It carries on it not only aspirations for peace, economic prosperity and technological advancement, but also the diversity of civilisations and the continuation of the human species.

Whilst the Five Principles are intended to address the full spectrum of international relations, Xi emphasised that:

“Of all the forces in the world, the Global South stands out with a strong momentum, playing a vital role in promoting human progress. Standing at a new historical starting point, the Global South should be more open and more inclusive and join hands together to take the lead in building a community with a shared future for humanity.”

Addressing the Global South, he made the following calls:

  • Together, we should be the staunch force for peace.
  • Together, we should be the core driving force for open development.
  • Together, we should be the construction team of global governance.
  • Together, we should be the advocates for exchange among civilisations.

He continued by outlining a series of concrete measures that China will take to better support Global South cooperation.

Noting that, “the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence has been written into China’s Constitution long before,” Xi said that:

“China’s resolve to stay on the path of peaceful development will not change. We will never take the trodden path of colonial plundering, or the wrong path of seeking hegemony when one becomes strong. We will stay on the right path of peaceful development. Among the world’s major countries, China has the best track record with respect to peace and security. It has been exploring for a distinctly Chinese approach to resolving hotspot issues. It has been playing a constructive role in the Ukraine crisis, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, and issues relating to the Korean peninsula, Iran, Myanmar, and Afghanistan. Every increase of China’s strength is an increase of the prospects of world peace.”

The conference also adopted a Beijing Declaration, summarising key viewpoints of the participants.

We reprint below the full text of President Xi Jinping’s speech and of the Beijing Declaration. They were originally published on the website of the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

Continue reading Xi Jinping: Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence a groundbreaking achievement in the history of international relations

Webinar: Changes unseen in a century – Gaza, the shifting balance of forces and the rise of multipolarity

Friends of Socialist China is pleased to be co-organising (with the International Manifesto Group) this webinar on Saturday 29 June 2024, which will bring together leading analysts of global politics to explore the unfolding geopolitical consequences of Zionism’s genocidal assault on the Palestinian people.

Date: Saturday 29 June 2024

Time: 11am US Eastern / 8am US Pacific / 4pm London / 11pm Beijing

Register on Zoom

Panelists

  • Seyed Mohammad Marandi (University of Tehran)
  • Lowkey (Political campaigner and hip-hop artist)
  • Ramzy Baroud (Editor, Palestine Chronicle)
  • Faoud Bakr (Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine)
  • Sara Flounders (International Action Center)
  • Camila Escalante (Kawsachun News)
  • Bikrum Gill (International relations expert)
  • Keith Bennett (Friends of Socialist China, International Manifesto Group)
  • Moderator: Carlos Martinez (Friends of Socialist China, International Manifesto Group)

Details

This webinar will bring together leading analysts of global politics to explore the unfolding geopolitical consequences of Zionism’s genocidal assault on the Palestinian people. Following on from the Ukraine crisis of recent years, the hypocrisy and blatant double standards of the major western powers have united the countries and peoples of the Global South to an unprecedented degree, and on both the diplomatic and mass popular level, rendering US imperialism and its Zionist shock troops increasingly isolated, as significant European powers at last recognise a Palestinian state, people from all walks of life mobilise, and young people in the imperialist heartlands start to be drawn into struggle in a way not seen since the Vietnam War. Together, the global majority are starting to drive changes unseen in a century. The webinar will examine such key topics as the relationship between the Palestinian people’s struggle and the overall multipolar process; the importance of Israel to the perpetuation of the US-led world order; and the potential for China and Russia to play a leading role in bringing about a lasting and just resolution to the Palestinian question.

Xi Jinping, Nicolás Maduro exchange congratulations on 50th anniversary of ties

Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Venezuelan counterpart Nicolás Maduro exchanged congratulations on June 28, marking 50 years since the establishment of their bilateral diplomatic relations.

Noting that China and Venezuela are good partners of mutual trust and common development, Xi said that since the establishment of diplomatic ties half a century ago, the two sides have supported each other in the changing international landscape, worked together to defend international fairness and justice as well as the legitimate rights and interests of developing countries, and forged an “iron-clad” friendship.

For his part, President Maduro said that Venezuela firmly supports China in safeguarding national sovereignty and opposes any attempt to contain China. He added that Venezuela firmly believes that under the wise leadership of Xi, the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation will surely be achieved.

The following article was originally published by the Xinhua News Agency.

BEIJING, June 28 (Xinhua) — Chinese President Xi Jinping and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Friday exchanged congratulations on the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries.

Noting that China and Venezuela are good partners of mutual trust and common development, Xi said that since the establishment of diplomatic ties half a century ago, the two sides have supported each other in the changing international landscape, worked together to defend international fairness and justice as well as the legitimate rights and interests of developing countries, and forged an “iron-clad” friendship.

Xi noted that during President Maduro’s successful state visit to China last September, they jointly announced the elevation of the China-Venezuela relationship to an all-weather strategic partnership, ushering bilateral relations into a new era.

China is ready to work with Venezuela to uphold the original aspiration of establishing diplomatic ties, continue the traditional friendship, and take the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties as a new starting point, to continuously enrich the connotation of the China-Venezuela all-weather strategic partnership, make a greater contribution to world peace and development, and jointly promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind, Xi said.

For his part, Maduro said since the establishment of diplomatic relations between Venezuela and China 50 years ago, bilateral ties have made considerable progress, adding in particular, the establishment of an all-weather strategic partnership between Venezuela and China is of historic significance.

Venezuela firmly supports China in safeguarding national sovereignty, opposes any attempt to contain China, and is willing to actively participate in the implementation of the Belt and Road cooperation and the three major global initiatives proposed by President Xi, continue to firmly promote Venezuela-China friendship and deepen bilateral cooperation and multilateral coordination, he noted.

He added that Venezuela firmly believes that under the wise leadership of Xi, China will surely achieve the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. 

Antiguan PM: China-Antigua relationship is one of the closest in the world between a big and a small country

Gaston Browne, the Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, a small island state in the Eastern Caribbean, paid an official visit to China from January 22-28, becoming the first leader from the region to visit China in 2024.

During his visit he was interviewed by Wang Guan for the CGTN series Leaders Talk. 

Prime Minister Browne noted how small island states are extremely vulnerable in today’s world, citing as contributory factors, climate shocks, the COVID pandemic, the impact of conflicts and wars, limited resource endowments and the debt burden.

He sees the relationship with China as crucial to Antigua’s ability to meet these challenges. His country was one of the earliest in the Eastern Caribbean region to establish diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic, 41 years ago. 

Today he says that their bilateral relationship is one of the closest in the world between a big and a small country. Antigua has a population of less than 100,000. 

China’s contribution to global peace and prosperity, the Prime Minister says, is unmatched. He sees it as being driven by President Xi Jinping’s philosophy and noble vision of a shared future for all. He describes President Xi as easily the most powerful and respected leader on the planet. Antigua and Barbuda is a beneficiary of China’s benevolence in many aspects of its development, not least in poverty alleviation.

In 2018, Antigua became the first country in the Eastern Caribbean to sign up to the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). This has had a beneficial impact on many aspects of the country’s development, for example in the renovation and extension of the port in the capital, St. John’s. Funding for this could not be obtained from the World Bank or the IMF and Browne categorically rejects any suggestion of a Chinese ‘debt trap’. Rather, he views China as the most benevolent country on the planet, adding that this and other projects could not have been accomplished without its concessional loans and aid.

Another example he cites is that of agricultural cooperation. This is aimed at taking steps towards food security. At present, some 80% of the food consumed in Antigua is imported, mostly from the United States, with contributory factors being the lack of a sufficient labour force and the exacerbation of the county’s natural aridity due to the impact of climate change. China’s assistance in modernising and replacing the country’s water supply infrastructure is playing a key role here.

With regard to Taiwan,  Browne says that his country is a consistent supporter of the one-China principle. This will not change under his leadership or that of the Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party, which he leads.

The full interview with Prime Minister Gaston Browne is embedded below.

Witnessing Xizang: Serfdom to socialism with Chinese characteristics

The following article by Arnold August, originally published on CGTN, details Arnold’s 2023 tour of Xizang/Tibet, and contrasts the situation today – with extreme poverty having been eliminated and cutting edge infrastructure helping to solve some of the development problems presented by the province’s vast and rugged terrain – with that prevailing under the serf system in place until the late 1950s.

Arnold writes: “Under the thumb of a feudal theocracy, about 5 percent of the population of Xizang were serf-owners, while at least 95 percent were serfs. I can never forget the images of a grandmother, mother and small child who were born in the cowshed of a serf-owner, where they lived. This was the fourth generation to endure these conditions.”

Not everybody was happy with the dismantling of serfdom and the liberation of the masses. Some “opposed democratic reforms and, on March 10, 1959, along with the Dalai Lama, organised a US-led armed revolt. The insurrection was ultimately defeated, causing the Dalai Lama and his close followers to retreat to India.”

Such are the roots of the so-called Free Tibet movement, backed to the hilt (always with money and propaganda support, and at times with weapons) by the CIA. This is a movement for freedom of the oppressors and for the destabilisation and undermining of People’s China.

Arnold August is the author of five books on international issues and is on the editorial board of the International Manifesto Group.

Some argue that 73 years ago today, in 1951, Xizang experienced a historic leap in its social system with its peaceful liberation. But is the term “historic leap” an exaggeration? To address this, we need to consider the conditions from which Xizang emerged.

As a participant in a tour of Xizang in 2023, I had access to Xizang’s historical film footage. The evidence, based on video and still photographs, captures the reality of ancient Xizang’s serfdom before 1951. The scenes, narratives and interviews then fast-forward through the years leading to 1959 to 1960, when democratic reforms began in earnest. During the tour, these visuals were supplemented by on-the-spot discussions with people in Xizang, who provided additional information and figures.

What are the facts? Consider a stark reality typical of the centuries before that watershed year of 1951, when, under the thumb of a feudal theocracy, about 5 percent of the population of Xizang were serf-owners, while at least 95 percent were serfs. I can never forget the images of a grandmother, mother and small child who were born in the cowshed of a serf-owner, where they lived. This was the fourth generation to endure these conditions.

Many commentators focus on the post-1959 reforms, but other data are crucial. From 1950, even before the formal declaration of peaceful liberation in 1951, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) was building infrastructure. Most notably, the 1,947-kilometer highway between Xining, the capital of neighboring Qinghai Province, and Lhasa, was completed in 1954, replacing travel by foot or yak. By April 1956, a total of 4,300-km railway lines had been built.

So instead of a three-hour flight from Xining to Lhasa, our hosts planned a train trip for our 2023 tour. The 22-hour journey across the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau allowed us to see firsthand how the vast, rugged, high-altitude, cold region is one of the enormous challenges to Xizang’s modernization.

Despite such achievements as the rapid development of transportation infrastructure and the abolition of serfdom on March 28, 1959, some in the Xizang’s ruling circles saw the writing on the wall and resisted change in order to maintain the serf system. They opposed democratic reforms and, on March 10, 1959, along with the Dalai Lama, organized a U.S.-led armed revolt. The insurrection was ultimately defeated, causing the Dalai Lama and his close followers to retreat to India.

While they abandoned the ship, China nevertheless surged forward. According to local people, the government involved close to 10 activist/advisors-committees by sending them to the grassroots more than 190,000 times. This took place from 2012 to 2020. Their task: flesh out the plan to eradicate extreme poverty. This goal was achieved in 2020, a marvel for Xizang.

The fundamental reasons for the “historic leap” in Xizang’s social system, which I believe to be true based on facts, may challenge the preconceived notions held by much of the West. China’s development since October 1, 1949, shows that, despite inevitable twists and turns, the government, together with the people at the grassroots, is fully committed to modernizing the country.

In the process, they are developing a new kind of socialism that is in line with China’s realities, reflects the will of the Chinese people, and meets the requirements of the times. From this altruistic perspective, it was only natural that Xizang should receive the same benefits. Why? Because historically, Xizang has always been part of China and has been under China’s administrative rule for nearly a thousand years.

The Lhasa high-tech zone innovation and entrepreneurship service platform is an excellent model of “socialism with Chinese characteristics.” This term, in the Chinese context, refers to the ongoing efforts of socialist nations to effectively balance the needs of the individual with those of the collective. As for the high-tech institute, our hosts explained that all the students require is to bring their computer and their ideas. Then, free of charge, the students are connected to the most advanced facilities to realize their concepts.

We were also given a brief introduction to their Chinese-English bilingual website. After the tour, I continued to explore the website. I learned that the requirements for admission to the program include adherence to the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China and support for the leadership of the CPC and the socialist system. Although membership in the CPC is not required for acceptance into the program, individuals who have been expelled from the CPC are not accepted.

Do these requirements conflict with individual initiative? To Westerners blinded by U.S.-centered prejudices against socialism, they may seem contradictory. But for the Chinese, these imperatives are normal because socialism with Chinese characteristics is deeply embedded in their values. This is not just a top-down approach; as seen in the high-tech center, everyone is part of the process.

Class character of People’s China: interview with research economist

The following text is the English translation of an interview with Rémy Herrera, a research analyst at the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) at the Sorbonne in Paris. The interview was first published in the magazine Harici (Istanbul, Türkiye), and the newspaper Cumhuriyet (Istanbul) in May 2024. The original French has been translated by John Catalinotto for Workers World.

Herrera, who has co-authored a book by Long Zhiming called Dynamics of China’s Economy: Growth, Cycles and Crises from 1949 to the Present Day, makes several important points about the nature, history and trajectory of China’s socialist market economy. First, contrary to Western neoclassical economists who see China’s emergence as a function exclusively of its adoption of market mechanisms and its integration into the global capitalist economy, Herrera argues that “accelerated growth was made possible only by the efforts and achievements of the Maoist period.” When opening up was introduced, it was “firmly and continuously controlled by the Chinese authorities, and it is under this condition that it can be considered as having contributed to the country’s indisputable economic successes”.

China has engaged with the process of globalisation, but the crucial condition for the success of this experiment has been subjecting it “to the constraints of satisfying internal objectives and domestic needs, … fully integrated within a coherent development strategy”. Engaging with the global economy is not by itself a solution to all problems; after all, “for more than a century before the victory of the Revolution in October 1949, ‘opening up’ had meant above all submission, devastation, exploitation, humiliation, decadence and chaos for the Chinese people”.

Herrera also discusses the nature of China’s state-owned enterprises (SOEs). These “are not managed in the same way as Western transnational corporations”; their primary goal is not the pursuit of shareholder profit at all costs. Rather, they are duty bound “to stimulate the rest of the domestic economy, and go beyond a vision of immediate profitability when higher strategic, long-term or national interests so dictate”.

On the underlying socialist basis of China’s economic system, Herrera makes the fundamental point that, in China, “the state controls capitalism, not the other way around”. For example, China’s authorities have “successfully confronted the power of the financial markets”, building a “great monetary wall” to defend the national currency. “Powerful strategic planning, whose techniques have been relaxed, modernized and adapted to today’s requirements — which is what makes it so effective — is a distinctive feature of a socialist approach. State control of the currency and all the major banks is an absolute requirement, as is close monitoring of the activities of financial institutions and the behavior of foreign firms operating on national territory.”

He continues:

The coexistence of public and private activities, stimulated by each other within a mixed, hybrid system, is the means chosen to develop the country’s productive forces to the maximum − including by attracting foreign capital and importing advanced technologies − and thus raising its level of development, with the stated aim of improving the population’s living conditions, and doing this not by abandoning socialism, but by deepening the socialist transition process that began in 1949.

Herrera also addresses the ongoing crisis of neoliberalism and its manifestation in an increasingly aggressive New Cold War on China. “All the conditions are in place for the system’s contradictions to become even more pronounced, especially as few reforms have been carried out since the 2008 crisis”. All progressive and peace-loving forces must unite in opposition to the US and its allies’ escalations. “The defence of peace is the priority”.

Q: Let’s begin with your books on China. Based on your research and observations during your visits to China, how do you interpret the Chinese miracle that everyone is discussing?

RH: Many commentators on the very high rate of growth in China’s gross domestic product (GDP), which has been observed for several decades now, use the term “miracle” to describe this phenomenon. I, for one, believe that this is no miracle, but rather the result of a development strategy that has been patiently conceived and effectively implemented by the country’s leaders and senior officials in successive governments, under the authority of the Communist Party.

We read and hear everywhere, in academic circles and the mainstream media, that the “take-off” of the Chinese economy is due solely to its “openness” to globalization. In my view, it’s necessary to add that such accelerated growth was made possible only by the efforts and achievements of the Maoist period. This opening up was firmly and continuously controlled by the Chinese authorities, and it is under this condition that it can be considered as having contributed to the country’s indisputable economic successes. It is because it has been subject to the constraints of satisfying internal objectives and domestic needs, and fully integrated within a coherent development strategy, that this opening up to globalization has been able to produce such positive long-term effects for China.

Let’s be clear: without the elaboration of such a development strategy, which is clearly the work of the Chinese Communist Party — let’s not forget that — and without the energy deployed by the Chinese people to implement it during the revolutionary process, the country’s insertion into the capitalist world system would inevitably have led to the destructuring of the national economy, or even its destruction altogether, as is happening in so many other countries in the South, or in the East. One fundamental point must be borne in mind: for more than a century before the victory of the Revolution in October 1949, “opening up” had meant above all submission, devastation, exploitation, humiliation, decadence and chaos for the Chinese people.

Q: How does China’s success differ from Western development models?

RH: The success of the Chinese government’s development strategy and the many benefits it has brought to the country’s people contrast sharply with the failure of neoliberal economic policy measures applied in Western countries, which have had catastrophic consequences for workers in the North, whether in economic, social, or even moral and cultural terms.

Let me give you a specific example. One explanation for the strength of Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs) is that they are not managed in the same way as Western transnational corporations. The Western ones — listed on the stock exchange and oriented towards the logic of shareholder value which demands the maximization of dividends paid to their private owners, shareholder value and rapid returns on investment — operate by squeezing a chain of subcontractors, whether local or relocated abroad. Chinese state-owned groups don’t behave like this. If they were to behave in such a rapacious manner, they would be acting to the detriment of local small and medium-sized enterprises and, more broadly, of the entire national industrial fabric. But this is clearly not the case. 

Most of China’s large state-owned enterprises are (or have become) profitable again because their guiding compass is not the enrichment of private shareholders, but the priority given to productive investment and customer service. In the final analysis, it doesn’t matter if their profits turn out to be lower than those of their Western competitors as long as they serve, at least in part, to stimulate the rest of the domestic economy, and go beyond a vision of immediate profitability when higher strategic, long-term or national interests so dictate.

Q: Can this model be defined in terms of the neo-classical or neo-Marxist model?

RH: First of all, I don’t think the Chinese see their development strategy as a “model.” Nor do they seek to impose or export it. They simply believe that certain lessons can be learned by the peoples of the world, but that it is up to them to define the objectives and means of their own development in their own specific historical, social and cultural conditions. This also differs markedly from the Western vision, which would like its “model” to be followed by every country in the world.

Neoclassical models have no application in China. If you’ll allow me, I’d like to add that neoclassical economics, which today constitutes the hegemonic or mainstream current in economics, basically serves no other purpose than to attempt to provide a theoretical and supposedly scientific justification for neoliberal political practices whose ideology is situated at the opposite end of the spectrum from measures for social justice and the development of public services. In reality, neoclassical economics is not a science, but science fiction or, as I put it in a recent book (“Confronting Mainstream Economics for Overcoming Capitalism,” Palgrave Macmillan), an ideology with scientific pretensions.

I am convinced, on the other hand, that Marxism has not yet been scientifically overtaken. Today, it has no serious competitor. It remains relevant, not least because we still live in a world where the capitalist system remains dominant on a global scale, even if its changes have been substantial, and need to be carefully accounted for. Despite the many attacks on Marxism since its foundation, and the repeated announcements of its death, it is enduring, resilient, “indestructible” dare I say, and the indispensable theoretical benchmark for anyone thinking about the ways and conditions of a better world. 

Despite the demise of the USSR and the Soviet bloc, within which it had all too often become dogmatized and sometimes turned against itself, Marxism remains indispensable today, an irreplaceable point of reference for those fighting for socialism. So it’s hardly surprising that it is still an important theoretical reference for China. 

Continue reading Class character of People’s China: interview with research economist

China’s movement to end poverty

We are pleased to reproduce this detailed and useful analysis by the US-based University of the Poor of China’s long war on poverty.

The article makes the important point that poverty alleviation did not start with the targeted program from 2013 onwards, but is in fact core to the whole Chinese revolutionary project, starting with the liberated territories in the 1930s and 40s, continuing with socialist construction in the 1950s and 60s, and expanding again with the Reform and Opening Up process from 1978.

The targeted program, initiated by Xi Jinping in 2013, “set and achieved the goal of lifting all 98.99 million out of poverty before the end of 2020.” This was achieved through the most incredible mobilisation: “approximately 10 million cadres participated for periods of one to three years, often living in very harsh conditions”. In addition to ensuring a minimum income, the program made sure that people had secure access to food, clothing, safe housing, clean water, electricity, and health and education services.

To guarantee this baseline living standard in a developing country of 1.4 billion people is an astonishing achievement, made possible to a large degree by China’s political system – in particular the leadership of the CPC – which “enables the state apparatus to be wielded for strategic organizing campaigns like the campaign to eradicate extreme poverty and also the current Common Prosperity campaign”. It’s a state apparatus “that can meet the needs of a huge diversity of people, with a particular focus on the poor”.

The article also includes an interesting section on housing, comparing the policies of the US and Chinese governments. “In 2008, the US government responded to the housing crisis largely by bailing out the large banks that had created the problem.” Meanwhile in China, “the government has intervened in the housing market to curb speculation, moderate growth, and avoid a housing crash”.

During his 2017 CPC National Congress address, Xi Jinping declared, “Housing is for living in, not for speculation.” This principle has been the guide for PRC policy which has since served to rein in speculation and investor profiteering in the housing sector, which is fundamentally for providing housing.

The authors make clear that the working class and progressive forces in the US should under no circumstances support the US ruling class’s escalating New Cold War on China. After all, this is the same US ruling class “whose violence and threat of violence is our fundamental obstacle in our pursuit of power for poor people”. Ultimately, “the scapegoating and propaganda on China from our ruling class is a clear divide and conquer strategy for keeping the global poor and dispossessed disorganized”.

Rather than participating in an attack on China, or swallowing anti-China propaganda, “our movement to end poverty in the US can draw inspiration and many lessons from this campaign in China.”

As we build the movement to end poverty in the United States, this example in China can help to illustrate what is concretely possible when state power is taken, held and wielded by the poor and dispossessed. This campaign that centered the revolutionary social force was both made possible and developed by party cadre 100 years after the founding of the CPC. The power of this example and the other policies focused on the poor of China also shed light on what is at stake for the ruling class in the US State’s “strategic competition” with China. We anticipate redbaiting and misinformation around China will escalate as our crises deepen in the US, so our cadre must understand anti-China propaganda as a “divide and conquer” tactic of our ruling class.

Introduction

The UPoor Think Tank’s China Task Force was established to study the Chinese revolutionary process to identify lessons for our struggle. Many things about the Chinese situation are extremely different from our context in the US, but we can draw lessons from their cadres’ use of strategy and tactics. China’s revolutionary process is at a very different stage from our own, and it started from a very different material situation than what we are experiencing in the United States. At the same time, the Chinese Communist Party (CPC) is in escalating conflict with the same US State, which is the primary state power wielded in service of the global capitalist class. This is also the same US State whose violence and threat of violence is our fundamental obstacle in our pursuit of power for poor people.

The Reform and Opening Period initiated by Deng Xiaoping in 1978 focused on using foreign direct investment to develop the forces of production in China. This helped to grow and develop the Chinese economy and raised 770 million rural residents out of extreme poverty. This also increased income and wealth inequality in China. When Xi Jinping, the current general secretary of the CPC and President of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) came into office in 2012, there were still 98.99 million people living in absolute poverty in China, out of a total population of about 1.4 billion. These were commonly in isolated and undeveloped rural areas and regions that faced the most extreme challenges. This population was the focus of the successful Extreme Poverty alleviation project, which set and achieved the goal of lifting all 98.99 million out of poverty before the end of 2020.

This article will focus on the recent work of the CPC to continue the revolutionary process in China, especially during Xi’s tenure since 2012. We see the Campaign to Eradicate Extreme Poverty as having multiple goals, including the strategic development of party cadre with the clarity, connectedness, commitment, and competence to continue their revolutionary process forward across generations and also to continually develop a state apparatus that can meet the needs of a huge diversity of people, with a particular focus on the poor. There are many lessons we can draw from this campaign in both of these areas, which we identify as areas for future study.

Example of the Chinese and US State’s relationship with the Poor

There is a notable and rare consensus of the Democratic and Republican parties of the United States that China is a threat. Both parties see it as a source, albeit in different forms, of diverting attention away or at times scapegoating domestic issues to ‘foreign enemies.’ In the U.S. our culture of pragmatism prevents us from seeing this integral relationship between domestic and foreign policy ‘issues,’ and is made to believe they are separate when in fact it is the very same U.S. state purporting and implementing these policies with overlapping goals. The scapegoating and propaganda on China from our ruling class is a clear divide and conquer strategy for keeping the global poor and dispossessed disorganized. The specific points of criticism made on China, especially on domestic issues impacting the poor, parallels points of weakness for our ruling class.  

Continue reading China’s movement to end poverty

From Wagner to Alex Ho: new musical territory

We are pleased to republish the below review of a May 21 piano recital by Aidan Chan, which originally appeared in the Morning Star and was written by the paper’s classical music correspondent Simon Duff.

Aidan is a brilliant young Irish Chinese pianist whose work is often described as “fearless, courageous and ambitious.” A campaigner against racism, and a member of the FOSC Britain Committee, Aidan explores the relationship of music to revolution and of identity and social structures to performance. 

His concert, held at the 1901 Arts Club in London’s Waterloo, a hidden gem of the London cultural scene, focused on the work of Wagner, along with the London premiere of a new work by the up and coming British Chinese composer Alex Ho. Aidan describes this piece as being “a response to Puccini’s opera Turandot, in particular its Orientalist portrayal of Chinese cultures and people.”

The concert also featured a video and poetry piece by Aidan entitled ‘What Light Shines There?’, inspired by the interdisciplinary work of the late Korean American author and artist Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, who was tragically murdered in 1982, during which he read a poem while images portrayed the nuclear ‘doomsday clock’, intertwined with montage of a US air strike on Syria.

AIDAN CHAN is an Irish Chinese pianist whose work favours an exploration of identity and social structures through performance. He has an affinity for Chopin and Mozart. In short he is fearless, courageous and ambitious.

For his London May concert Chan chose to focus on the work of Wagner and emerging British-Chinese composer Alex Ho.

The concert opened with Wagner’s Prelude from Tristan und Isolde arranged for piano by Zoltan Kocsis. Opening with a delicate two-note harmonic suspension opening it gives way to clusters of build-up chords. Dark and menacing clouds complete the soundscape before moving into lighter tones and moods of brief optimism, before Wagner’s full dynamic range explores his notions of God and revolutionary zeal.

Under Chan’s cool flexible and light playing, the piece flowed and the rhythmic intensity worked with poetic touches.

The passion and commitment continued through the next piece by Wagner’s Feierlicher Marsch from Parsifal, arranged by Liszt. Playing on the 1901’s Steinway Model C grand piano, the tonal clarity shone out.

Speaking ahead of the concert Chan explained what drew him to perform Wagner: “I’m particularly interested in his legacy as a cultural zeitgeist. There is a hauntological element to it that keeps finding its way into social and political discourse. Last year I read Paradoxes and Parallels, a collection of conversations between Daniel Barenboim and Edward Said and that pushed forward my thinking about my position as a performer of Western classical music in the context of today’s world.”

Wanting to create a piece which further contextualised some themes common to the Wagner’s works, a section of the concert was given over to a video and poetry piece by Chan entitled Light What Light Shines Through, inspired by the interdisciplinary work of Korean American author and artist Theresa Hak Kyung Cha. This pointed towards the transience of time and death/rebirth as a cycle, and also consumer alienation and apathy. Chan read a poem and the images, over silence, were of a doomsday clock intertwined with montage of a US air strike on Syria.

Contemporary composer Alex Ho’s work is deeply admired by Chan. His new work — premiered at the concert — is called Torn, to the ground, exhausted, sobbing. It begins with slow minimal notation with Chan singing a lullaby-like series of high notes as he played a high note melodic note cluster, before moving on to Copeland-inspired fast-paced sections, and then into area of modern Chinese jazz.

On the Steinway the overall intention and effect was stunning. Ho is moving into new important territory.

Chan adds: “The piece is a response to Puccini’s opera Turandot, in particular its Orientalist portrayal of Chinese cultures and people. As a performer it always broadens my horizons to work with him as he actively encourages dialogue between performer and composer and leaves much space for his music to be communicated through the performance itself.”

The final piece was a return to Wagner and Liszt in the form of the Isoldens Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde. Slow builds into further grand operatic chordal gestures.

At the end of the evening the audience knew that they had witnessed a special concert. Some 12 hours later the general election was called. Hope for a brighter future ahead, indeed.

The story of Chinese doctors overseas

On 29 December, 2023, Chinese President Xi Jinping met with people attending an event marking the 60th anniversary of China dispatching its first international medical aid team.

In its second issue for 2024, Qiushi, an important journal of the Communist Party of China, published an article outlining the six decades of historical experience that lay behind the celebration of this anniversary. 

In December 1962, China’s Ministry of Health received a special letter from the government of Algeria through the International Red Cross; the North African country, which had just won its independence through a bloody war against French colonialism, had issued an urgent appeal to the world for medical assistance. The Chinese government was the first to respond, announcing that it would set up a medical aid team of outstanding doctors. On April 6, 1963, China’s first overseas medical aid team left Beijing for Algeria.

The article, full of inspiring and touching examples drawn from various countries, notes that: “For more than six decades, over 30,000 medical aid team members have carried on this mission, providing care to almost 300 million patients across 76 countries and regions… Dispatching medical teams to developing countries was a great initiative pioneered by the older generation of Chinese leaders, represented by Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai. It has since become a golden practice of China’s international diplomacy and cooperation.”

It introduces the story of Xu Changzhen, who first went to Algeria thirty years after the original mission and has since returned three times, spending almost eight years in the country. When she first arrived, Algeria was convulsed by war and one day the hospital where she was working was attacked by terrorists. Refusing to take shelter, she returned to the operating theatre, a local midwife sheltering her from stray gunfire with her own body as they went. Recalling the incident, Xu says: “A doctor is a special calling. Like a soldier going to battle, there are times when you must step up.”

The article adds: “It is no wonder that in Algeria, she is endearingly referred to as ‘Mother Xu.’ For over six decades, wave after wave of ‘Chinese mothers’ like her have collectively delivered more than 2.07 million newborns in Algeria. Of these, over 10,000 were named ‘Sinova,’ meaning ‘Chinese.'”

In 2021, Roosevelt Skerrit, Prime Minister of the Caribbean island nation of Dominica, took to his personal Facebook page to announce the establishment of the country’s first cardiovascular department at the Dominica-China Friendship Hospital, made possible with the help of a Chinese medical team. Dr. Wu Dexi, born in the 1980s, played a pivotal role in this achievement. Joining the second medical aid team to Dominica in 2019, Wu extended his stay in the country twice during the height of the Covid-19 crisis. Remaining on the front lines, he managed to save numerous critically ill patients. 

The article explains that: “President Xi Jinping’s proposal to build a global community of health for all stems from the Chinese cultural view of the world as one family, while also exemplifying China’s sense of mission as a responsible major country in the new era.”

It illustrates the point with reference to China’s response to the outbreak of Ebola in West Africa:

“As one often quoted saying puts it, ‘While others fled in the face of Ebola, the Chinese came because of it.’ For Chinese doctors, this is the highest praise they could receive. In 2014, an Ebola outbreak hit West Africa, with the mortality rate exceeding 60%. When many nations were evacuating their personnel and the world was speaking of Ebola in dread, 16 Chinese medical teams consisting of over 1,200 medical personnel marched against the tide to the front lines. They treated upwards of 800 patients, provided public health training to over 13,000 participants, and came to be recognised as true friends by their host nations.”

(A similar internationalist spirit was also displayed by doctors from socialist Cuba.)

It concludes:

“Today, Chinese medical teams are operating in 115 medical facilities across 56 countries and regions around the world. Almost half of them are stationed in remote and challenging areas. Perhaps the local people in those places do not know the faces behind the masks of those who treat them, but they clearly recognise the five-star red flag emblazoned on their medical coats. What’s more, they know that these are Chinese doctors and that they are part of a force known simply as the Chinese medical team.”

We reprint the full text of the article below.

In December 1962, China’s Ministry of Health received a special letter from the government of Algeria through the International Red Cross; the newly independent country had sent an urgent appeal to the world for medical assistance. The Chinese government was the first to respond, announcing that it would set up a medical aid team of outstanding doctors to assist African friends. On April 6, 1963, China’s first overseas medical aid team left Beijing for Algeria. For China, this marked the start of a great international medical assistance endeavor, which has since transcended national borders, ethnicity, and skin color. For more than six decades, over 30,000 medical aid team members have carried on this mission, providing care to almost 300 million patients across 76 countries and regions. Their compassion and medical expertise have brought great benefits to local populations, and their concrete actions have effectively conveyed China’s story to the world. Earning high acclaim from governments and citizens of host countries, they have made an important contribution to the development of a global community of health for all.

I. Courage in adversity: enduring legacy of Chinese doctors

Dispatching medical teams to developing countries was a great initiative pioneered by the older generation of Chinese leaders, represented by Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai. It has since become a golden practice of China’s international diplomacy and cooperation. For more than six decades, Chinese medical aid teams have braved harsh and complex conditions, confronting perilous challenges such as infectious diseases, wars, and natural disasters. With an unyielding spirit, indomitable will, and tremendous sacrifice and courage, they have created one after another inspirational achievements in lands far from home.

On April 16, 1963, after a 10-day journey, China’s first medical aid team eventually arrived in Saida, a small city on the edge of the Algerian desert. The arid city suffered from water scarcity. With summer temperatures of over 40 degrees Celsius and snow depth of up to one meter in winter, diseases were widespread, and the living environment was harsh. In spite of these conditions, the medical team did everything it could to serve the local community. They resourcefully fashioned their own instruments when equipment was lacking and prepared their own reagents when testing kits were unavailable. Qiu Yuehua, a member of the team, made the following note on the back of a photograph featuring a one-month-old baby, “This is one of the newborns I helped to bring into the world. The mother had tuberculosis, so the child was left in our care for feeding. It’s been almost a month now.” That year, Qiu was just 24 years old. Born in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu Province, she had never traveled further than the provincial capital of Nanjing before going to Algeria. Nevertheless, she did not hesitate when she received her mission.

Continue reading The story of Chinese doctors overseas

China and Malaysia issue joint statement on deepening their comprehensive strategic partnership

Chinese Premier Li Qiang visited Malaysia from June 18-20 at the invitation of his counterpart Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. This visit was the final leg of an overseas tour that took Li first to New Zealand and then to Australia. The visit to Malaysia acquired special significance as it marked the 50th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral diplomatic relations on May 31, 1974.

The two countries issued a Joint Statement on Deepening the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership towards a China-Malaysia Community with a Shared Future, which also reflected a consensus of views on a number of regional and international issues.

Among the key points contained in the joint statement are:

  • Both leaders agreed that the world is undergoing profound changes and has entered a new period of instability and transformation. Both countries are important representatives of developing countries in Asia and emerging economies. The strategic significance of bilateral relations has been further highlighted, which is crucial to not only their peoples but also the future of the region, enhancing the unity and cooperation of the Global South. The two leaders will commit to promoting an equal and orderly multipolar world and a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalisation.
  • Both sides agreed to strengthen rail transportation and infrastructure cooperation and contribute to the realisation of the Pan-Asian Railway vision.
  • The Chinese side is willing to import more high-quality agricultural, electrical and electronic, halal and green products from Malaysia,
  • China is willing to share with Malaysia its experience in poverty reduction and rural revitalisation and provide assistance within its capacity to improve the wellbeing of the Malaysian people.
  • Taking the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations as an opportunity, the two sides agree to carry out programs in the fields of culture, tourism, religion, youth and locality, promote interactions at all levels in all areas, and further deepen exchanges and mutual learning between Chinese and Islamic civilisations.
  • The two countries agreed to work together on the multinational nomination to inscribe the element of lion dance on the UNESCO Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) of Humanity. Both sides celebrate lion dance as a form of shared history and jointly promote the safeguarding of the shared heritage.
  • China welcomes Malaysia taking on the role of country coordinator for ASEAN-China Dialogue Relations in 2024, and firmly supports Malaysia in assuming the chairmanship of ASEAN in 2025. 
  • Both countries will continue to promote the high-quality implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement, and look forward to accelerating the ASEAN-China Free Trade Area 3.0 Upgrade Negotiations towards conclusion as soon as possible
  • The two countries emphasised the importance of maintaining peace, security and stability in the South China Sea, agreed to resolve disputes by peaceful means, through friendly consultations and negotiations, in accordance with the universally recognised principles of international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
  • The two sides will work together with other ASEAN countries to fully and effectively implement the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) in its entirety and look forward to the early conclusion of an effective and substantive Code of Conduct in the South China Sea (COC).
  • The two countries agreed that for 70 years, the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence have become the basic norms governing international relations as well as basic principles of international law, contributing the wisdom of Asia to properly handling state-to-state relations. The two sides agreed to follow the spirit of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, carry forward the Asian values featuring peace, cooperation, inclusiveness and integration, adhere to the Asian development path of mutual benefit, openness and cooperation, and uphold the Bandung Spirit of solidarity, friendship and cooperation to contribute to stability and progress in Asia.
  • The two countries agreed to support efforts to preserve Southeast Asia as a region free from nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction, while contributing to global efforts on disarmament, non-proliferation and peaceful uses of nuclear energy, in line with the Treaty on the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone (SEANWFZ).
  • Both leaders expressed grave concern with the ongoing war in Gaza, the dire and rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation and its grave impact on the civilian population. Both sides emphasised that civilians in Gaza must be protected, in accordance with international law, and urged for an immediate and permanent ceasefire, unimpeded humanitarian assistance and protection of humanitarian relief and medical personnel. The two sides reaffirmed the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, including the right to their independent State of Palestine and urged the UN Security Council to reconsider Palestine’s application for full membership, in line with Resolution A/RES/ES-10/23 adopted by the UN General Assembly on 10 May 2024, and expressed full support for the resumption of the political settlement process on the basis of the two-state solution, and promoting comprehensive, just and lasting settlement of the Palestinian question at an early date.

The following is the full text of the joint statement. It was originally published by the Xinhua News Agency.

On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of China-Malaysia diplomatic relations and at the invitation of His Excellency Anwar Ibrahim, Prime Minister of Malaysia, His Excellency Li Qiang, Premier of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China, paid an official visit to Malaysia from 18 to 20 June 2024. During the visit, Premier Li had an audience with His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim, King of Malaysia, held talks with Prime Minister Anwar and attended the celebration of the 50th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations between China and Malaysia. The two sides had in-depth exchanges of views on deepening the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, jointly building the China-Malaysia Community with a Shared Future as well as regional and international issues of mutual interest, and reached a broad consensus.

Both leaders agreed that the two countries have been good neighbours for hundreds of years, true friends with sincerity and partners of win-win cooperation. Since the establishment of diplomatic relations on 31 May 1974, especially the establishment of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2013, the bilateral relations have been continuously improved, delivered important benefits to its peoples and provided an impetus for their development and stability. Such a friendship has witnessed profound changes over half a century and shown renewed vigor and vitality. The two leaders are committed to upholding strategic independence, pursuing common development, maintaining mutual trust, safeguarding fairness and justice, and embarking on cooperation for mutual benefits.

Both leaders agreed that the world is undergoing profound changes and has entered a new period of instability and transformation. Both countries are important representatives of developing countries in Asia and emerging economies. The strategic significance of bilateral relations has been further highlighted, which is crucial to not only their peoples but also the future of this region, enhancing the unity and cooperation of the “Global South”. The two leaders will commit to promoting an equal and orderly multipolar world and a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization. Malaysia highly commends that President Xi Jinping put forward the concept of building the Community of Shared Future for Mankind, the Belt and Road Initiative, the Principle of Amity, Sincerity, Mutual Benefit and Inclusiveness in Neighbourhood Diplomacy, the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative. China also supports the fundamental principles of “Malaysia MADANI”, advocating and promoting innovation, care and compassion, inclusiveness as well as mutual respect.

 Both countries reached an important consensus on building a China-Malaysia Community with a Shared Future in 2023, and remain steadfast to strengthen and deepen the bilateral cooperation in taking it to even greater heights.

Continue reading China and Malaysia issue joint statement on deepening their comprehensive strategic partnership

BRICS and the reconfiguration of the world order

The 37th annual dinner of Third World Solidarity, an organisation that enjoys a close working relationship with Friends of Socialist China, was held on June 4, at the Royal Nawab Restaurant in the west London suburb of Perivale.

Among the guests were Councillor Tariq Dar MBE, Mayor of the London Borough of Brent, Councillor Shakeel Akram, Deputy Mayor of the London Borough of Hounslow, Nisar Malik, prospective parliamentary candidate for Brentford and Isleworth for the Workers’ Party of Britain (WPB), veteran journalist Shafi Naqi Jamie, and many others, from the embassy of Kazakhstan, local government, community activism, the arts, business and other walks of life, including members and friends of Friends of Socialist China from Britain, Luxembourg and Malaysia.

The 135 guests were greeted by Evie Hill of the Znaniye Foundation and its Russian School, who introduced the host, Honorary Alderman Mushtaq Lasharie CBE, the founder and Chairman of Third World Solidarity.

With the ongoing genocidal war of aggression against the Palestinian people in Gaza, and with June 14 marking the seventh anniversary of the Grenfell fire, which claimed the lives of 72 people, the first speakers were Palestinian activist for women’s rights, Ahlam Akram, the founder of Basira (British Arabs Supporting Universal Women’s Rights), and Emma O’Connor, a disabled resident on Grenfell’s 20th floor.

The main speaker was Keith Bennett, Co-editor of Friends of Socialist China, who spoke on the BRICS cooperation mechanism and its role in the evolution of a new global order.

A video message of greetings was received from Dave Anderson, former miner, care worker, Labour MP and shadow minister under Jeremy Corbyn, who is now the Chair of Marras – the Friends of the Durham Miners Gala, who was unable to be present.

Following the speeches, Hugh Goodacre sang a song marking the 40th anniversary of the miners’ great strike and this was followed by a virtuoso performance from singer and musician Mubarak Ali to round off the evening.

Keith began his speech by thanking all those who had made the evening possible, especially Mushtaq Lasharie, highlighting his decades of tireless activism and public service.

Referring to the two previous speakers, he expressed solidarity with the struggles of the Palestinian people and the Grenfell community. In the 1960s and 1970s, hundreds of thousands of people in India and Pakistan had taken to the streets raising the slogan, “My name, your name, Vietnam”. Today, for people around the world, their rallying cry has become, “In our thousands, in our millions, we are all Palestinians.”

Grenfell was one of those events where people will remember where they were and what they were doing when they first heard about it. It was an entirely avoidable tragedy, an act of social murder in the memorable words of Friedrich Engels. The council, the government and the companies concerned, knew that the building’s cladding, like that of other residential buildings still standing, was flammable and lethal. The building was known to be a death trap. The fire was one more manifestation, like the Hillsborough football stadium disaster, the Post Office Horizon scandal, the contaminated blood scandal, and the treatment of the Windrush generation, among others, of the ruling class’s contempt for working people. But the multinational working class community of Grenfell, like the others mentioned, is a community that has refused to be silenced and which has courageously persisted in the struggle for justice.

The following is the text of the main body of Keith’s speech.

I’ve been asked to speak this evening about the BRICS and their growing role in the reconfiguration of the world order.

But like a good novel, it takes a while, and there are a few plot twists before things start to fall into place. So please bear with me for a bit.

Let’s start with the origins of our host organization, Third World Solidarity. What world were we living in? What was happening?

The key event that led to the formation of Third World Solidarity was the US bombing, with the support of the Thatcher government here, of Libya on April 15, 1986 – an act of state terrorism in which the adopted baby daughter of head of state Colonel Gaddafi was among those killed.

This was the period when Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher were turning the cold war hot throughout the Global South. (Or Third World as it was then generally called and from which we derive our name.) This was the case from Afghanistan to Nicaragua to Angola. And from Ethiopia to Cambodia.

It was also, although we did not realise it at the time, the period when the Soviet Union, and its allied socialist countries in central and Eastern Europe, were entering their final days.

Their demise also triggered the collapse, or the retreat, of many socialist experiments throughout the Third World.

Although five socialist countries survived, most notably China, elsewhere, attempts to build socialism, or just to pursue independent development, were often replaced by IMF/World Bank Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs), the downgrading of the role of the state, and the decimation of social programs and basic services, including in the vital areas of health and education. Neoliberalism acquired a practically religious aura. In the words of Margaret Thatcher, we were repeatedly told: “There is no alternative.” And for good measure, she added that there was, “no such thing as society, only individuals and their families.”

This neoliberal ideological hegemony was such that US political theorist Francis Fukuyama even proclaimed the end of history. And was catapulted from relative obscurity to intellectual rock star and guru status for his banal observation.

This apparently and now obviously ridiculous claim that history had come to an end meant that the evolution of human society was considered to have reached the destination of its journey with the hegemony of liberal democracy and the free market.

Although if democracy is to have any relationship to people having some measure of actual control over their own lives, and collectively over the evolution and running of their state and society, for hundreds of millions there was plenty of neoliberalism, plenty of economic impoverishment, but precious little democracy.

With the end of history there was also supposed to be a peace dividend. No more wars. And the Soviet Union was effectively persuaded to surrender with US promises that its NATO military alliance would not move one inch further east from a reunified Germany.

Of course, NATO marched inexorably eastwards. Slowly but surely laying the groundwork for today’s Ukraine tragedy.

As for no more wars, even to utter the phrase now can only draw a bitter laugh as we recall Yugoslavia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, Libya, Syria, Ukraine, Palestine and so many other conflicts, together claiming the lives of millions of innocent children, women and men.

Continue reading BRICS and the reconfiguration of the world order

Ronnie O’Sullivan: Building a bridge of snooker between China and Britain

Ronnie O’Sullivan is the world’s most recognisable snooker player and one of the most accomplished in the history of the sport, having won the World Snooker Championship seven times among a galaxy of other accomplishments.

However, with a UK general election being held on July 4, he has been in the news for other reasons. On June 17, the Mirror and other newspapers reported that he had thrown his backing behind Faiza Shaheen, a young Muslim woman and socialist, who is standing as an independent candidate in his local area of Chingford and Wood Green. The present incumbent is former leader of the Conservative Party Iain Duncan Smith, one of the most rabid and reactionary anti-China voices in British politics. As the Labour candidate, Faiza reduced Duncan Smith’s majority to 1,262 at the 2019 general election but has now resigned from the Labour Party to stand as an independent after she was summarily removed as a Labour candidate as part of party leader Keir Starmer’s purge of the left. Ronnie, who announced in 2017 that he had joined the Labour Party to support Jeremy Corbyn, has now released a video saying:

“I think it’s really important we have a local person as our MP, someone who knows this community, someone who has roots here and wants the best for us. And I think Faiza is that person. I know life isn’t great for everyone. People are struggling and they think that a lot of politicians don’t understand how tough life is for them.

“Faiza has bundles of passion. She is well respected here, people know her, they see her in the café or in the supermarket. She’s one of us. When I heard she was standing, I got in touch to give her my support. To me, it’s a no-brainer. I’ll be voting for Faiza and, over the next couple of weeks, I’ll be helping to encourage people to get behind her too.”

As a snooker world champion, Ronnie has visited China many times and knows all the sport’s key Chinese players. He has a huge fan base in China and is himself a good friend of China.

On November 18, 2022, the English language online edition of China’s leading newspaper, People’s Daily published an interview with him where he recalled:

“The first time I went to China was in 1997 and we played in a snooker club out there. I think that it was very different from what China is now. China’s development in all aspects is very rapid, and people’s attention to sports has also been greatly improved.

“As far as development, I think China has done a good job of nurturing young snooker players in recent years… When I first started playing snooker, there were lots of opportunities, lots of competitions, and lots of people for me to learn from, however, that isn’t so much the case now in the UK. But China realized that and they’ve made sure that the people, the youngsters, should be involved in an environment where they can learn and try to get better, when they start to play.”

He added: “I like Chinese culture. I come from an Italian background, and my mother is Italian. I love the traditional culture that Chinese people value family very much, which is very similar to the cultural background of Italy. The family sitting together and sharing food makes me feel extra warm and relaxed. I also like Chinese food. The dim sum in Guangzhou and Shanghai and the hot pot in Chengdu are all my favourites.”

He concludes: “It’s a blessing to play for the Chinese fans, and I always want to be better for them. Every time I go to China, I want to give them the best performance I can. Thanks again to all the Chinese snooker fans who supported me. I can’t wait to go back to meet you all as soon as possible.”

We reprint the interview below and also embed the accompanying video.

On the evening of May 2, 2022, the world-famous snooker player Ronnie O’Sullivan played in his veteran style in the last frame of the 2022 World Snooker Championships final. He eventually won the match 18:13, claiming the seventh World Snooker Championship trophy of his career. It was 2 a.m. in China, but messages of congratulation flooded Chinese social media from the fans who had stayed up all night to watch the live broadcast, sending their best wishes to this snooker icon.

As a popular British snooker player in China, O’Sullivan is affectionately nicknamed Rocket because of his high-speed and smooth style of playing. The reason that O’Sullivan has such a huge number of fans, in addition to his excellent skills, is his promotion of the sport of snooker and the cultivation of talents. His love for the sport and his extraordinary personal charm were felt throughout People’s Daily Online’s conversation with him.

People’s Daily Online: You have been to China many times before. Compared with your first visit, what do you think is different in China now?

Ronnie O’Sullivan: The first time I went to China was in 1997 and we played in a snooker club out there. I think that it was very different from what China is now. China’s development in all aspects is very rapid, and people’s attention to sports has also been greatly improved.

Continue reading Ronnie O’Sullivan: Building a bridge of snooker between China and Britain

A month traveling in China

What follows is an original article by Stansfield Smith, a Chicago-based writer and organiser with Chicago ALBA Solidarity, sharing his reflections on a recent trip to China, which took in nine different cities and towns.

Drawing on his experiences, he highlights a series of contrasts between China and the US. For example, China’s rail systems are decades in advance of the US: “A train from Shanghai to Kunming, the distance from Philadelphia to Los Angeles, takes 11 hours 40 minutes and costs the equivalent of $127.” This is a manifestation of China prioritising the wellbeing of its people, unlike in the US where “trillions of dollars spent on endless war have impoverished us”. China’s cities meanwhile are clean and safe, packed with “pleasant, well-designed and well-kept parks”.

Particularly striking is the lack of homelessness in China. “We were in nine different cities and saw just one down-and-out person on the street asking for money. The US, in the midst of wealth, has hundreds of thousands of homeless, including children, pregnant women, and the elderly.”

Stansfield observes:

The Chinese have devoted immense public funding to public services, making you feel the world outside your front door is clean, safe, and well-organized. As a result, you feel welcomed in public places, you feel your well-being is respected… The overall feeling created in litter-free, clean, safe cities, with no homeless, staffed with many workers who keep it in order for the people, is that in contrast to the US, the Chinese government has created a society that cares about you… China is creating a more humane place to live.

Sad to say, the US is responding to China’s progress with a New Cold War – a desperate attempt to contain China’s rise and to preserve American hegemony. Ultimately this strategy will be unsuccessful. As the author points out, “today China presents a progressive and growing alternative force to the world power of the US empire.”

My Chinese-speaking wife and I recently traveled to nine different cities and towns in China over the course of a month, our fourth trip since 2005. We were also to go in 2020, but the covid lockdown canceled it. That year we could have booked a train ticket to Xinjiang and traveled around that province no questions asked, though Western media claimed we’d be in the midst of the bogus Uyghur “genocide.” One example of the endless disinformation about China.

Of our most significant impressions of China, the first is the contrast between the stories the corporate media tell us about China, what they don’t want us to know, and the reality we see. The Wall Street Journal for example asserted “China’s economy limps into 2024”, whereas in contrast the US was marked by a “resilient domestic economy.” In reality, China grew 5.3% in the first quarter of 2024. The US grew at 1.6%, Germany and France grew just 0.2%, Britain at 0.6%, and Japan -0.5%. But economic crisis is racking China!

Two, China’s infrastructure surpasses anything in the US. Jimmy Carter said “How many miles of high-speed railroad do we have in this country [zero]? China has around 18,000 miles (29,000 km) of high-speed rail lines.” That was in 2019. Now it is 28,000 miles and trains can travel 220 miles per hour. A train from Shanghai to Kunming, the distance from Philadelphia to Los Angeles, takes 11 hours 40 minutes and costs the equivalent of $127.

What we live with here in the US appears hugely backward in comparison. Their subway systems are decades ahead of those in the US; the US train system seems a century behind. Videos such as this show what they have achieved. 

Three, after experiencing China’s incredible infrastructure, you realize how the trillions of dollars spent on endless war have impoverished us. The US blows things up instead of building things to improve public well-being. Carter said the US “has wasted, I think, $3 trillion” on military spending ($5.9 trillion between 2001-2018). “Since 1979, do you know how many times China has been at war with anybody? None, and we have stayed at war. China has not wasted a single penny on war, and that’s why they’re ahead of us. In almost every way… We’d have high-speed railroad. We’d have bridges that aren’t collapsing, we’d have roads that are maintained properly. Our education system would be as good as that of say South Korea or Hong Kong.”

Four, clean and safe cities. We don’t see the omnipresent litter we do here. Every day a veritable army of public workers cleans the streets, sidewalks, subways, parks, and other public places. These are not simply litter-free, but clean. Workers making sure of it. In the US we would expect this in private buildings, universities, hospitals, fancy hotels, but not in public spaces.

Continue reading A month traveling in China

The US ruling class, not China, is responsible for the opioid crisis

The following article by Friends of Socialist China co-founder Danny Haiphong, originally published in Beijing Review, discusses the growing opioid crisis in the United States and the tendency of US politicians to place blame for the crisis on China. Noting that opioid overdoses caused over 112,000 deaths in 2023, Danny writes that “the causes for the spike in both the use of fentanyl and its deadly consequences have been obscured by the rampant politicization of the issue”.

The House Select Committee on “Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party” claims that China has been promoting the manufacture and export of the precursor chemicals critical to the production of fentanyl. Danny observes however that this claim is not substantiated by meaningful evidence, and furthermore “disregards China’s serious efforts in cracking down on the trafficking of fentanyl despite having no domestic problem with opioid abuse.” For example, in 2019, “China became the first country in the world to include all fentanyl-related substances in its supplementary list of controlled narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances.”

In truth the regulatory failures are taking place in the US, not China – “in large part due to the influence of corporate power on politics”. The attempt to pin blame on China is part of a broader New Cold War agenda in which China is demonised and its rise presented as an existential threat to the Western way of life. This narrative in turn serves to justify the US military build-up in the Pacific and the escalating campaign of China encirclement.

It is no secret that drug addiction is a major problem in the United States. When it comes to opioids, the crisis has become increasingly deadly. Over 112,000 fatal overdoses occurred in the U.S. in 2023. The potent synthetic opioid, fentanyl, is now a household name for its role in aggravating overdoses in the country to such a historic scale.

However, the causes for the spike in both the use of fentanyl and its deadly consequences have been obscured by the rampant politicization of the issue. In recent years, U.S. political elites have attempted to explain away the crisis by blaming a convenient scapegoat: China.

The House Select Committee on “Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party” in April released a report claiming that China has directly subsidized precursor chemicals critical to the production of fentanyl.

The insinuation is that China is directly trading these substances with illicit fentanyl producers and therefore fueling the opioid crisis in the U.S.

Blaming China for the opioid crisis didn’t begin this year, however. Political officials placed fentanyl production at the top of their domestic agenda in 2021 and immediately blamed China for the deadly consequences. U.S. President Joe Biden stated prior to his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the APEC conference in San Francisco, California, last November that he would make pressuring China on fentanyl a key topic and claimed a “diplomatic victory” after China and the U.S. agreed to resume talks on the issue.

Blaming China for the U.S. opioid overdose crisis is rife with problems. For one, the House committee is a byproduct of a broader Cold War agenda and the credibility of its report is in serious question given the majority of its sources are anecdotal or regurgitation of Western media claims.

Furthermore, U.S. claims disregard China’s serious efforts in cracking down on the trafficking of fentanyl despite having no domestic problem with opioid abuse. In 2019, China became the first country in the world to include all fentanyl-related substances in its supplementary list of controlled narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances.

The country has also taken numerous security measures in compliance with the law, and many of these actions include cooperating directly with U.S. export-import control mechanisms.

It’s also important to note that the responsibility of how precursor chemicals are utilized falls on the importing country. The U.S. has consistently ignored necessary regulations on the sale and distribution of opioids in large part due to the influence of corporate power on politics.

U.S. pharmaceutical company Purdue Pharma LP is infamous for starting the opioid epidemic in the U.S. beginning in the 1990s as the maker and aggressive peddler of OxyContin, a strong and potentially addictive pain medication.

Purdue Pharma opened the floodgates to the over-prescription of opioids within an already profit-driven health insurance and medical system. For the past 30 years, pharmaceutical corporations have poured billions of dollars into political campaigns to ensure that their products receive legislative priority and protection.

The close relationship between U.S. politicians and pharmaceutical corporations has created what’s called the “revolving door.” For example, during the Donald Trump administration, former Commissioner for the Food and Drug Administration Scott Gottlieb resigned to join the board of directors of Pfizer, one of the world’s premier pharmaceutical and biomedical enterprises.

And the revolving door is no partisan affair. Major members of Biden’s staff, such as former Deputy Chief of Staff Jennifer O’Malley Dillon and current Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, have worked for law firms representing major pharmaceutical corporations such as Pfizer and Gilead Sciences, Inc.

The U.S. geopolitical footprint on the illicit drug trade has contributed to countless suffering and chaos throughout the Global South, or the nations of the world that are considered to have a relatively low level of economic and industrial development and are typically located to the south of more industrialized nations. The U.S. played a role in the Opium Wars in the 19th century which led to China’s “century of humiliation” and was a major force in the global opium trade of that period. Throughout the Cold War, covert U.S. wars in Latin America led to the proliferation of the drug trade from Colombia to Central America. And Afghanistan, suffering decades of U.S. interventions, became the top producer of opium in the world for much of the 21st century until its growth and distribution was banned by the Taliban in 2022 following the U.S. withdrawl from the country.

Blaming China won’t address any self-inflicted wounds. It is U.S. policy, or rather the lack thereof, that is responsible for making American society an attractive market for the illicit drug trade. Despair, stress, poverty and racial discrimination make for a toxic mix that continues to fester and grow in the heart of American society. Political leaders and their elite sponsors are the ones who need to be held accountable. Not China.

Engaging with the People’s Republic

A high-level delegation from the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation, headed by its Chair, Dr. Heinz Bierbaum, visited China in March. The foundation is closely associated with Germany’s Die Linke (Left Party).

The following article, which we reproduce from the foundation’s website, details the background to the delegation, reports its visits and meetings in Beijing, Zhejiang and Shanghai, and outlines the key themes for its future work with China. Giving an overall context, the article notes:

“Over the span of two generations, the People’s Republic of China has gone from one of the poorest countries in the world to its second-largest economy and a rising global power, and did so while maintaining its own, distinct developmental model. Its state-directed market economy has lifted over 800 million people out of poverty, and garnered the attention of other developing countries looking to extract themselves from the middle-income trap.”

It adds that the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation is working to reinvigorate ties between China and progressive parties and movements in Germany, in the spirit of fostering a global debate on the nature of socialism in the twenty-first century.

Moving forward, the work of the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation’s Beijing Office will focus on exchanges between European and Chinese Marxists, translating Chinese debates into Western contexts and vice-versa.

Dr. Jan Turowski, office director since 2017, argues that different historical contexts must always be taken into account when evaluating debates on Marxism and socialism:

“In China, and particularly in the Communist Party, socialism is treated less as a state of affairs than a goal-oriented strategic process… As a theoretical debate in constant interplay with practical developments, conflicts of interest, and policy demands, it changes, experiments, conforms, and yet continues to structure the political process, giving it direction over the longer term… In contrast, the debate in the West as to whether China is socialist or not often focuses — rather unproductively — on a state of affairs and set of binary categories: either a society is socialist or it is not. Many Western leftists discuss China’s contradictions as good or bad, right or wrong, rather than confronting them as an integral part of the socialist experiment. Nevertheless, bringing Chinese and Western debates on socialism together in an open-minded and interested way, without denying the many differences, might well spark some creative ideas.”

The observation is as banal as it is true: China’s economic and geopolitical rise over the past four decades has transformed both the country and the world around it, and will continue to do so for decades to come. Over the span of two generations, the People’s Republic of China has gone from one of the poorest countries in the world to its second-largest economy and a rising global power, and did so while maintaining its own, distinct developmental model. Its state-directed market economy has lifted over 800 million people out of poverty, and garnered the attention of other developing countries looking to extract themselves from the middle-income trap.

It was thus only natural for the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation to begin supporting projects in China in 2002, and open one of its first international offices there in 2008. Since then, our Beijing branch has grown from a modest outpost to a fully-fledged regional office, organizing high-level exchanges and joint conferences and publications with a number of universities, research institutions, and even the Communist Party of China. Against a backdrop of growing geopolitical tensions, the foundation’s work seeks to maintain and expand corridors for debate and exchange, and learn from each other’s experiences in the interest of mutual understanding. The many differences between China, Germany, and Europe notwithstanding, we are convinced that only through dialogue can conflicts be resolved in a constructive manner.

As the COVID pandemic draws to a close and travel restrictions ease, the office has intensified its activity by hosting several international delegations and organizing a series of seminars and workshops in China and Germany. Together with the launch of a new bilingual website, the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation is working to reinvigorate ties between China and progressive parties and movements in Germany, in the spirit of fostering a global debate on the nature of socialism in the twenty-first century. Chinese scholars often emphasize that their experience is unique and cannot be seen as a blueprint for movements and parties in other parts of the world. Nevertheless, any discussion of socialism’s prospects today cannot afford to ignore the experience of 1.4 billion people living under a system that describes itself as “socialism with Chinese characteristics”.

Friends from Afar

A recent sign of the office’s renewed activity was a high-level delegation to China in late March, hosted by the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC) and led by the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation’s chair, Dr. Heinz Bierbaum. Together with representatives from the foundation’s Executive and Academic Advisory Board, Bierbaum visited Beijing, Hangzhou, and Shanghai, and met with representatives of municipal administrations, cultural institutions, and the Communist Party.

The delegation began its trip with a visit to the Central Party School in Beijing, where Vice President Li Yi discussed China’s socialist modernization with participants and emphasized the need for mutual cooperation in international relations. Later in the day, delegates were received by CPAFFC President Yang Wanming, who emphasized the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation’s longstanding role in strengthening person-to-person exchanges between China and Germany, and expressed optimism that relations between the two countries would continue to develop positively. Further meetings with representatives of the International Department of the Central Committee and the National People’s Congress underlined the depth of cooperation the foundation has developed in China over the past two decades.

The country’s high-speed rail network has helped to transform China’s transportation system, and demonstrates what kind of green infrastructural development is possible under the right conditions.

After taking in the sights of Beijing, the delegation travelled south to Hangzhou, capital of the eastern coastal province Zhejiang. Here, participants visited the nearby model village of Xiaogucheng, where the local Party leadership has instituted a number of effective anti-poverty strategies and pioneered new structures of community governance. Hangzhou has also broken ground in its attempts to integrate high-tech development with environmentally sustainable urban planning, as the delegation learned in Dream Town, a major tech hub along the city’s historic waterfront that seeks to integrate, rather than replace, the existing ecological and urban space.

The delegation’s visit concluded in Shanghai, China’s largest and wealthiest city, where participants met with Chen Jing, President of the Shanghai People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, and learned about the city’s unprecedented growth within the framework of the state-led market economy. The Shanghai Master Plan, which runs from 2017 to 2035, seeks to turn Shanghai into a “modern socialist international metropolis” seamlessly integrating life, work, and the surrounding environment. It stands as an exemplary case of China’s approach to development, whereby the fundamental parameters of economic growth are laid out in a series of five-year plans, leaving ample room for experimentation and creativity at the local and regional levels.

Perhaps most remarkable for delegation participants was the substantial progress the People’s Republic has made in terms of what in China is referred to as “ecological civilization”. Electric vehicles were to be seen in every city the delegation visited, marked by their silent engines and green license plates that set them apart from the rest of the fleet. Indeed, in Shanghai, over half of new vehicle registrations are electric. The country’s high-speed rail network, which consists of 45,000 kilometres of track and encompasses two-thirds of all high-speed rail in the world, has helped to transform China’s transportation system, and demonstrates what kind of green infrastructural development is possible under the right conditions. Summing up his impressions, Dr. Bierbaum remarked that he was “deeply impressed by the level of economic and technical development achieved, above all by the fact that a high degree of qualitative and, in particular, ecological aspects have been taken into account.”

Continue reading Engaging with the People’s Republic

UN expert: Unilateral sanctions against China are illegal

Following a 12-day official visit to China, Alena Douhan, UN Special Rapporteur on the negative impact of the unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights, has called on the US and its allies to lift their sanctions against China, which she says are illegal and are having a negative impact on the human rights of the Chinese people.

These sanctions, imposed in 2017 and since significantly expanded (most notably with the 2021 ‘Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act’ (UFLPA)), target key sectors including agriculture, construction, trade, green technologies, energy, finance and telecommunications. The sanctions contravene the most fundamental legal norm by placing the burden of proof on the accused, rather than the accuser. The UFLPA in particular demands that Chinese companies prove that their products are not made with forced labour.

Douhan notes: “Access to justice and the fundamental principles of due process and the presumption of innocence are also seriously undermined by the listing and de-listing procedures, based on the rebuttable presumption of wrongfulness of everything with any nexus to Xinjiang or designated companies.”

A report on the UN Human Rights Council website cites Douhan as saying that a “decline in business activities and the significant loss of global markets either due to unilateral sanctions per se or due to over-compliance with such measures by foreign businesses and entities have led to job losses, with consequent disruptions in social protection schemes, by disproportionately affecting the most vulnerable, particularly in labour-intensive sectors, including women, older persons, and all those in informal employment”.

That is to say, not only are the sanctions illegal, they are also adversely affecting the human rights of precisely those people they are purportedly intended to protect.

Alena Douhan’s visit took her to Beijing, Urumqi, Shihezi, Changji, Hotan, and Shenzhen, and included meetings with representatives from national and local government institutions, NGOs, humanitarian actors, businesses, UN entities, academics, businesses and diplomats.

The full text of Douhan’s statement can be found here.

The report below is republished from Global Times.

Unilateral sanctions against China do not conform with a broad number of international legal norms, are introduced to apply pressure on the country, and can be qualified as unilateral coercive measures, the UN Special Rapporteur on unilateral coercive measures and human rights, Alena Douhan, said in a press conference in Beijing on Friday after a 12-day official visit to several cities in China, including Urumqi, Shihezi and Hotan in Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. 

Unilateral sanctions have been imposed against China since 2017 with mounting US pressure on Chinese technological companies and the imposition of export controls, designation of companies’ officials and the launch of administrative and civil charges. These have been followed by further sanctions and restrictions related to China’s Xinjiang region and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, by expanding the list of targets to include key sectors, including in agriculture, construction, trade, green technologies, energy, finance, telecommunications and others. 

As the Special Rapporteur on the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights, Douhan visited China from May 6 to 17 to gather firsthand information on the negative impact of unilateral sanctions in China. During her stay in China, she met representatives from national and local government institutions, non-governmental organizations, associations, humanitarian actors, businesses, UN entities, academia, businesses, as well as the diplomatic community. 

One day before the UN expert’s press conference, the US announced on Thursday that it was adding another 26 Chinese cotton traders or warehouse facilities to the entity list of the so-called Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) that bars goods related to so-called forced labor in the Xinjiang region, Reuters reported.

The UFLPA, which was enacted in December 2021, has been widely criticized as “one of the most notorious laws of the 21st century.” It creates a “rebuttable presumption” that all goods partially or wholly produced in the Xinjiang region are “tainted by forced labor” and it requires corporations to prove with “clear and convincing evidence” that imports from the region are not made by forced labor. 

During the Friday meeting with media, Douhan noted that the establishment of a “rebuttable presumption” regarding the “wrongdoing” of companies with any connection to Xinjiang or designated entities, particularly those involved in recruiting individuals from ethnic minority groups in China or operating within designated sectors of the economy, places the burden of proof on business actors. 

It violates fundamental principles of international law, as well as provisions outlined in resolutions of the UN General Assembly and UN Human Rights Council and represents an attempt to supplement legal standards with a so-called rules-based order, said Douhan. 

Sanctions against broad sectors of the economy in China’s Xinjiang region coupled with those against large companies affect the overall economy of the region, result in disruptions of industrial and trade relations, adversely affect all those involved in the supply chains with a link to this region, even outside China, including third country employees, and consequently result in rising unemployment, particularly affecting the most vulnerable, said Douhan.

The UN expert also noted that minorities in the Xinjiang region would also be affected and those who have been lifted out of poverty may face the risk of falling into poverty once again in an interview with the Global Times on Friday. 

There are no legal grounds from the perspective of international law to impose sanctions against specific types of industry, cotton or high-tech area or batteries or any others. And “transparency does not exist” when companies submit explanations to related departments to protect their rights by judicial means, said Douhan. 

Douhan also called on sanctioning parties to lift and suspend all unilateral sanctions applied to China, Chinese nationals and companies without authorization from the UN Security Council. 

“I wish to reiterate the illegality of extraterritorial application of unilateral sanctions and I call on states, in particular sanctioning states, to effectively address over-compliance of businesses and other entities under their jurisdiction in order to mitigate or completely eliminate any adverse humanitarian impact,” said the expert.

Xi congratulates Ramaphosa on reelection as South African president

Chinese President Xi Jinping sent a message to Cyril Ramaphosa on June 15, congratulating him on his reelection as President of the Republic of South Africa. 

In his message, Xi noted that China and South Africa have profound political mutual trust and fruitful practical cooperation in various fields, which is a model of solidarity and cooperation among developing countries and the Global South.

The following article was first published by the Xinhua News Agency.

Chinese President Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory message to Cyril Ramaphosa who was reelected as president of South Africa on Friday.

In his message, Xi noted that China and South Africa have profound political mutual trust and fruitful practical cooperation in various fields, which is a model of solidarity and cooperation among developing countries and the Global South.

Xi said that during his fourth state visit to South Africa in August last year, he and Ramaphosa reached important consensus on a wide range of issues, marking a new chapter in building a high-level China-South Africa community with a shared future.

Xi also said that he attaches great importance to the development of China-South Africa relations and stands ready to work with Ramaphosa to elevate the China-South Africa comprehensive strategic partnership to a new level and jointly contribute to world peace, stability, and prosperity.

Videos: China proves that a new world is possible! Delegates report back from China

On 16 June 2024, we held a webinar reporting back on the first exclusive Friends of Socialist China delegation to the People’s Republic of China, which took place from 14 to 24 April 2024. At the webinar we heard back from the delegates about their experiences and observations of Chinese socialism. The speakers were:

  • Danny Haiphong (Broadcaster; Author, ‘American Exceptionalism and American Innocence’)
  • Fiona Sim (Black Liberation Alliance)
  • Roger McKenzie (International editor, Morning Star)
  • Margaret Kimberley (Editor-in-chief, Black Agenda Report)
  • Russel Harland (trade unionist and Friends of Socialist China Britain Committee member)
  • Sage Stanescu (researcher and Friends of Socialist China Britain Committee member)

Embedded below is the full livestream (unfortunately including, in the first few minutes, various interruptions by racist trolls attempting to sabotage the event) and the individual panel contributions (thankfully without interruptions!).

China and Cuba: good friends, good comrades and good brothers

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla visited China in the first week of June as the Special Envoy of President Miguel Díaz-Canel.

Meeting his Cuban counterpart on June 6, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that China and Cuba are good friends who trust each other, good comrades who share the same vision, and good brothers who share weal and woe, adding that the two sides reached an important consensus on jointly building a China-Cuba community with a shared future. China speaks highly of Cuba’s adherence to truth and defiance of power, and appreciates that Cuba always stands up for China’s legitimate stance on international multilateral occasions. China firmly supports Cuba in defending its national sovereignty and opposing foreign interference and will continue to resolutely oppose the US’s unreasonable blockade against Cuba.

Wang added that China is willing to work with Cuba to implement the consensus reached by the two heads of state, develop the special friendly relations between the two parties and two countries, and contribute to promoting the cause of world socialism and safeguarding world peace.

Rodriguez said that Cuba sincerely thanks China for its strong support in resisting the unreasonable blockade and interference of the United States and overcoming temporary difficulties in economic operation and will continue to firmly abide by the one-China principle.

Cuba is willing to work with China to build a Cuba-China community with a shared future, give top priority to the joint construction of the Belt and Road, and safeguard the sovereignty and independence of developing countries as well as the cause of socialism.

The following day, Rodriguez had separate meetings with Li Xi, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, who is also Secretary of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, and with Liu Jianchao, Minister of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee (IDCPC).

Noting that China and Cuba are good friends, good comrades, and good brothers who stick together through thick and thin, Li said China will continue to support Cuba in pursuing a socialist path that suits its national conditions and defending its national sovereignty and dignity.

Rodriguez expressed gratitude for China’s strong support for the just cause of Cuba, saying Cuba will firmly abide by the one-China principle, steadfastly deepen friendship with China and resolutely defend the socialist cause.

Liu Jianchao said that under the strong leadership of the Communist Party of Cuba, the Cuban people have firm convictions, are not afraid of power, are indomitable, and resolutely safeguard the interests of the country and the nation. The Communist Party of China is ready to work with the Communist Party of Cuba to implement the important consensus reached by the top leaders of the two parties and two countries, strengthen exchanges at all levels, along with mutual learning of experience in governance, promote cooperation in areas such as people’s livelihood, give full play to the political leading role of inter-party relations, advance their respective socialist construction, and promote greater development of China-Cuba relations.

Rodriguez said that Cuba and China share common ideals and beliefs, and both adhere to the socialist road. The Cuban party and government have placed the development of relations with China and the Communist Party of China in the first place in their foreign relations, thanked the Chinese side for its valuable assistance and strong support for Cuba’s economic and social development, and hoped to strengthen cooperation with China in agriculture, renewable energy, investment, finance, and other fields. We firmly believe, he added, that with the support of China and international friendly forces, Cuba will be able to continue to advance on the road of socialist construction. Cuba is ready to work with China to promote the building of a just and equitable international order.

On June 12, Li Xi also met with a delegation of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) led by Gladys Martinez Verdecia, member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the PCC and First Secretary of its Artemisa Provincial Party Committee. He said that China and Cuba are both socialist countries led by communist parties and share common ideals and convictions.

Martinez expressed willingness to work with the CPC to implement the consensus reached by the top leaders of the two parties and countries, deepen the exchange of experience on party and state governance, promote practical cooperation in agriculture and other fields, and push for greater development of China-Cuba relations. The following articles were originally published by the Xinhua News Agency and on the website of the IDCPC. The article from the IDCPC was published in Chinese and has been machine translated and subedited by us.

Chinese FM holds talks with Cuban president’s special envoy

BEIJING, June 6 (Xinhua) — Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks with Special Envoy of Cuban President and Minister of Foreign Affairs Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla, on Thursday in Beijing.

Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said that China and Cuba are good friends who trust each other, good comrades who share the same vision, and good brothers who share weal and woe, adding that the two sides reached an important consensus on jointly building a China-Cuba community with a shared future.

Continue reading China and Cuba: good friends, good comrades and good brothers

Xi: China and Brazil are like-minded good friends and good partners walking hand in hand

The close relations between China and Brazil were underlined and reinforced with the China visit of  Vice President Geraldo Alckmin in early June.

The distinguished Brazilian visitor met with President Xi Jinping on June 7.

Xi said China and Brazil are like-minded good friends, and good partners walking hand in hand. “In April last year, President Lula and I reached an important consensus on leading and opening up the new future of China-Brazil relations in the new era.”

With joint efforts in the past year, the two countries have continuously deepened strategic mutual trust, steadily advanced pragmatic cooperation, and closely coordinated on the international stage. This has not only promoted their respective development, but effectively safeguarded the common interests of all developing countries.

Both as major developing countries and key emerging market economies, China and Brazil share broad and common strategic interests, and their relationship goes far beyond the bilateral scope to have exemplary significance for promoting solidarity and cooperation among developing countries as well as world peace and stability, Xi said.

By grasping the strategic nature of their ties, the two countries should make those ties more mutually beneficial and comprehensive, continue to enhance strategic coordination, and add new dimensions to the China-Brazil friendship, Xi added.

As the two countries celebrate the 50th anniversary of  their diplomatic relations this year, they should strengthen exchanges and cooperation in various fields, including legislative bodies, political parties, local governments, culture, education, tourism and youth. China backs Brazil’s greater role on the international stage and its hosting of the G20 Leaders’ Summit this year. China is also ready to enhance communication with Brazil and other members of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) for further development of China-Latin America relations in the new era.

Alckmin conveyed President Lula’s cordial greetings to President Xi. He said that in recent years, hundreds of millions of Chinese people have been lifted out of poverty, which is a miracle in the world, and the relevant experience is of great significance for Brazil. He added that the Brazilian government is committed to inclusive and sustainable growth and is willing to enhance the synergy of development strategies with China.

A little earlier, on June 4, the Second China-Brazil poverty alleviation and rural revitalisation forum was held in Beijing. Liu Jianchao, Minister of the International Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee (IDCPC), Wellington Dias, Minister of Development and Social Assistance, Family and Combating Hunger of Brazil, Paulo Teixeira, Minister for Rural Development and Family Farming of Brazil, Sun Qixin, President of China Agricultural University, and Marcia Abrahão Moura, Rector of the University of Brasília, attended and addressed the forum.

Minister Liu noted that this year marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Brazil. Over the past half century, the development of bilateral relations has withstood the test of vicissitudes, with fruitful results from practical cooperation in various fields. This year also marks the 40th anniversary of the establishment of relations between the CPC and the Workers’ Party (PT) of Brazil. The two parties have maintained close exchanges and cooperation for a long time, playing an important role in promoting the smooth development of China-Brazil relations. China and Brazil are the largest developing countries in the Eastern and Western hemispheres respectively, representatives of emerging market economies, and important members of the Global South. The concerted efforts of China and Brazil will not only benefit the two peoples, but also play a constructive role in world peace, stability and development.  

Liu added that poverty is a chronic affliction of human society. Poverty reduction and rural revitalisation are the common cause and unremitting pursuit of China and Brazil. The Chinese side is ready to further share poverty reduction experience with Brazilian political parties, government, local governments, enterprises, and so on through various channels, including the “political party + practical cooperation” platform, and strengthen practical cooperation in agriculture, so as to continuously enhance people’s well-being.

Dias congratulated the Chinese people on their remarkable achievements in poverty alleviation under the leadership of the CPC. He said that Brazil is currently facing new challenges in poverty reduction and the fight against hunger. The Brazilian side is willing to, together with the Chinese side, implement the important consensus of the two heads of state, strengthen exchanges between political parties, think tanks, universities, enterprises, and non-governmental organisations, deepen exchanges and mutual learning of experience in poverty reduction and rural revitalisation, and advance cooperation in agricultural education and scientific research as well as in production of agricultural machinery, so as to better benefit the two countries and peoples.

The following articles were first published by the Xinhua News Agency and on the website of the IDCPC.

Xi meets Brazilian vice president

BEIJING, June 7 (Xinhua) — Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Brazilian Vice President Geraldo Alckmin in Beijing on Friday.

Xi said China and Brazil are like-minded good friends, and good partners walking hand in hand. “In April last year, President Lula and I reached an important consensus on leading and opening up the new future of China-Brazil relations in the new era.”

Continue reading Xi: China and Brazil are like-minded good friends and good partners walking hand in hand