December 2025 - Friends of Socialist China

How China’s initiatives are paving a new path to a better world

The following article, originally published in Xinhua, provides an overview of the four major global initiatives proposed by President Xi Jinping over the last five years – the Global Development Initiative (GDI, 2021), the Global Security Initiative (GSI, 2022), the Global Civilisation Initiative (GCI, 2023) and the Global Governance Initiative (GGI) – and discusses how these proposals link together to form a unified framework for building a community with a shared future for humanity, addressing, respectively, material development, peace and stability, cultural understanding, and institutional reform.

The article notes that UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has described the initiatives as being “totally compatible with the UN Charter” and that they have attracted broad support from countries around the world, particularly the Global South.

The piece argues that systems of international cooperation are increasingly fractured by unilateralism, sanctions, protectionism and bloc confrontation, contrasting these trends with China’s emphasis on sovereign equality, dialogue and multilateralism. It highlights deepening global crises: development is in reverse in parts of the world, the poverty gap is widening, and security tensions are intensifying. The article states that progress toward the UN’s 2030 Sustainable Development Goals has stalled: only 35 percent of targets are on track, nearly half are moving too slowly, and 18 percent have regressed. It stresses worsening global inequalities, noting the poorest half of humanity holds only 2 percent of global wealth, billions face food insecurity exacerbated by conflicts, and climate-adaptation financing gaps are growing.

The article describes the GDI as a break from Western-dominated development models, emphasising China’s long-term planning combined with market dynamism. Projects funded by the Global Development and South-South Cooperation Fund in Nepal and major infrastructure cooperation such as the China-Laos Railway are cited as examples of China “teaching a man to fish”: the Laos railway cut logistics costs by over 30 percent and created 100,000 jobs, while China-Africa Agricultural Technology Demonstration Centres increased crop yields by 30-60 percent and benefited over a million farmers. Meanwhile, China-Brazil clean-energy cooperation centres are extending power access to remote communities, linking development to ecological protection.

The Global Governance Initiative, which was announced in September this year, proposes a program of global governance reform rooted in respect for sovereign equality, international rule of law, genuine multilateralism, adherence to the principles and purposes of the UN Charter, and a people-centred focus on employment, education and healthcare. China is turning these ideas into practice by supporting reforms in multilateral institutions, expanding BRICS and SCO cooperation, promoting South-South platforms such as FOCAC (Forum on China-Africa Cooperation) and the China-CELAC Forum, and advancing new governance norms in data security, AI, and cross-border data flows. The article notes China’s increased funding to the China-UN Peace and Development Fund, and highlights the creation of the International Organisation for Mediation headquartered in Hong Kong, established with more than 30 countries, as an example of security governance via law rather than force.

Former UN under-secretary-general Erik Solheim: China is the total dominant force in the green economy

Erik Solheim, former under-secretary-general of the UN and former executive director of the UN Environment Programme, gave a presentation at the Global Times Annual Conference on 20 December 2025. He described the past year as one of global turbulence, but argued that China has emerged as a force for stability, delivering 5 percent economic growth that benefits both its people and the global economy. He highlighted China’s dominance in the green economy, noting that it leads the world in solar, wind, hydropower, electric vehicles, batteries and electric public transport, and observing that global progress in these sectors is being driven almost exclusively by China.

China is the total dominant force in the green economy. 60 percent or more of solar, wind, hydropower, electric cars, electric batteries, metros, high-speed rail, whatever you want to mention, is developed by one nation alone. That’s China…

Solheim made an important link between China’s economic success and its planning system, indicating that China’s socialist market economy is more effective in driving development – particularly sustainable development – than capitalism.

The national plan process of China is unique. No other nation is able to do this. There is a combination of a strong state with a very vibrant market, which we have seen in China since the reform and opening-up started in 1978. To do this, you need a strong state to set the targets, to make the direction, to define the goals, to take the nation in the right direction.

Solheim also discussed the role being played by the Chinese government and companies in the digital economy, particularly the orientation towards the production of open source software as a global common good.

Whitewashing Japanese and German war crimes paves way to new imperialist aggression

The following is a speech given by Sevim Dagdelen, foreign policy spokesperson for Germany’s Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) and a former member of the Bundestag (German parliament), to the 12th Beiing Xiangshan Forum, which took place between September 17-19, 2025.

Dagdelen begins by noting that: “The High Representative of the European Union, Kaja Kallas, declared in September 2025 that it was entirely new to her that Russia and China referred to a shared past as fighters against fascism and militarism in the Second World War. Russia and China wanted to rewrite history, and the world believed them, according to Kallas.”

She goes on to note that what is interesting is that this statement encountered no objection from the heads of state and government of Germany, France, Poland and Italy.

Having pointed out that it was the Soviet Union and China that bore the main burden of the struggle against the fascist powers joined together in the “Anti-Comintern Pact”, she adds: “That pact was complemented by the secret German-Japanese agreement of 1937. Joint plans of military intelligence aimed at dividing Central Asia and the Caucasus into German and Japanese spheres of influence.”

The attempts to deny this history are intended not only to make people forget the crimes of the Nazi regime and Japanese militarism but above all to seek a revision of the outcomes of the war.

“Germany and Japan had attempted with their imperialist wars of plunder to subjugate the USSR and China and to divide the countries. Both powers failed due to bitter anti-fascist resistance. On the ruins of the destructive works of the Third Reich and the Japanese empire, a multipolar world was to emerge, not least shaped by the national liberation struggle of colonised peoples.”

Now, “US President Donald Trump, with his punitive tariffs against India and – with qualifications – also German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, with the conclusion of the German-Japanese armaments agreement, have revealed to the world that a departure from colonialism can only be achieved against the West and its leading powers.”

“However, the global balance of power has changed fundamentally. Neither China nor Russia nor India allows its policy to be dictated any longer by Washington, Brussels, Berlin or Tokyo. The west has simply missed the rise of the Global South.”

However, the west will not simply accept this situation. Presciently, she notes: “Latin America and a claimed Western hemisphere seem to be the first focus of the US, while in Asia, the Middle East, and Europe, Washington’s allies are placed in the front row to preserve US resources.”

She concludes: “We have a just world to gain. We should not let this opportunity pass.”

At its recent congress, the BSW voted to rename the party as the Alliance for Social Justice and Economic Reason, effective from October 1, 2026, while retaining the same initials. A brief report of the congress was carried by the Xinhua News Agency.

The following article was originally published by Consortium News.

The High Representative of the European Union, Kaja Kallas, declared in September 2025 that it was entirely new to her that Russia and China referred to a shared past as fighters against fascism and militarism in the second world war. Russia and China wanted to rewrite history, and the world believed them, according to Kallas.

One could dismiss this statement by one of the E.U.’s highest representatives as confused or uninformed. What is interesting, however, is that it encountered no objection from the heads of state and government of Germany, France, Poland and Italy. One must therefore understand Kallas’s historical judgment as an expression of an E.U. policy that seeks to rewrite history in order to flank the preparation for war with historical politics.

In any case, Kallas’s remark is reminiscent of the phrase by the Spanish-American philosopher George Santayana (1863-1952): “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

First Nations and Chinese migrant workers pioneered Australia-China people-to-people links

For the last nearly six months, a landmark exhibition at the National Museum of Australia in the capital Canberra has been reminding visitors that Indigenous-Chinese bonds helped forge the links between the two peoples long before the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1972.

Our Story: Aboriginal–Chinese People in Australia, is the fruit of a five-year research project led and curated by Chinese-Australian artist Zhou Xiaoping and shows how mixed heritage communities wove ties of survival and solidarity on nineteenth century goldfields and in pearling camps. Drawing on historical records and oral histories, Our Story challenges monolithic accounts of Australian history.

During the gold rushes and in industries such as pearling, railways, and agriculture (1850s–1900), Chinese labourers settled across northern Australia and many formed relationships with Aboriginal women, in the face of the White Australia policy and other racist legislation that targeted both peoples.

These families blended Chinese traditions – language, cuisine, festivals – with Aboriginal kinship and cultural practices. “I’m Aboriginal, but I’m also proud of my Chinese heritage,” says Peter Yu, whose family photographs in the exhibition tell the story of how his Hakka father and Yawuru mother raised nine children under restrictive cohabitation laws, similar to those of apartheid South Africa.

Survival often demanded ingenuity. In the 1930s, Wen Liqun registered her Larrakia stepson – her Chinese husband’s son with a Larrakia woman – as “Chinese” to shield him from the Stolen Generations. (According to Wikipedia: “The Stolen Generations [also known as Stolen Children] were the children of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent who were removed from their families by the Australian federal and state government agencies and church missions, under acts of their respective parliaments. The removals of those referred to as ‘half-caste’ children were conducted in the period between approximately 1905 and 1967, although in some places mixed-race children were still being taken into the 1970s. Official government estimates are that in certain regions between one in ten and one in three Indigenous Australian children were forcibly taken from their families and communities between 1910 and 1970. The Bringing Them Home Royal Commission report [1997] described the Australian policies of removing Aboriginal children as genocide.”)

In the article published below, which was originally published on the website of the Australian Institute of International Affairs, Dr. Marina Yue Zhang, an associate professor at the Australia-China Relations Institute, University of Technology Sydney (UTS: ACRI), writes:

“As the exhibition prepares to tour China in 2026, it forces a reckoning: how does a nation reconcile its suppressed histories with its multicultural present? By reconnecting with these hidden roots – embodied in everyday objects and intimate stories – Australia may yet forge its most resilient, relational partnership with China and its people.

“‘In an age of tariff wars and tech sanctions,’ says Dr. Jilda Andrews, curator of the museum, ‘Our Story isn’t just an exhibition. It’s a milestone in putting First Nations voices at the centre – creating a space for truth-telling, listening and honest conversation.’”

As the exhibition prepares to move on to China next year, readers in Australia still have until 27 January 2026 to see it at Canberra’s National Museum of Australia.

As Australia marked Reconciliation Week (27 May – 3June ), a landmark exhibition at the National Museum of Australia reminds us that Indigenous–Chinese bonds helped forge the links between the two peoples long before Canberra and Beijing formalised diplomacy in 1972.

Our Story: Aboriginal–Chinese People in Australia, a five-year research project led and curated by Chinese-Australian artist Zhou Xiaoping, uncovers a legacy of resilience and cultural fusion. Mixed-heritage communities—unwitting pioneers of people-to-people diplomacy—wove ties of survival and solidarity on 19th-century goldfields and in pearling camps. Drawing on historical records and oral histories, their stories—Our Story, the untold narratives of the nation—challenge monolithic accounts of Australian history and reveal a premodern form of “soft power.”

Through videos, installations, and embedded texts in family trees and photographs, the exhibition invites contemporary Aboriginal artists to interpret these “our stories.” Together, they illuminate the accidental diplomacy of Chinese men and Aboriginal women who built communities against the odds.

Wang Yi engages with Arab counterparts

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held an important telephone call with his Egyptian counterpart Badr Abdelatty on December 16 at the latter’s request.

Wang Yi said that the two sides should take the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Egypt next year as an opportunity to firmly support each other, deepen practical cooperation, strengthen coordination in multilateral affairs, elevate the China-Egypt comprehensive strategic partnership to a new level, help the Global South jointly advance modernisation and make new contributions from China and Egypt to world peace and development. China will host the second China-Arab States Summit next year. Egypt is an important member of the Arab world, and China is ready to enhance communication with Egypt to ensure the complete success of the summit. The Chinese side welcomes Egyptian leaders to China for the great event.

Badr Abdelatty briefed Wang Yi on the latest developments in the situation in Gaza, expressing Egypt’s high appreciation for China’s important proposals on resolving the Palestinian question and its announcement of a new round of assistance to Palestine. Egypt supports China in playing an important role in restoring peace and advancing reconstruction in Gaza.

Wang Yi said that the Gaza conflict has lasted for more than two years, claiming the lives of over 70,000 Palestinian civilians, and that this grave humanitarian catastrophe must be brought to an end. The current ceasefire remains fragile and the outlook is still worrying, which warrants close attention from all parties. The core is to prevent a resumption of hostilities and a repeat of the tragedy. Post-conflict governance in Gaza must be considered in conjunction with a comprehensive settlement of the Palestinian question. The principle of “Palestinians governing Palestine” must be upheld. Gaza’s future and destiny should be in the hands of the Palestinian people themselves.

He added that President Xi Jinping’s announcement of a new round of Chinese assistance to Palestine is aimed at easing the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and supporting the recovery and reconstruction in Gaza.

The call took place immediately after Wang Yi had concluded visits to three Arab countries in West Asia. He visited the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from December 12-13, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on December 14, and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan from December 14-15. In each country a joint press release was issued on Wang’s talks with his local counterpart.

In Abu Dhabi, the UAE voiced support for China in hosting the second China-Arab States Summit in 2026, and for the concurrent convening of the second China-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Summit and expressed its willingness to work with China to ensure the complete success of the summits. The Chinese side expressed its readiness to work with the UAE to promote the early conclusion of negotiations on the China-GCC Free Trade Agreement.

Both sides reaffirmed their joint commitment to achieving a comprehensive, just and lasting peace based on the two-State solution, and to establishing, in accordance with international law and relevant UN resolutions, an independent State of Palestine.

China at UN: The Palestinian question remains at the very heart of the Middle East issue

Chinese Ambassador to the United Nations Fu Cong addressed a UN Security Council briefing meeting on December 16.

He pointed out that: “When the Middle East is in turmoil, the world cannot be at peace. The Palestinian question remains at the very heart of the Middle East issue… While the first phase ceasefire agreement in Gaza has been reached, the prospect of peace remains distant. The historical injustices endured by the Palestinian people persist. The Palestinian question should never be marginalised.”

Fu raised four key points:

Over the past two months, frequent violations of the ceasefire agreement in Gaza have resulted in the death of over 300 civilians. Reaching a ceasefire agreement must entail the complete cessation of all hostilities, not merely a downgrade from intense conflict to low-intensity attacks.

The suffering of civilians must not continue, and urgent actions are needed to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza. Winter storms have brought heavy rains, inundating numerous temporary camps and putting hundreds of thousands of displaced people under severe threat. Israel’s continued restrictions on access to essential supplies are impeding the efforts of UNRWA [The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East] and other humanitarian agencies to deliver critical assistance. Last week, the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly adopted a resolution supporting the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice, which clearly affirms Israel’s obligations as the occupying power to ensure humanitarian supplies to Gaza and to cooperate with UNRWA and other relevant agencies. China urges Israel to earnestly fulfill its obligations under international law, open all border crossings, lift access restrictions on humanitarian supplies, and support the work of the UN and other aid agencies.

The situation in the West Bank must not be overlooked, and unilateral actions in violation of international law must cease immediately. The occupying power continues to advance settlement policies, demolish Palestinian homes, and condone settler violence, resulting in massive civilian casualties and displacement. Settlement activities violate international law and Council Resolution 2334, leading to the shrinkage of Palestinian living space and eroding the foundations of the two-State solution.

Justice and fairness must prevail, and the two-State solution must be implemented without delay. Implementing the two-State solution and establishing an independent state of Palestine is the only viable path to resolving the Palestinian question. Any arrangements concerning Gaza’s future must be guided by the principle of Palestinians governing Palestine. Any attempt to alter Gaza’s territorial or demographic composition must be firmly rejected. The international community must redouble its efforts to advance the two-State solution, support the early establishment of an independent state of Palestine, and facilitate its full membership in the UN.

In conclusion, he reiterated:

“China firmly supports the just cause of the Palestinian people in restoring their legitimate national rights. Recently, President Xi Jinping has on multiple occasions, comprehensively articulated China’s position and proposals for resolving the Palestinian question and announced that China will provide 100 million US dollars in assistance to Palestine to help alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and support its recovery and reconstruction. China will continue to work with the international community to promote a comprehensive and lasting ceasefire in Gaza, alleviate the humanitarian crisis, and make unremitting efforts towards a comprehensive, just, and lasting solution to the Palestinian question at an early date.”

The following article was originally published on the website of China’s Permanent Mission to the UN.

President，

I wish to begin by expressing our condolences to the victims of the mass shooting in Sydney, Australia, and expressing our solidarity with the bereaved families and those injured. I thank Deputy Special Coordinator Ramiz Alakbarov for his briefing.

When the Middle East is in turmoil, the world cannot be at peace. The Palestinian question remains at the very heart of the Middle East issue. The latest outbreak of the Gaza conflict has brought unimaginable suffering to both Palestinian and Israeli civilians and triggered severe spillover effects across the Middle East. While the first phase ceasefire agreement in Gaza has been reached, the prospect of peace remains distant. The historical injustices endured by the Palestinian people persist. The Palestinian question should never be marginalized. The international community must further build consensus and take more proactive actions to advance a political solution.

How the US lost its chip war on China

The following article by Gary Wilson, originally published in Struggle La Lucha, argues that the United States has effectively lost its attempt to contain China’s rise and preserve US monopoly control over advanced technology through semiconductor export controls. The Trump administration’s recent decision to allow renewed exports of Nvidia’s H200 AI chips to China, albeit with restrictions and fees, is a tacit admission that the chip war has failed. “The chip war did not revive US industry. It exposed its fragility.”

Tracing the origins of the chip war to the Obama-era Pivot to Asia, the article situates semiconductor restrictions within a broader strategy of military, economic, and technological containment. Under Trump and Biden, this evolved into an aggressive weaponisation of global supply chains, using export controls, sanctions and alliance pressure to block China’s access to advanced chips, manufacturing tools and software ecosystems.

Gary observes that China’s response was decisive and systematic. Through long-term state planning, and integration of AI into production and infrastructure, Chinese firms – Huawei in particular – have made rapid advances in domestic hardware and systems design. By compensating for individual chip inferiority with massive, coordinated clusters, China narrowed performance gaps and accelerated technological self-reliance. Export controls, instead of halting progress, intensified China’s drive toward technological sovereignty.

The fallout has been global. US reshoring efforts have yielded little fruit thus far; the US’s allies have been forced to absorb substantial losses, and trust in US-controlled supply chains has reached an all-time low. Allowing Nvidia exports is therefore essentially a retreat aimed at preserving residual influence through software dependence. The article concludes that monopoly enforcement has reached its limits: coercion cannot replace production, and the era of US-dictated technological dominance is ending.

Imperialist monopoly capitalism cannot outplan a system organized for long-term development. Coercion cannot substitute for production. Sanctions cannot replace planning… What comes next will not be decided by chips alone. It will be decided by which social system can organise production, labor, and technology to meet real needs over time. On that terrain, the chip war has already delivered its verdict.

When the White House quietly approved renewed exports of Nvidia’s H200 AI accelerators to China — with a 25% fee attached — it marked more than a policy adjustment. It marked the effective collapse of Washington’s semiconductor containment strategy.

After years of escalating export controls, sanctions, and alliance pressure, the United States is now conceding what the chip war made clear: China cannot be technologically frozen, and U.S. monopoly control over advanced technology is no longer enforceable.

China backs Venezuela’s call for emergency session of UN Security Council

On the same day as US President Donald Trump declared a “total and complete” blockade of Venezuela and brazenly threatened to seize the country’s land and oil (Venezuela has the world’s largest proven oil reserves), Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held a telephone conversation with his Venezuelan counterpart Yván Gil at the latter’s request.

Gil stressed that the Venezuelan government and people will firmly safeguard the country’s sovereignty and independence, resolutely defend their legitimate rights and interests, and will not accept threats from any bullying power.

Wang said that that mutual trust and support are a longstanding tradition of China-Venezuela relations. China opposes all forms of unilateral bullying and supports countries in safeguarding their sovereignty and national dignity.

The following day, December 18, at the regular Foreign Ministry press conference in Beijing, spokesperson Guo Jiakun expressed China’s support for Venezuela’s call for an emergency session of the UN Security Council to discuss the situation. In response to questions from the Japanese broadcaster NHK and the Reuters news agency, he stated:

“China opposes all acts of unilateralism and bullying and supports countries in defending their sovereignty and national dignity. Venezuela has the right to independently develop mutually beneficial cooperation with other countries. We believe the international community can understand and support Venezuela’s stance of protecting its own legitimate rights and interests. China supports Venezuela’s request for holding an emergency session of the UN Security Council.”

The following article was originally published by Global Times.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Wednesday held a phone conversation with Venezuela’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yván Gil, at the latter’s request, according to a readout published by China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Gil briefed Wang on the current domestic situation in Venezuela, stressing that the Venezuelan government and people will firmly safeguard the country’s sovereignty and independence, resolutely defend their legitimate rights and interests, and will not accept threats from any bullying power.

Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, said that China and Venezuela are strategic partners, and that mutual trust and support are a longstanding tradition of China-Venezuela relations. China opposes all forms of unilateral bullying and supports countries in safeguarding their sovereignty and national dignity.

Venezuela has the right to independently develop mutually beneficial cooperation with other countries, and it is believed that the international community understands and supports Venezuela’s position in defending its own legitimate rights and interests, said Wang.

The Jimmy Lai case is none of your business – China rebuffs British interference

China has reacted firmly to the attempts by Britain and a number of other Western countries to interfere in the case of Jimmy Lai. A chief instigator of riots and violent turmoil in Hong Kong in 2019-20, in active collusion with foreign forces, the former proprietor of the now defunct Apple Daily was on, December 15, found guilty in the High Court of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region on two counts of conspiring to collude with external forces and of conspiracy to publish seditious materials. He will be sentenced at a later date.

On 15 December, Chinese Ambassador to the UK Zheng Zeguang met with a senior official of the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) to lodge solemn representations over the UK side’s statement that made irresponsible remarks on the Hong Kong High Court’s guilty verdict in the case. He urged the UK to abandon its colonial mindset, immediately stop interfering in Hong Kong’s judicial affairs, stop meddling in China’s internal affairs, and stop making the case for anti-China rioters bent on destabilising Hong Kong.

Ambassador Zheng described the British actions as a gross interference in China’s internal affairs, which tramples on the spirit of the rule of law, and seriously violates the basic norms governing international relations. China firmly opposes this and condemns it in the strongest terms.

“Facts have fully proven that Jimmy Lai was the primary planner and participant in a series of anti-China riots in Hong Kong, a pawn of external anti-China forces, and the instigator behind the turbulence over the amendment bill in 2019. What he did was by no means ‘peacefully exercising his right to freedom of expression’, as claimed by the UK side. Lai is a Chinese citizen, and China has never recognised dual nationality.

“The UK’s colonial rule over Hong Kong ended long ago, and the UK is in no position and has no right to point fingers at or interfere in Hong Kong affairs. Any attempt by the UK to interfere in Hong Kong’s judicial affairs will only further expose its malicious intent to destabilise Hong Kong, will only provoke society-wide indignation in Hong Kong, and will get nowhere. China urges the UK to immediately stop interfering in Hong Kong’s judicial affairs and China’s internal affairs, stop making the case for anti-China rioters bent on destabilising Hong Kong, and stop going further down the wrong path.”

Additionally, a statement issued by the Chinese Embassy noted that: “On 15 December, the UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper issued a statement, which made irresponsible remarks on the conviction of Jimmy Lai and smeared the National Security Law for Hong Kong. This blatantly interferes in China’s internal affairs and tramples on the rule of law and seriously violates the basic norms governing international relations. We strongly oppose and condemn such an unjustified move by the UK side.”

Lai “publicly begged foreign countries to impose sanctions on China and the Hong Kong SAR, brazenly proclaimed ‘fighting for the US,’ colluded with ‘Hong Kong independence’ and ‘violent riots’ organisations as well as foreign forces, abused media tools to incite hatred and intensify confrontation, and drummed up support for violent activities, in an attempt to destabilise Hong Kong and pursue a ‘colour revolution.’… Lai’s doing was by no means what the UK side claimed to be ‘peacefully’ exercising his right to freedom of expression.”

It added that: “Hong Kong has long returned to China and British colonial rule in Hong Kong has been put to an end long ago. Hong Kong-related affairs are purely China’s internal affairs. The UK is in no position and has no right to point fingers at or interfere in Hong Kong-related affairs. The UK side’s attempt to interfere in Hong Kong’s judicial affairs will only further expose its sinister motive to destabilise Hong Kong.”

Reviewing and celebrating another year of progress for Friends of Socialist China

On Sunday December 14, 2025, Friends of Socialist China (FoSC) organised its third consecutive end of year reception and dinner. More than 60 supporters and friends from various progressive organisations, communities and walks of life packed the Palestinian Hiba Express restaurant in Holborn, central London, to renew friendships and to sum up the work in 2025 and the prospects for the new year.

We were joined by honoured guests and friends from the embassies of China, DPR Korea, Laos, Cuba, and Timor-Leste, as well as from China Daily.

FoSC co-editor Keith Bennett spoke on behalf of the organisation, welcoming everyone and reviewing our work in the outgoing year. He also stressed the particular importance of solidarity with the peoples of Palestine and Venezuela at this time.

Responding, Minister Counsellor Jiang Zhouteng from the Chinese Embassy extended his sincere greetings to all comrades and friends present and noted:

“Since its establishment, Friends of Socialist China has remained committed to telling the world true and vivid stories about China.

“Just in 2025, your website has published about 500 posts, closely following major events related to China, released a new book, titled China Changes Everything, which brings together insights from many contributors, and organised multiple seminars around various topics.”

Comrade Jiang also referred to our May-June delegation to China and to our conference marking China’s 76^th National Day, along with other activities, and added:

“I would like to extend our sincere gratitude for all your efforts in promoting a better understanding on China by the rest of the world including the UK. It is no doubt that through your efforts more and more people in the world have been encouraged to listen to and appreciate real and vivid stories about China, and have realised, much more than before, the power of socialism that is rooted in unity, peace, and justice for the world.”

Turning to the situation in China, he said that:

“The year 2025 is the final year of China’s 14th Five-Year Plan, which is the first five-year period since our march towards the second Centenary Goal, building a great modern socialist country in all respects, began in 2020.

“Facing a turbulent international landscape, we achieved pioneering progress, breakthrough transformation, and historic accomplishments in our economic and social development, laying a solid foundation for a good start on the new march towards the second Centenary Goal.

“The upcoming year 2026 will mark the first year of the 15th Five‑Year Plan, a period of strategic importance that will lay a solid foundation and give full momentum to the process of basically achieving socialist modernisation.

“In the next year, China will continue to advance Chinese modernisation, with economic development as our central task, high-quality development as our main focus, reform and innovation as the fundamental driving force, meeting the people’s ever-growing needs for a better life as our fundamental goal, and full and rigorous Party self-governance as the fundamental underpinning for all our efforts.

“China will continue to uphold the banner of peace, development, cooperation, and mutual benefit, and to advance efforts to build a community with a shared future for humanity, in order to promote world peace and development, and safeguard international fairness and justice.”

Finally: “Looking ahead to the new year 2026, we sincerely wish Friends of Socialist China continued progress and look forward to continuing our close collaboration with you.”

We print below the full text of Keith’s speech.

Minister Counsellor Jiang Zhouteng

Friends and Comrades

Thank you all for coming this evening, at a time of year when there are always many demands on people’s time.

We are honoured to be joined by friends from the embassies of the People’s Republic of China, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, and the Republic of Cuba, as well as from China Daily.

As Friends of Socialist China, we have never taken a narrow view of our internationalist responsibilities. As we clearly expressed it in our founding statement: “We support all states building or aspiring to socialism, and we favour the highest level of unity and friendship between them.”

We have maintained that original aspiration and will always do so.

88 years on: Remembering the Nanjing Massacre by the Japanese imperial army

We are very pleased to publish below an article by Stephen Chang, Director of People’s Forum Limited, written to mark the 88^th anniversary of the Nanjing Massacre and China’s 12^th National Memorial Day. In the course of just six weeks, the Japanese slaughtered some 300,000 civilians in the city. Today, there are just 24 registered survivors of the massacre, after eight of them passed away in the course of this year.

Having outlined the cruelty and barbarity of the fascist Japanese army, Stephen notes that in the West such facts remain little-known, for example in comparison to the Nazi war crimes. This is in large part due to the United States incorporating the Japanese fascist remnants as junior partners in their own imperial and hegemonic project right from the end of the war. This has extended through a number of Japanese prime ministers, up to and including the present incumbent, whose shameless far right ultra-militarism and dangerous threats against China have plunged relations between the two countries to a new low.

Stephen concludes with a poignant account of his China visit this April, when he took his three youngest grandchildren to see for themselves the real China:

“In Nanjing we spent three solid hours at the Nanjing Massacre Museum as my youngest grandson aged 12 was totally absorbed in slowly looking at the museum’s exhibits and reading the English translations. It is very heartening to see the younger generation taking an interest and learning from history, and hopefully contributing to a better world… We all have a duty to equip the younger generation to learn from history.”

December 13 was the anniversary of the Nanjing massacre by the fascist Japanese Imperial Army, a barbaric force subservient to war criminal Emperor Hirohito who was worshipped by the Japanese Imperial Army and people as a deity.

The fascist Japanese invaded and occupied the Northeastern part of China on 18 September 1931 and attacked the whole of China from 1937. The Nanjing massacre started on 13 Dec 1937, four days following the retreat of China’s National Revolutionary Army following its defeat at the Battle of Nanjing. For six weeks the fascist Japanese army, with orders to kill all and burn all, rampaged through Nanjing, committing acts of barbaric inhuman violence on defenceless civilians, murdering 300,000 men, women and children and raping between 60,000 to 80,000 women, followed by killing them so that they could never bear witness. The Japanese barbaric and animalistic crimes against women are the most notorious in modern warfare.

To put the scale of Japan’s atrocities into perspective the number of people killed by the fascist Japanese exceeded (1) the estimated deaths of 80,000 to 120,000 by the US bombing of Japan throughout WW2, and (2) the combined estimated 140,000 and 70,000 killed by the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki respectively in August 1945.

Remembering a shared struggle against Japanese militarism

The Birmingham People’s History Archive (BPHA) organised a day of speeches and film on Saturday December 13 to mark the 80^th anniversary of the victory over Japanese fascism.

Held in the Birmingham and Midland Institute, which houses the archive, it was attended by over 50 people, including academics, trades unionists and members of the city’s Asian community. The day’s proceedings were chaired by Pete Higgins, a trustee of the archive, who first welcomed BPHA patron Andy Hudd, who is also Vice President of the train driver’s union ASLEF, to make opening remarks.

Pete then facilitated a fascinating conversation with Don Grant. Don is a mentally and physically agile 97-year-old who held the audience enthralled and spellbound with his at times harrowing, but always matter-of-fact account of life as a teenage prisoner of the Japanese in 1940s China.

Don was born in Shanghai in 1928. His father had first moved to China to work in 1910, having previously been a fireman on the railways, and returned to Shanghai in 1919, following service in World War I.

To give a small flavour of his account:

“It was while at the playing fields that I witnessed another awful event. It was in the summer of 1941 … They ringed the city and controlled the amount and flow of rice allowed in … A number of people had been caught by a Jap patrol including men, women and several children, and were being herded along by the soldiers with their rifles, but one poor fellow was being dragged along with his hands tied behind him and a rope around his neck … Then one of the soldiers took a trenching tool and went behind the mound where the man lay and killed him, the rest were led away and later their bodies were laid in the road on our side of the boundary. All of them were shot as a warning to others…

“We witnessed on many occasions small columns of similar groups … who had managed to cross the line only to be shot openly in the street by the Kempetei [Japanese Gestapo].”

BPHA hopes to publish Don’s full memoir in 2026 and are seeking support to help make this possible. It is an entirely voluntary organisation and you can email birminghampha@gmail.com if you’d like to help.

Following a ‘Birmingham seasonal’ lunch of samosas and mulled wine, Keith Bennett, on behalf of Friends of Socialist China, delivered a talk highlighting some key aspects of the war against Japanese militarism.

First picking up on a point made by Don, he noted that December 13 was the 88th anniversary of the start of the Nanjing Massacre, as well as China’s 12th National Memorial Day. In the course of just six weeks the Japanese slaughtered some 300,000 civilians in that city. In a long period of world war marked by countless atrocities this stands out as one of the most egregious.

He noted that the Second World War did not begin in 1939 in Europe but in 1931 in China and highlighted the key roles played by the Chinese people, led by the Communist Party, as well as by the Soviet Union.

Keith said that “had not the Chinese people tied down millions of Japanese troops, thereby preventing them from opening up a second front against the USSR, the consequences could well have been calamitous, and not least for Western Europe and for this country as well.

“In other words, when we faced the most existential threat to our country and people, China and Russia, and their peoples, were not our enemies. They were our indispensable, vital, sincere, loyal and good friends, allies and comrades-in-arms,” adding that, “we absolutely cannot separate the march to war against the very countries that saved us from fascism from the march towards fascism here and in almost all the imperialist countries.”

Finally, he introduced the film, ‘The Sinking of the Lisbon Maru’, which depicts the heroism of a Chinese fishing community who risked everything to rescue British POWs, who had been left to drown by the Japanese.

Keith was followed by Philip Harris, from the Lisbon Maru Memorial Association. Philip’s father-in-law was among the rescued POWs and was sheltered and cared for by Chinese fishermen and their families for three months.

After he left the army, Philip’s father-in-law became a post man. Having been denied the award due to him for long service on a technicality, the local council then took away his beloved allotment, whereupon he became the gardener and porter for his local community hospital. He died from pancreatic cancer three days after his retirement party.

Interestingly, Don Grant’s story also served to illustrate the ruling class contempt for working class people. When he and his family were finally released from internment and repatriated to Britain they were presented with a bill for their Red Cross parcels.

The event concluded with a showing of ‘The Sinking of the Lisbon Maru’, followed by a social.

The media were represented by China’s CCTV television and BBC Midlands Today television.

The following is the text of Keith’s speech.

I’d like to thank the Birmingham People’s History Archive for organising this important event and for inviting me. It’s an honour to be here.

I want first to pick up on a point that Don made during the Q&A part of his presentation. He referred to the book, ‘The Rape of Nanking’ and to the terrible atrocity committed by the Japanese in that city.

Today is the 88^th anniversary of the start of the Nanjing Massacre. And it is also China’s 12^th National Memorial Day established in that connection. In the course of just six weeks the Japanese slaughtered some 300,000 civilians in that city. In a long period of world war marked by countless atrocities this stands out as one of the most egregious. There are now just 24 recognised survivors and sadly the laws of nature dictate that they grow fewer with each passing year.

China continues to back Iran-Saudi rapprochement

Demonstrating the continued upward momentum in relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia, since China facilitated their resumption of relations on March 10, 2023, as well as the continuing role played by China to encourage the building of a united front among the countries of the region to address their common challenges, the third meeting of the China-Iran-Saudi Arabia Trilateral Joint Committee was held in the Iranian capital Tehran on December 9.

The meeting was chaired by Deputy Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran Majid Takht Ravanchi, with the participation of the Chinese delegation headed by Vice Foreign Minister of the People’s Republic of China Miao Deyu and the Saudi Arabian delegation headed by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Eng. Waleed bin Abdulkarim Al-Khuraiji.

A joint statement issued by the three countries said that Iran and Saudi Arabia reaffirmed their commitment to all provisions of the Beijing Agreement, and pledged continued adherence to the United Nations Charter, the Charter of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and international law, and their efforts to consolidate good-neighbourly and friendly relations between the two countries on the basis of respecting national sovereignty, territorial integrity, independence and security. Iran and Saudi Arabia welcomed the continued positive role of China and held that China’s support and follow-up to the implementation of the Beijing Agreement is of great importance.

The three countries welcomed the continuous progress in Iran-Saudi Arabia relations, which provides opportunities for direct exchanges between Iran and Saudi Arabia at all levels and across all sectors. The current escalation of regional tensions poses a threat to both regional and global security. Against this backdrop, it is very important for senior officials from Iran and Saudi Arabia to engage in contacts, meetings, and mutual visits. The participating parties welcomed the progress made in consular cooperation between Iran and Saudi Arabia, which enabled more than 85,000 Iranian pilgrims to perform Hajj, and more than 210,000 Iranian pilgrims to perform Umrah rituals with ease and security in 2025.

They also called for an immediate end to Israel’s actions that infringe upon Palestine, Lebanon and Syria, and condemned the infringement on Iran’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity. The Iranian side appreciated China and Saudi Arabia for taking a clear stance on the aforementioned acts of aggression. The three countries also reaffirmed their support for a comprehensive political solution to the Yemeni issue in accordance with internationally recognised principles under the auspices of the United Nations.

The previous day, Vice Foreign Minister Miao Deyu met with Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Majid Takht Ravanchi.

Miao Deyu said that in 2026, the two countries will celebrate the 55th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations and the 10th anniversary of the establishment of a comprehensive strategic partnership. China is ready to take this opportunity, together with Iran, to further implement the important common understandings reached by the two heads of state and promote greater development of the China-Iran comprehensive strategic partnership. China looks forward to working with Iran and Saudi Arabia to ensure the success of the upcoming meeting of the joint committee, injecting more positive factors into regional peace, stability and development.

China celebrates 50 years of Angolan independence

China last month marked the 50^th anniversary of Angolan independence (November 11^th 1975), which followed a protracted armed struggle for liberation against Portuguese colonialism and the overthrow of the fascist regime in Lisbon.

On November 28, Vice Foreign Minister Miao Deyu attended and spoke at the reception hosted by the Angolan Embassy in Beijing.

He stated that the friendship between China and Angola has a long history and enjoys a solid foundation. In recent years, under the strategic guidance of President Xi Jinping and President João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço, practical cooperation in various fields between China and Angola has yielded fruitful results, benefiting the peoples of both countries. China is willing to work with Angola to carry forward the traditional friendship, join hands in seeking common development, and make greater contributions to building an all-weather China-Africa community with a shared future for the new era.

Ambassador of Angola Dalva Maurĺcia Calombo Ringote Allen stated that Angola and China share a deep traditional friendship, and that bilateral relations are rooted in the values of friendship, peace, solidarity, respect, and mutual benefit. The Angolan side sincerely thanks the Chinese side for the valuable support it has long provided for Angola’s national independence, reconstruction and development.

Earlier, from November 10 to 11, Special Representative of the Chinese Government on African Affairs Liu Yuxi visited Angola. Angolan President João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço met with him, and they exchanged views on bilateral relations and issues of common concern.

Liu Yuxi handed over President Xi Jinping’s congratulatory message on the 50th anniversary of Angola’s independence and stated that under the strategic guidance of the leaders of both countries, the bilateral relationship between China and Angola has gained in-depth development, and mutually beneficial cooperation has yielded fruitful results.

President João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço thanked President Xi Jinping for his congratulatory message, and expressed that Angola admires the historic achievements China has made under the leadership of President Xi Jinping, regards China as the most important partner for development cooperation, and is willing to strengthen coordination and cooperation with China to safeguard the interests of the vast number of developing countries, including those in Africa.

During the visit, Liu Yuxi also held working exchanges with Foreign Minister Téte António and attended the celebration of the 50th anniversary of Angola’s independence on behalf of the Chinese side.

In all, some 45 foreign delegations, including more than a dozen heads of state or government, along with a number of former African Presidents, attended the celebrations in the capital Luanda, which included both civilian and military parades. Among them were the Presidents of Namibia, Zimbabwe, the Republic of Congo, São Tomé and Príncipe, Cape Verde, Comoros, the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), and Portugal, the Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the President of the Assembly of Mozambique, and the President of the Council of the Nation of Algeria. An especially warm welcome was given to Esteban Lazo Hernández, member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of Cuba Central Committee and President of the National Assembly of People’s Power and the Council of State.

Granma, the newspaper of the PCC, reported: “Our country’s internationalist epic, especially during the heroic Operation Carlota, was an enduring page of altruism and solidarity, whose contribution was decisive in preserving and consolidating Angola’s independence and achieving that of Namibia, as well as making a significant contribution to the demise of the apartheid regime.

Group of Friends of Global Governance launched at UN

The formation of the Group of Friends of Global Governance was formally announced at the United Nations in New York on December 9. This follows President Xi Jinping launching the Global Governance Initiative at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Plus Meeting in Tianjin on September 1.

The group initially consists of 43 members. Besides China, among them are Belarus, Burkina Faso, Cuba, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Iran, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Niger, Palestine, Senegal, Venezuela and Zimbabwe.

The founders state that they reaffirm their firm commitment to upholding the legacy won by the Second World War, including the international system with the UN at its core, the international order underpinned by international law, and the basic norms of international relations based on all the purposes and principles of the UN Charter in their entirety, including respecting sovereign equality, territorial integrity and political independence of any state, and the principle of non-interference in internal affairs of other states, and refraining in their international relations from the threat or use of force.

They express particular concern over the serious under-representation of the Global South, the erosion of the authority of international law, including the purposes and principles of the UN Charter. “We emphasise the need to achieve sustainable development in its three dimensions, economic, social and environmental in a balanced and integrated manner and address other urgent and emerging global challenges.”

They further welcome the Global Governance Initiative proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping, and its five core concepts – sovereign equality, international rule of law, multilateralism, a people-centred approach and taking real actions.

“Through this Group, we commit to deepening dialogue and coordination on global governance issues, engaging with relevant stakeholders, amplifying our collective voice, building and expanding consensus, and delivering concrete outcomes that respond to the yearns of our peoples and the legitimate aspirations of our nations.

“We emphasised that the international community must address the challenges and needs faced by developing countries, especially countries in special situations in particular, African countries, least developed countries, landlocked developing countries and small island developing States.”

Finally: “We extend a cordial invitation to all like-minded Member States to join this Group of Friends. Together, we stand ready to strengthen solidarity and cooperation in pursuit of a more just and equitable global governance system and a brighter future of peace, security, prosperity, and progress for all.”

Around the world, China is turning on the lights

We are pleased to republish below a chapter from the recently-released China Changes Everything volume, which has been posted as an article on Workers World. The article, written by Gregory Dunkel, highlights the stark reality that around 700 million people in Africa still lack reliable electricity – a direct legacy of colonialism and ongoing impact of imperialism. Today however, African nations are increasingly turning to low-cost Chinese solar technology to overcome this imposed underdevelopment. With solar and wind power requiring cheap, abundant inputs, Chinese renewable technology has become far more attractive than expensive, fossil-fuel-based systems promoted by the United States and its allies.

China’s state-led policies have driven massive technological advances and cost reductions in green energy in the last 15 years. “In May 2025, in a rush to take advantage of lucrative government subsidies, Chinese solar firms installed nearly a hundred gigawatts of new solar capacity domestically — more than any other country had installed in all of 2024 — and set the world record for the most solar installations in a single month.” Dunkel writes that China is on track to account for over half of all the world’s renewable energy capacity by the end of the decade, and furthermore dominates the global photovoltaic supply chain.

The author highlights the example of Chad:

Currently, only 6.4% of Chad’s population has access to electricity. The government of Chad is planning to raise its electrification rate to 30% by 2027 and to 53% by 2030 using inexpensive Chinese solar panels. It plans to build a solar park in N’Djamena, its capital, with batteries to store power for nighttime access.

Outside Africa, similar green energy transformations are happening in Cuba, where Chinese-backed solar projects could soon eliminate blackouts, and in Pakistan, where households and mosques are adopting Chinese panels at a world-leading rate.

The article concludes that China’s renewable energy leadership is now indispensable — both for global climate solutions and for helping formerly colonised nations break out of centuries of enforced poverty and backwardness.

When the sun goes down, half of the people on the African continent — about 700 million people — have to live in the dark. They don’t have reliable access to electricity and thus have limited access to modern education, economic growth or ways to improve their quality of life. Of the dozens of countries in the world where more than a third of the population still has no access to electricity, only a tiny few, such as Haiti and Papua New Guinea, are not in Africa.

The Resistance Front and BRICS

The following article, written for Al Mayadeen by Australian author and academic Tim Anderson, addresses the frustration voiced by some anti-imperialists with regard to China and Russia’s abstention on UN Security Council Resolution 2803 – Trump’s ‘comprehensive plan’ to end the Gaza conflict.

Tim argues that much of the criticism of China and Russia stems from misunderstandings about the nature of the multipolar trajectory and from unrealistic expectations that countries outside the region would share the principles and methods of the Resistance Front in West Asia (Iran, the Palestinian Resistance, the Lebanese Resistance, Syria pre-December 2024, Ansar Allah-led Yemen, and the Iraqi Resistance).

The article observes that the Security Council resolution was supported by the Palestinian Authority and by the other states in the region, making it difficult for China or Russia to veto. “The US had the Gulf Arab regimes plus the PLO-Palestinian Authority in its pocket. Russia and China had no allies and would have had to oppose the PLO and bear the blame for blocking a PLO-supported end to the bombing.”

While both China and Russia maintain relations with the various organisations of Palestinian resistance, they also have historic ties with the PLO, and bilateral relations with the internationally-recognised government of the Palestinian State. Tim writes: “The widespread historical support for the PLO and the PA, and therefore also the ‘two-state’ notion promoted up to now by the PLO, is largely a consequence of Palestinian disunity and the failure of Resistance factions to be properly represented in the PLO, the only Palestinian body that has UN status. This is a problem for the Resistance. It is hard to expect allies in other continents to contradict the PLO-PA on this and opt for (without Palestinian leadership) a single democratic state in Palestine.”

Tim concludes:

We should understand and build realistic relations with a range of allies that may not share all our values. Russia and China are not part of the Resistance Front, but they are playing an important role in building structures to bypass US power and thus facilitate a multipolar and freer world, which will help all independent peoples. We should neither exaggerate their “saviour” capacities nor their failings. They will have an important place in the future as the only strategic alternative to the current global dictatorship.

Tim’s analysis correlates with the recently-published article on the topic by Massimiliano Ay, General Secretary of the Communist Party (Switzerland).

Supporters of the Resistance Front in West Asia are understandably disappointed by the failure of Russia and China to fully oppose Washington’s machinations at the UNSC over Gaza. This follows Syrian disappointment over Russia’s rapid engagement with al-Jolani’s regime in Damascus and Moscow’s ongoing relations with the Israelis.

However, there are common pro-Resistance misunderstandings of the great counterweights in the world, which lead to inaccurate claims that the BRICS leaders are ‘selling out’ or ‘betraying’ the Resistance. Those misunderstandings deserve some attention. At the core are principles of identifying the real enemies of the Resistance, as distinct from those with whom there might be normal or productive relations. We should neither exaggerate the ‘saviour’ status nor the failings of our potential allies.

China and Russia conduct strategic security consultation focused on Japan and Ukraine

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who is also a Member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and Director of the Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs, on December 2, co-chaired the 20th round of China-Russia strategic security consultation with Secretary of the Russian Federation Security Council Sergei Shoigu in Moscow.

The two sides conducted comprehensive and in-depth communication on major issues concerning the strategic security interests of both countries, reached new common understandings and enhanced strategic mutual trust. Both sides agreed to fully implement the important common understandings reached by the two heads of state in the field of strategic security, and advance bilateral strategic coordination toward higher quality.

Wang Yi stated that China-Russia relations have achieved high-level development this year. The two sides have carried out a series of important high-level exchanges, centred around the commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War. In particular, President Xi Jinping and President Vladimir Putin met twice this year, once in Moscow and once in Beijing, providing guidance for the steady development of China-Russia relations amid a complex and changing environment and ensuring that the bilateral relationship continues to move forward at its own pace in an uncertain world.

Sergei Shoigu said that in the face of the complex changes in current international geopolitics and increasing challenges in global security, it is necessary for Russia and China, as comprehensive strategic partners of coordination, to strengthen strategic alignment. The two heads of state met twice this year, charting the course for and driving the development of Russia-China relations. Russia-China strategic coordination is at an unprecedented high level, which is in line with the national interests of both countries and benefits regional and global peace. Russia and China develop bilateral relations based on mutual respect, free from external interference.

The two sides conducted strategic alignment on issues related to Japan, reaching a high degree of consensus. They agreed to resolutely safeguard the outcomes of the victory of World War II won at the cost of lives and blood, firmly oppose any erroneous words and deeds that attempt to whitewash the history of colonial aggression, and resolutely counter any attempts to revive fascism or Japanese militarism. Both sides stressed that China and Russia, as major countries and permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, will shoulder their shared responsibility to safeguard world peace and security, and uphold historical truth and international justice.

They also had an in-depth exchange of views on the Ukraine crisis. Sergei Shoigu explained Russia’s position and considerations and expressed appreciation for China’s efforts in support of peace. He said Russia has the full capability and strong determination to achieve its strategic objectives and eliminate the root causes of the crisis. Wang Yi elaborated on China’s consistent stance, stating that the Chinese side supports all efforts conducive to achieving peace, supports reaching a comprehensive and lasting peace agreement, and will continue to maintain strategic communication with the Russian side on this matter.

Wang Yi also met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on the same day.

Tai Po and Grenfell: A tale of two fires

In the following article, which was originally published in the South China Morning Post, and is reprinted with the kind permission of the author, Alex Lo decries the cynical response of sections of the western media and others to the terrible fire in Wang Fuk Court, Tai Po, Hong Kong, which broke out on November 26 and which claimed the lives of 160 people.

Alex writes: “As sure as night follows day, you can always count on the big Western media outlets to politicise anything bad that happens in Hong Kong or on the mainland.”

Reinforcing his point, he goes on to note: “Even as the bodies were still being recovered and identified, these Western ‘experts’ already seemed to know what had happened. Are they so all-knowing or just reprehensibly presumptuous?

“Here are some headlines: ‘Deadly Fire Highlights Hong Kong’s Predicament’ (with the standfirst, ‘The tragedy confirmed to many locals that the city’s freedoms have vanished’), ‘The killer Hong Kong fire shows how freedom is an even greater loss than you’d think’, ‘Deadly Hong Kong fire is a test of Beijing’s rule in the city’.”

To this, Alex responds:

“In handling the aftermath of such a deadly fire, there is always room for improvement, and not every demand can be met immediately.

“But the victims were immediately taken care of, including 294 of their pets rescued from the fire. The living allowance for every affected household has been doubled from HK$50,000 (US$6,410) to HK$100,000.

“HK$2.8 billion in donations have already [some 10 days after the tragedy] been raised from the government and private sources. Temporary housing is being provided. The needs of affected residents are being addressed in the short and medium term. The government has promised a long-term housing settlement, meaning each household is likely to be allocated a flat somewhere in the end.”

In contrast to the pervasive and appalling lack of mental health care provision in the UK health service, on December 5, RTHK (Radio Television Hong Kong) reported that Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu called for efforts to step up mental health support for people affected by the deadly blaze, saying the whole of Hong Kong is emanating grief and sadness in the aftermath of the tragedy.

“I have requested for mental health support work to be carried out… to assist victims of the fire as well as others who were affected, including students, teachers and those living nearby,” Lee said as he inspected services offered by a government mental health support hotline and frontline staff at a community centre.

Two complementary strategies in support of Palestine and multipolarity

We are very pleased to publish the following contributed article by Comrade Massimiliano Ay, General Secretary of the Communist Party (Switzerland), which makes an original analysis of the present state of the Palestinian struggle, and the role of various international actors in this regard, within the context of the multipolarity trend and on the basis of Marxism-Leninism.

He notes that, back in September 2024, he had written that, from a tactical viewpoint, Israel was apparently winning, but from a strategic one, it would lose, and this is now being reflected in a range of tactical adjustments on the part of various imperialist forces.

Against this background, he continues: “China (and its Communist Party) will probably tactically follow a different line from us Western communists (and perhaps also from Arab communists) who lack governmental responsibility. This potential difference in method must in no way be read as a capitulation or, worse, as a Chinese betrayal of the Palestinian cause, but rather as an intelligent political move complementary to our struggle! For although, as stated by the top Chinese representative at the UN, “the Palestinian question is at the heart of Middle Eastern issues” and is therefore not an insignificant element in the path of the New Silk Road, it is also true that the conflict between imperialism and multipolarism is fought on a global level and not only in Gaza: Ukraine, for example, is at this moment a war scenario potentially much more dangerous for the world than Gaza, and Moscow therefore has this priority. Beijing for its part must win the battle against Trump’s tariffs, otherwise the entire Chinese economic strategy would be weakened.”

In this way, Comrade Ay creatively utilises and applies the same dialectical approach advanced by Mao Zedong, for example in his speech to the November 1957 Moscow Meeting of Communist and Workers’ Parties, where he said that the compromises made by socialist countries in their relations with capitalist states should not necessarily be followed by others. “Each party and country must consider its own conditions.”

Ay adds: “It is therefore no surprise that last November 17th, both Beijing and Moscow abstained in the UN Security Council, thus allowing the (awful) Donald Trump plan to pass de facto. Comrade Fu Cong, China’s ambassador to the UN, while stressing that this resolution, put to a vote rather hastily, was ‘deficient in many aspects and deeply concerning’, especially because it does not establish that ‘Gaza belongs to the Palestinian people and to no one else’, explicitly reiterated that Beijing’s priority remains, at all costs, ‘a lasting ceasefire, alleviating the humanitarian disaster, and starting post-war reconstruction to rekindle the hope of peace and development for the population of Gaza’.