Arriving in the capital Lusaka, Li said that Zambia is the first country in Southern Africa to establish diplomatic ties with China, and the two countries share a profound tradition of friendship. Over the years, despite changes in the international landscape, China and Zambia have consistently respected, trusted and supported each other, jointly forging the spirit of China-Africa friendship and cooperation, including the Tanzania-Zambia Railway spirit.
He added that China stands ready to work with Zambia to carry forward the traditional friendship, deepen mutually beneficial cooperation, promote mutual understanding and affinity between the two peoples, and advance together on the path of modernisation.
Faced with a world of intertwined changes and chaos, China is willing to enhance multilateral communication and coordination with Zambia, stand united with the broad ranks of Global South countries, safeguard the international order as well as fairness and justice, and promote the building of a community with a shared future for humanity.
Li Qiang held talks with Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema on the day after his arrival. He first conveyed the cordial greetings and best wishes of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Hichilema and said that China and Zambia are good brothers, good friends and good partners. Last year, the two countries celebrated the 60th anniversary of diplomatic ties, and President Xi met with President Hichilema during the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), drawing a new blueprint for the deepening and development of bilateral relations.
China is willing to strengthen cooperation with Zambia in areas related to people’s livelihood, such as healthcare, agriculture and human resources development, so as to enhance the two peoples’ sense of gain from bilateral cooperation, Li said, adding that the revitalisation of the Tanzania-Zambia Railway is a shared aspiration of the peoples of China, Tanzania and Zambia, and the project is a landmark of high-quality development of Belt and Road cooperation.
At present, Li noted, unilateralism and protectionism are on the rise, posing serious challenges to the international system and global economy. China and Zambia should strengthen multilateral coordination and cooperation, and work with the broad ranks of Global South countries to safeguard the international trade order, uphold fairness and justice, and defend their joint benefits.
President Hichilema noted that the time-honoured and ever-strengthening friendship between Zambia and China was forged by the older generations of leaders of the two countries, adding that he and President Xi have reached important consensus on deepening the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries.
From November 17-24, Chinese Premier Li Qiang visited Russia to attend the 24th Meeting of the Council of Heads of Government of Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO); Zambia to pay an official visit; and South Africa to attend the 20th G20 Summit.
On November 17, Li Qiang met with his Russian counterpart Mikhail Mishustin and said that China stands ready to deepen cooperation with Russia in investment, energy, agriculture and other fields, adding that the Chinese market welcomes more high-quality agricultural and food products from Russia.
China stands ready to work with Russia to follow the strategic guidance of the two heads of state, further strengthen communication, continuously deepen mutually beneficial cooperation between the two sides, and create more benefits for the two peoples, Li said. He also urged both sides to continue to expand people-to-people and cultural exchanges, and to strengthen cooperation in areas such as culture, education and films.
Noting that the Tianjin Summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) held in September achieved a series of fruitful results, Li said China is willing to maintain close coordination and collaboration with Russia to encourage all parties of the SCO to uphold the Shanghai Spirit and materialise the development blueprint outlined by the leaders at an early date.
He urged further advancing pragmatic cooperation to bolster the development momentum of all member states, to continuously improve the institutional building of the SCO, to enhance its influence in international affairs, and to stand in solidarity with the vast number of Global South countries to promote an equitable and orderly multipolar world as well as a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalisation.
The Japanese Communist Party (JCP) has taken a strong stance against the remarks of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in a parliamentary session, that a military “contingency” regarding China’s island province of Taiwan could trigger the involvement of Japanese armed forces, which have plunged relations between China and Japan into their worst crisis in decades.
On November 15, the Chinese newspaper Global Times, citing a release on the website of Shimbun Akahata, the JCP’s daily newspaper, reported that JCP Chair Shii Kazuo had, the previous day, demanded that Takaichi withdraw her remarks, warning that attempts to exaggerate the “crisis” by claiming that a Taiwan emergency would be an existential threat and using it to justify a massive military buildup must be firmly rejected.
Shii Kazuo, who is also a member of the Japanese House of Representatives, had posted on X that the prime minister’s “remarks had escalated into a serious international issue. What is needed to positively resolve Japan-China relations requires calm dialogue grounded in agreements affirmed by both sides, including the 2008 pledge of not posing a threat to each other, rather than provocative rhetoric that intensifies tensions. We again urge her to retract her remarks.”
The Shimbun Akahata report noted that even late former prime minister Shinzo Abe said things like, “a Taiwan contingency is a Japan contingency” only after leaving office, refraining from making such statements while in office. This is because he understood how serious the situation would be. Takaichi lacks such basic diplomatic common sense. This diplomatic blunder should be corrected now, the report said.
Shii Kazuo had made a similar demand previously, on November 11, also in a post on X.
The Japan Press Weekly reported that on November 10, JCP Secretariat Head Koike Akira, at a press conference in the Diet (parliament) building, criticised Takaichi for implying that a “Taiwan contingency” would threaten Japan’s survival and thus allow Japan’s Self-Defence Forces to participate in a US-led war against China. He called the remarks “extremely dangerous.”
Koike added that she is the first prime minister to cite a specific case regarding Japan facing a crisis of “survival-threatening situation” that would justify the country’s use of the collective self-defence right. He criticised the remarks as “dangerous and reckless.”
Japan Press Weekly is an English-language online newsletter issued by the JCP.
In the following article, which was originally published by Struggle/La Lucha, Sharon Black analyses the joint moves of Japan and the United States to instigate war against socialist China.
Regarding new Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s statement that any Chinese move to reunify Taiwan with the mainland would threaten Japan’s very survival – and that Tokyo would be ready to join military action to stop it she writes:
“For Beijing, the message was clear: Japan was abandoning its long-standing stance of avoiding any commitment to take sides in a conflict over Taiwan and was now declaring that it would join the United States in a military response.”
Noting reports claiming that Donald Trump had privately urged Takaichi to tone down her public threats, Sharon observes:
“The move fits a familiar Trump pattern: loud public belligerence paired with quiet tactical repositioning when trade negotiations or economic pressure campaigns stall… But far from signaling a real shift, this is political maneuvering. Even as the administration adjusts its tone for trade talks with China, US war planning continues without pause, and Washington is pouring new investments into Japan’s military.
“At the same time that Japan was escalating its rhetoric, the United States approved a new $330 million arms package for Taiwan on November 13 – the first such sale under Trump’s return to office.”
Japan, she notes, remains the centrepiece of Washington’s military strategy in the western Pacific. The United States operates more than 120 military installations across the country, including 15 major bases, and stations over 54,000 troops there – the largest concentration of US forces anywhere outside the continental United States. Okinawa carries the heaviest burden of this occupation, with bases crowding the island and dominating local life.
Sharon also reminds readers that China’s response to Japan’s renewed new militarism cannot be understood without remembering the past. In the first half of the 20th century, the Japanese Empire invaded, occupied, and devastated large parts of China. The War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression brought mass displacement, famine, and systematic atrocities. The most infamous was the Nanjing Massacre of 1937, when Japanese troops killed an estimated 200,000 civilians and carried out widespread rape and torture. In the course of the eight-year war, more than 20 million Chinese people were killed.
She further explains that Taiwan’s modern history is inseparable from the Chinese revolution. As the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) defeated the reactionary Kuomintang on the mainland, Chiang Kai-shek evacuated roughly 1.5 to 2 million soldiers, officials, and supporters to Taiwan.
Once ensconced on the island, the KMT imposed martial law and unleashed the “White Terror,” a brutal campaign of repression against workers, students, leftists, and anyone suspected of sympathising with the Chinese revolution. Tens of thousands were imprisoned, thousands were executed, and many simply disappeared into military prisons. The terror lasted for decades, well into the 1980s.
Meanwhile, in June 1950, US President Harry Truman ordered the US Seventh Fleet into the Taiwan Strait, blocking the PLA from liberating Taiwan. For two decades Washington insisted that the Kuomintang remnants represented “Free China” and maneuvered to keep the People’s Republic out of the United Nations.
“This had nothing to do with ‘defending democracy.’ It was part of a broader US effort to contain the Chinese revolution and suppress anti-colonial movements rising across Asia.”
However: “Today, the world situation has changed dramatically. Both the United States and Japan are facing deep capitalist stagnation – marked by slowing growth, rising prices, and long-term economic decline. These crises are pushing the ruling classes in both countries toward greater militarism abroad. At the same time, socialist China has emerged as one of the central engines of the global economy.
Academic circles in China are paying increasing attention to Ryukyu studies, specifically the history of the island group, often referred to as Okinawa, and the legitimacy or otherwise of Japan’s claim to sovereignty over the ancient kingdom.
On November 18, the Global Times newspaper reported that an academic conference marking the 30th anniversary of the China Ryukyu Research Institute, and advancing the development of Ryukyu studies, had been held at Fujian Normal University.
Global Times spoke with Professor Xie Bizhen, academic head of the institute, who emphasised that Japan’s annexation of Ryukyu and subsequent assimilation policies, including the forced change of surnames, place names, and even rebranding the “Ryukyu Islands” as the “Southwestern Islands,” were aimed at erasing historical memory. “As a result, many Okinawans today are unfamiliar with this part of their own past,” he said. “This is why our research matters: to restore historical truth, preserve collective memory.”
On November 23, CGTN published an opinion piece by Tang Yongliang, a researcher at the Institute of Japanese Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, outlining what he described as the “undetermined status of Ryukyu.”
Stating that “the sovereignty over the Ryukyu Islands remains disputed,” Tang added that this could be understood in both a broad and a narrow way.
“In the broad sense, the ‘undetermined status of Ryukyu’ refers to the situation since modern times, where Ryukyu was illegally occupied by Japan without widespread recognition by the international community. To this day, the sovereignty issue remains unresolved.
“In the narrow sense, it refers specifically to the end of World War II, when the Cairo Declaration and the Potsdam Proclamation – documents concerning the post-war disposition of fascist Japan – explicitly delimited Japan’s territorial scope, separated Ryukyu from Japan, placed it as a ‘potential trusteeship territory’ and left its sovereignty legally unsettled to this day.”
Further in the broad sense: “Historically, Ryukyu was an independent kingdom. Japan’s modern annexation of Ryukyu was a unilateral act of violent seizure: no treaty regarding state sovereignty was concluded, no consent was obtained from China, the suzerain power, and the annexation contravened international legal norms on the acquisition of territorial sovereignty in the 19th century.”
Further in the narrow sense: “From November 22 to 26, 1943, the leaders of China, the United States, and the United Kingdom convened the Cairo Conference in Egypt, during which they discussed the post-war disposition of Ryukyu. Although the issue was not ultimately written into the Cairo Declaration, the declaration’s provision that ‘Japan will also be expelled from all other territories which she has taken by violence and greed’ undoubtedly applied to Ryukyu.
“On July 26, 1945, the three nations issued the Potsdam Proclamation, urging Japan’s unconditional surrender. It clearly stated that ‘the terms of the Cairo Declaration shall be carried out’ and that ‘the Japanese sovereignty shall be limited to the islands of Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, Shikoku and such minor islands as we determine,’ thereby explicitly separating Ryukyu from Japanese territory.”
What happened later was that: “With the deepening of the Cold War, the US-Japan alliance became increasingly intertwined; the United States gradually relaxed its restrictions on Japanese influence within the Ryukyu Islands, and in 1953 and 1968 unilaterally transferred administrative rights over the Amami Islands and the Nanpo Islands to Japan.
“In 1971, under pressure from the Vietnam War and the Ryukyuan anti-US movement, the Nixon administration concluded the ‘Agreement Between Japan and the United States of America Concerning the Ryukyu Islands and the Daito Islands,’ again unilaterally transferring administrative rights to Japan on the condition that Japan allow continued US military presence in the islands.
The Communist Party of Australia (CPA) has said that it can learn from the Communist Party of China’s efforts to uproot corruption and bureaucracy and retain a good style of work based on the mass line.
In a recent interview with the Global Times newspaper, Vinnie Molina, National President of the CPA, was asked what lessons China’s “eight-point decision” provides for Marxist parties worldwide.
The eight-point decision is a set of rules first adopted by the CPC leadership in December 2012 to address chronic bureaucratic issues, including official privileges.
Spelled out in just over 600 words, it established rules for Party leaders governing research tours, meetings, documentation, and other official duties. It later expanded into a Party-wide initiative for all members to adopt its principles to improve governance conduct. After more than a decade of implementation, the decision has been hailed as a “game changer” in China’s governance.
In March 2025, the CPC launched a further Party-wide education campaign to implement the program.
Asked what provisions made the deepest impressions on him, Molina replied:
“To be a good Communist requires dedication and humility. I really admire the leadership style of Chinese President Xi Jinping, especially how he leads by example… The first regulation is crucial: ‘leaders must keep in close contact with the grassroots.’ Those who are in positions of responsibility must work hard to earn the people’s trust and never separate themselves from the people. Local knowledge and experience are vital for leadership on the national level.”
As the president of a Marxist-Leninist party, Molina sees the decision as inheriting and developing Marxist party-building doctrine:
“Friedrich Engels, in his ‘Rules of the Communist League (1847),’ recognised that if the working masses were to overcome capitalism, they would need to be highly organised. He also stressed the importance of responsibility to the community and having safeguards against the misuse of funds. It is easy to deviate from party discipline if we are not closely linked to the people. It is with the people that the Communist Parties test their leadership and policies.”
He added: “The CPC uses the method of criticism and self-criticism in party-building at all levels from the leadership to the rank and file to strengthen the unity of the organisation and its place in Chinese society. As Marxist-Leninist parties, we must reflect on the principles and methods of work and establish strict requirements to ensure both centralism and democracy are adhered to. We can only grow and thrive if we have cadres who are disciplined and understand the need for democratic centralism, self-discipline and leading by example.”
On the relations between Marxist parties worldwide, including between the CPA and CPC, Molina concludes:
“The exchanges between Communist Parties are vital to upholding our commitment to proletarian internationalism. By learning how each party applies universal principles to its specific context, we gain invaluable insights. The CPC’s decision of engaging with Marxist parties worldwide is not only correct but essential. We deeply value this dialogue and hope to see in-depth information sharing. ‘Workers of the world, unite’ is a phrase that rings true throughout history. To isolate ourselves from the world can lead to the withering of our movement – as seen in parts of the Western left, which have at times fallen prey to the imperialist propaganda. That is why we support greater opportunities for Marxist education exchanges, which can help smaller parties like the CPA train cadres capable of building a stronger communist presence.”
The Communist Party of China (CPC) has reiterated its solidarity with the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) and with the revolutionary government of President Maduro.
Liu Haixing, Minister of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee (IDCPC), met on November 26 with Remigio Ceballos, the Venezuelan Ambassador to China.
Liu said, in recent years, under the strategic guidance of President Xi Jinping and President Nicolas Maduro, China-Venezuela relations have continuously reached new heights. China will, as always, firmly support Venezuela in safeguarding its sovereignty and independence, oppose external interference and support Venezuela in independently choosing its development path. The CPC and the PSUV share similar ideals and goals.
The Chinese side is willing to jointly implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state, continuously deepen exchanges and mutual learning of experience in party building and state governance, enhance exchanges at all levels, promote cooperation in areas such as cadre training, and increase coordination and cooperation in international and regional affairs, so as to advance the all-weather strategic partnership between China and Venezuela through inter-party channels.
Ceballos said, the governments, political parties and people of Venezuela and China maintain a brotherly friendship. Venezuela firmly supports China’s position on the Taiwan question and the concept of a community with a shared future for humanity and the Belt and Road cooperation proposed by President Xi Jinping. No matter how the international situation changes, Venezuela will continue to uphold and fulfill its firm commitment to developing friendly relations with China and is willing to deepen practical cooperation with China in areas such as economy, trade, energy and education. The Embassy of Venezuela in China is willing to actively promote exchanges and cooperation between the ruling parties of the two countries.
The following article was first published on the website of the IDCPC.
Beijing, November 26th—Liu Haixing, Minister of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee (IDCPC), met here today with Remigio Ceballos, Venezuelan Ambassador to China.
Since Ibrahim Traoré came to power in 2022, the West African state of Burkina Faso has embarked on a path of independent economic development and diversification, stressing self-reliance and cooperation with fellow members of the Global South, and breaking the chains of neo-colonial exploitation, perpetrated by France in particular.
In this regard, People’s Dispatch, recently published an article, translated from the original Portuguese language publication by Brasil de Fato, on Burkina Faso’s first electric vehicle assembly plant, which began production in January 2025.
The country’s first electric vehicle has been named the Itaoua. The name is a tribute to a village near Ouagadougou, the country’s capital. The horse that illustrates the logo represents strength, prestige, and longevity.
The plant’s general director Abdoulatif Rouamba explained: “Production began in January 2025. Then we started selling Itaoua electric vehicles. We began with two entry-level models, the Itaoua Sahel and the Itaoua Native. Later we received other models, such as the Itaoua Tenakuru and the Itaoua Land Elder, which is a pickup truck. Today it’s possible to drive comfortably, at a low cost, and still protect the environment for future generations. Driving an Itawa electric vehicle is a direct contribution to this preservation.”
With technical support from China, the electric vehicles are assembled in Ouaga 2000, a district located 25 km from the capital. According to Rouamba, Burkinabé engineers were trained in Chinese factories and are now applying this knowledge on African soil. He states that at the moment, the brand only handles the assembly process, but that there is a “prospect of launching our own designs in the coming years”.
The director also values the partnership with the BRICS member countries. “We are working in a business environment with countries like China and Russia, within a win-win partnership logic. It’s not a collaboration model where we are exploited. Everyone gets their share. We are also involved in a technology transfer process. That’s why our technicians were trained abroad and today apply what they learned for the benefit of Itaoua, Burkina Faso, and Africa in general.”
Under the government of President Ibrahim Traoré, Burkina Faso launched its first brand of domestically assembled electric cars, Itaoua. The name is a tribute to a village near Ouagadougou, the country’s capital. The horse that illustrates the logo represents strength, prestige, and longevity.
To learn about the models already available and understand how Itaoua has become a symbol of the industrial and sustainable transformation the country is experiencing, Brasil de Fato visited the company’s headquarters in Ouagadougou. The concessionaire’s general director, Abdoulatif Rouamba, recalls the beginning of this journey.
“Production began in January 2025. Then we started selling Itaoua electric vehicles. We began with two entry-level models, the Itaoua Sahel and the Itaoua Native. Later we received other models, such as the Itaoua Tenakuru and the Itaoua Land Elder, which is a pickup truck,” Rouamba explains.
“Today it’s possible to drive comfortably, at a low cost, and still protect the environment for future generations. Driving an Itawa electric vehicle is a direct contribution to this preservation,” he adds.
We are pleased to publish the below article, which has been contributed by Alexis Stanimiroudis, an anti-imperialist scholar based in Germany, and which analyses the political standpoint of Japan’s new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and its ideological roots, thereby uncovering the source of her hardline anti-China stance, which has plunged Sino-Japanese relations into a dangerous crisis, less than a month into her premiership.
Alexis draws on the work of Jun Tosaka (1900-1945), a creative Japanese Marxist theorist whose major work, The Japanese Ideology argues that both liberalism and fascism rest on the same idealistic foundation: they prioritise abstract notions of culture, nation, and spirit over the material realities of class struggle and production.
The Japanese Ideology was published in a new English translation by Robert Stolz by Columbia University Press in 2024. According to the publishers:
“Tosaka Jun was among the world’s most incisive – yet underrecognised – theorists of capitalism, fascism, and ideology during the years before World War II. The Japanese Ideology is his masterpiece, first published in 1935, as Japan and the world plummeted into an age of reaction. Tosaka offers a ruthless philosophical critique of contemporary ideology that exposes liberalism’s deep complicity with fascism.
“The Japanese Ideology provides a materialist analysis of the reactionary ideology then overtaking Japan, with profound significance for anywhere fascism has taken root. Modeled after Marx and Engels’s The German Ideology, it critiques idealism as the common ground for liberalism and fascism, against which only historical materialism can suffice. Tosaka demonstrates how liberal and fascist ideas at once justified and concealed Japan’s colonisation of East Asia, and he investigates the many traces of fascism in Japanese thought and society. The Japanese Ideology makes an important intervention in Marxist theory by criticising reliance on the East/West binary and the notion of the ‘Asiatic mode of production.’ Robert Stolz’s translation introduces Anglophone readers to a classic of twentieth-century Marxist thought by an unsung peer of [Antonio] Gramsci… with striking relevance today.”
Contrary to the revival of Japanese militarism, Alexis insists that: “Remembering the immense sacrifices of the Chinese people is essential – not as a gesture of nostalgia, but as a reaffirmation of the historical truth that socialism, not imperialism, was and remains the decisive force against fascism and war.”
The election of Sanae Takaichi as Japan’s new prime minister on October 21, 2025, marks a decisive shift to the right in the country’s political landscape. At 64, Takaichi represents the nationalist-conservative wing of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and is a long-time protégé of the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Her agenda continues Abe’s model of Abenomics – a form of state capitalism based on massive public spending and export-led growth – but also extends his project of remilitarisation and ideological realignment.
Takaichi presents herself as a modern, “feminist” leader, yet her programme represents a return to Japan’s pre-war imperial mindset. Her vision of making Japan “strong and independent again” echoes the chauvinistic nationalism of the early twentieth century. Symbolic of this is her stance toward the Yasukuni Shrine, which honours Japan’s war dead, including convicted war criminals.
Although she abstained from a personal visit in 2025, she made a financial offering instead – an act of calculated diplomacy aimed at appeasing her nationalist base. Japan’s continued refusal to fully acknowledge or apologise for its wartime atrocities, particularly against the Chinese people, remains a central obstacle to genuine reconciliation in East Asia.
Behind Takaichi’s gestures lies the revival of an old imperialist narrative: Japan as a “victim” surrounded by hostile powers. The rhetoric of “defending against China and North Korea [DPRK],” much like Germany’s militarisation under the pretext of fearing Russia, reproduces Cold War logic – mobilising public opinion around the illusion of a perpetual external threat.
In the following article, originally published in Beijing Review on 17 November, Carlos Martinez provides an overview of the draft of China’s 15th Five-Year Plan. Carlos writes that “every Five-Year Plan is important but this one arrives at a truly pivotal moment in terms of China’s development trajectory and the global environment”, noting that the government has set an ambitious goal of “basically achieving socialist modernisation” by 2035, while at the same time the country faces an escalating campaign of containment and encirclement led by the US.
The United States in particular is responding to the rise of China and the emergence of a more multipolar world order with a New Cold War strategy designed to perpetuate US hegemony and hobble China’s progress.
In the face of a highly unpredictable tariff war, export controls, unilateralism, protectionism and so-called decoupling – along with an escalating campaign of encirclement and containment – China’s strategists necessarily have to focus on deepening domestic innovation and technological self-reliance.
The article points out the central themes of the draft plan, in particular technological development, advanced industry, common prosperity, and ecological protection. It also points to the highly democratic nature of China’s planning process. Carlos concludes:
In a turbulent and complex global environment, China continues to work towards socialist modernisation, building common prosperity and an ecological civilisation, while engaging with the world on the basis of mutual respect and mutual benefit. The 15th Five-Year Plan represents a comprehensive and forward-looking blueprint for achieving these goals.
The 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) held its fourth plenary session in Beijing from October 20–23, 2025. The plenary’s central task was to deliberate on the framework of the country’s next national development roadmap: the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026–2030), which will be formally adopted at next year’s National People’s Congress.
Every Five-Year Plan is important but this one arrives at a truly pivotal moment in terms of China’s development trajectory and the global environment.
The CPC’s 20th National Congress in October 2022 laid out a two-step strategic proposal for building China into a “great modern socialist country in all respects” by the middle of the century. The first step is to “basically achieve socialist modernisation” by 2035. The period from 2026 and 2030 will be critically important in building the foundations for reaching that milestone.
At the plenary, General Secretary Xi Jinping observed:
The 15th Five-Year Plan period will serve as a critical stage in building on past successes to break new ground for basically achieving socialist modernisation. It is important that we seize this window of opportunity to consolidate and build on our strengths, remove development bottlenecks, shore up areas of weakness, seize the strategic initiative amid intense international competition, and secure major breakthroughs in strategic tasks of overall importance to Chinese modernisation.
Xi further elaborated on the meaning of “basically achieving socialist modernisation”, noting that it would include China’s per capita GDP reaching the level of the mid-level developed countries. There is no internationally agreed definition of this category, but a State Council analysis in 2021 estimated that it would correspond to a per capita GDP of about 30,000 USD, just over double China’s current level.
China’s UN Ambassador Fu Cong has again reiterated his country’s strong solidarity with the Palestinian people and condemned Israel for its ceasefire violations, continued obstruction of desperately needed humanitarian aid and worsening settler violence in the occupied West Bank.
Speaking at a UN Security Council briefing on November 24, Fu began by stating that: “The Palestinian question lies at the heart of the Middle East issue and bears on peace and security in the region and beyond.”
He continued: “We welcome the agreement reached on the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire. However, peace between Palestine and Israel is still far from being achieved, and the suffering of civilians continues. We call on the international community to work harder with the greatest sense of urgency and unwavering political will toward restoring peace in the region.”
In this regard, he advanced four points:
Achieving a lasting ceasefire in Gaza is a top priority. We note with concern that violent clashes persist despite the ceasefire. Israel has reportedly committed over 400 violations of the agreement, resulting in more than 300 civilian deaths in Gaza. A ceasefire means the complete cessation of all attacks and should be observed by all parties in good faith. Any incident causing civilian casualties is unacceptable and repeated attacks must not become the new normal in Gaza.
Scaling up humanitarian assistance for Gaza is a matter of urgency. The humanitarian situation remains dire, with severe shortages of essential supplies and medical equipment. Humanitarian access to Gaza continues to face multiple obstacles, and the aid that does reach Gaza falls far short of the quantity specified in the ceasefire agreement. The International Court of Justice has issued multiple advisory opinions and orders of provisional measures, stating unequivocally that, as the occupying power, Israel is under obligation to ensure the provision of humanitarian assistance to Gaza.
Easing tensions in the West Bank is a pressing demand. The occupying power’s continued settlement expansion and connivance of settler violence have further fuelled the tensions in the West Bank. As documented by the UN, there were more than 260 incidents of settler violence last month alone, resulting in significant civilian casualties and property damage, making it the most devastating month since 2006.
Implementing the two-State solution is the only way out. Both Gaza and the West Bank are inseparable parts of the Palestinian state. Any future arrangements on Gaza should be guided by the principle of Palestinians governing Palestine and respect the will of the Palestinian people. The international community must redouble efforts to advance the two-State solution, oppose any unilateral actions that undermine its foundation, and support the early realisation of independent Palestinian statehood and its full UN membership.
We reproduce Fu Cong’s full statement below. It was originally published on the website of China’s permanent mission to the UN.
China’s UN Ambassador Fu Cong has again reiterated his country’s strong solidarity with the Palestinian people and condemned Israel for its ceasefire violations, continued obstruction of desperately needed humanitarian aid and worsening settler violence in the occupied West Bank.
Speaking at a UN Security Council briefing on November 24, Fu began by stating that: “The Palestinian question lies at the heart of the Middle East issue and bears on peace and security in the region and beyond.”
He continued: “We welcome the agreement reached on the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire. However, peace between Palestine and Israel is still far from being achieved, and the suffering of civilians continues. We call on the international community to work harder with the greatest sense of urgency and unwavering political will toward restoring peace in the region.”
In this regard, he advanced four points:
Achieving a lasting ceasefire in Gaza is a top priority. We note with concern that violent clashes persist despite the ceasefire. Israel has reportedly committed over 400 violations of the agreement, resulting in more than 300 civilian deaths in Gaza. A ceasefire means the complete cessation of all attacks and should be observed by all parties in good faith. Any incident causing civilian casualties is unacceptable and repeated attacks must not become the new normal in Gaza.
Scaling up humanitarian assistance for Gaza is a matter of urgency. The humanitarian situation remains dire, with severe shortages of essential supplies and medical equipment. Humanitarian access to Gaza continues to face multiple obstacles, and the aid that does reach Gaza falls far short of the quantity specified in the ceasefire agreement. The International Court of Justice has issued multiple advisory opinions and orders of provisional measures, stating unequivocally that, as the occupying power, Israel is under obligation to ensure the provision of humanitarian assistance to Gaza.
Easing tensions in the West Bank is a pressing demand. The occupying power’s continued settlement expansion and connivance of settler violence have further fuelled the tensions in the West Bank. As documented by the UN, there were more than 260 incidents of settler violence last month alone, resulting in significant civilian casualties and property damage, making it the most devastating month since 2006.
Implementing the two-State solution is the only way out. Both Gaza and the West Bank are inseparable parts of the Palestinian state. Any future arrangements on Gaza should be guided by the principle of Palestinians governing Palestine and respect the will of the Palestinian people. The international community must redouble efforts to advance the two-State solution, oppose any unilateral actions that undermine its foundation, and support the early realisation of independent Palestinian statehood and its full UN membership.
We reproduce Fu Cong’s full statement below. It was originally published on the website of China’s permanent mission to the UN.
Relations between China and Japan have been plunged into their worst crisis in decades after Japan’s new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, an extreme right-wing, hardline militarist, said in a parliamentary session that a military “contingency” regarding China’s island province of Taiwan could trigger the involvement of Japanese armed forces. This was the first such clear statement from a serving Japanese Prime Minister and has aroused strong indignation from the Chinese people, particularly coming when the country has just marked the 80th anniversary of victory in the war to resist Japanese aggression and the world anti-fascist war, in which millions of Chinese sacrificed their lives.
Accordingly, as one aspect of China’s diplomatic response, on November 21, Ambassador Fu Cong, Permanent Representative of China to the United Nations, sent a letter to the UN Secretary-General António Guterres, elaborating on the position of the Chinese government regarding Takaichi’s erroneous remarks.
In his letter, Ambassador Fu notes that Takaichi blatantly made provocative remarks on Taiwan. This marks the first time since Japan’s defeat in 1945 that a Japanese leader has advocated in an official setting the notion that “a contingency for Taiwan is a contingency for Japan” and linked it to the exercise of the right of collective self-defence; the first time Japan has expressed ambitions to intervene militarily in the Taiwan question; and the first time Japan has issued a threat of force against China, openly challenging China’s core interests. These remarks are gravely erroneous and extremely dangerous, with a profoundly malicious nature and impact. Despite China’s repeated démarches and protests, the Japanese side refuses to repent or retract its wrongful statements. China expresses strong dissatisfaction and resolute opposition.
Fu’s letter went on to note that such remarks constitute a grave violation of international law and the basic norms governing international relations, seriously undermine the post-war international order, and represent an open provocation to the more than 1.4 billion Chinese people and to the peoples of other Asian countries that once suffered from Japanese aggression. Taiwan is China’s sacred territory. How to resolve the Taiwan question is a matter for the Chinese people and brooks no foreign interference. If Japan dares to attempt an armed intervention in the cross-Strait situation, it would be an act of aggression. China will resolutely exercise its right of self-defence under the UN Charter and international law and firmly defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity.
The letter has been circulated to all UN member states as an official document of the General Assembly.
On November 21, Ambassador Fu Cong, Permanent Representative of China to the United Nations, sent a letter to the UN Secretary-General António Guterres, elaborating on the position of the Chinese Government regarding the erroneous remarks on China made by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.
In his letter, Ambassador Fu Cong noted that recently, when responding at the Diet, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi blatantly made provocative remarks on Taiwan. This marks the first time since Japan’s defeat in 1945 that a Japanese leader has advocated in an official setting the notion that “a contingency for Taiwan is a contingency for Japan” and linked it to the exercise of the right of collective self-defense; the first time Japan has expressed ambitions to intervene militarily in the Taiwan question; and the first time Japan has issued a threat of force against China, openly challenging China’s core interests. These remarks are gravely erroneous and extremely dangerous, with a profoundly malicious nature and impact. Despite China’s repeated démarches and protests, the Japanese side refuses to repent or retract its wrongful statements. China expresses strong dissatisfaction and resolute opposition.
“For a Common Cause: From the Spanish Battlefield to China’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression,” is the title of a major exhibition which opened in August at Beijing’s Museum of the Communist Party of China (CPC), marking the 80th anniversary of victory in the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War. It will run till the end of 2025.
Through more than 260 photographs, 150 cultural relics and historical footage, the exhibition shows how anti-fascist volunteers of the International Brigades fought bravely on both the Spanish and Chinese battlefronts – unfolding an inspiring chapter of mutual aid in the global struggle against fascism.
A feature article published by the Xinhua News Agency on November 27 notes that: “The International Brigades mobilised over 40,000 volunteers from more than 50 countries to defend the Spanish Republic against forces including those sent from fascist Italy and Nazi Germany during its civil war (1936-1939). They fought in brutal battles such as the Defence of Madrid and the Battle of Jarama, where an estimated 10,000 lives were lost.”
It adds that less widely recognised is the Chinese contribution to this history. Among the International Brigades’ volunteers were more than 100 Chinese, many of whom were CPC members.
One prominent figure was Xie Weijin, who fought under the alias Lin Jishi. He fought in pivotal engagements, sustained two battle wounds, and narrowly avoided amputation. Beyond the frontline, Xie established an orphanage for over 100 children.
In a 1938 speech, Xie crystallised the shared struggle: “The Spanish and Chinese peoples are in a very tense phase of struggle… They are waging a revolutionary war for the national and social liberation of their respective countries, leading the fight against fascism…”
After the International Brigades were withdrawn from Spain that year, a number of internationalist fighters made their way to China, which was the main anti-fascist battlefield in the east. Among them was the Canadian surgeon Norman Bethune. After pioneering a mobile blood-transfusion service in Spain, he arrived in north China in 1938. There, he famously worked 40-hour shifts and championed setting up operating tables near the front lines. Alongside other international medical workers, Bethune saved countless lives and revolutionised battlefield medicine in China.
The following article was originally published by the Xinhua News Agency.
“There’s a valley in Spain called Jarama. It’s a place that we all know so well. It was there that we gave of our manhood, where so many of our brave comrades fell.”
These plaintive strains of the folk ballad “Jarama Valley” are more than a memorial — they are a portal to the stories of the International Brigades. This diverse group of anti-fascist fighters, drawn from across continents, now takes center stage in a touching exhibition in Beijing.
Titled “For a Common Cause: From the Spanish Battlefield to China’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression,” the ongoing exhibition opened in August at the Museum of the Communist Party of China (CPC), marking the 80th anniversary of victory in the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War.
Through more than 260 photographs, 150 cultural relics and historical footage, the exhibition shows how anti-fascist volunteers of the International Brigades fought bravely on both the Spanish and Chinese battlefronts — unfolding an inspiring chapter of mutual aid in the global struggle against fascism.
“This marks the first time China has contextualized the two battlefields within a single exhibition space, underscoring the united anti-fascist spirit of people across the world,” said Zhao Jiaojian, planner of the exhibition, which will run through the end of 2025.
A staff member introduces exhibits to visitors at the exhibition titled “For a Common Cause: From the Spanish Battlefield to China’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression” held at the Museum of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in Beijing, capital of China, Nov. 14, 2025. (Xinhua/Yin Gang)
BATTLES IN SPAIN
Organized by the Comintern — an international communist alliance — the International Brigades mobilized over 40,000 volunteers from more than 50 countries to defend the Spanish Republic against forces including those sent from fascist Italy and Nazi Germany during its civil war (1936-1939). They fought in brutal battles such as the Defense of Madrid and the Battle of Jarama, where an estimated 10,000 lives were lost.
Less widely recognized is the Chinese dimension of this chapter. Among the International Brigades’ volunteers were more than 100 Chinese, many of whom were CPC members.
One prominent figure was Xie Weijin, who fought under the alias Lin Jishi. A multilingual individual with military training, Xie rose to lead the Chinese volunteers and serve as the political commissar of an artillery brigade.
He fought in pivotal engagements, sustained two battle wounds, and narrowly avoided amputation. Beyond the frontline, Xie established an orphanage for war-orphaned children, which provided shelter for over 100 children by 1938.
In a speech delivered that year, Xie crystallized the shared struggle: “The Spanish and Chinese peoples are in a very tense phase of struggle… They are waging a revolutionary war for the national and social liberation of their respective countries, leading the fight against fascism…”
Their contributions were acknowledged back in China. A replica of the red banner sent by then CPC leaders to the volunteers in Spain is now displayed at the Beijing exhibition, bearing the inscription: “Unite the peoples of Spain and China! Down with the common foe of mankind — the Fascists!”
The heroic deeds of the volunteers, exemplified by figures like Xie, demonstrated “a commitment to justice that crossed national borders, and constituted an indelible chapter in the global fight against fascism that should never be forgotten,” said Jiang Ying, researcher of the Academy of Military Sciences.
A visitor views a photo of Canadian surgeon Norman Bethune at the exhibition titled “For a Common Cause: From the Spanish Battlefield to China’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression” held at the Museum of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in Beijing, capital of China, Nov. 14, 2025. (Xinhua/Yin Gang)
THE EASTERN FRONT
As the Spanish Civil War drew to a close in 1938, the International Brigades were officially withdrawn. Following a period of internment in France, the Chinese volunteers returned home to join in China’s nationwide resistance against Japanese aggression.
Yet the tide of internationalism did not recede — it flowed eastward. Foreign fighters redirected their focus from Spain to China, which had become the main theater of the World Anti-Fascist War in the East.
Among these volunteers, the most renowned was Canadian surgeon Norman Bethune, a household name in China. After pioneering a mobile blood-transfusion service in Spain, he arrived in north China in 1938. There, he famously worked 40-hour shifts and championed setting up operating tables near the front lines. Alongside other international medical workers, Bethune saved countless lives and revolutionized battlefield medicine in China.
They were joined by journalists and artists who documented the Chinese people’s arduous struggle for the rest of the world. Among them, Hungarian-American photographer Robert Capa captured the war’s brutal reality in 1937, while Dutch filmmaker Joris Ivens arrived in 1938 to produce “The 400 Million” — the first Western documentary to portray China’s resistance in a positive light, galvanizing global support.
“In this exhibition, I can clearly see how the Chinese people assisted foreign revolutionaries and how foreign revolutionaries assisted the Chinese people,” said Lin Tao, a doctoral student at Hunan Normal University, while visiting the exhibition.
This photo taken on Nov. 14, 2025 shows photographic works by Hungarian-American photographer Robert Capa displayed at the exhibition titled “For a Common Cause: From the Spanish Battlefield to China’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression” at the Museum of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in Beijing, capital of China. (Xinhua/Yin Gang)
Many young Chinese visitors like Lin have been profoundly moved by the exhibition, which also highlights the pivotal contributions of International Brigades anti-fascist fighters on the Chinese battlefield.
Decades later, China continues to honor this international solidarity. On the occasion of marking the 80th anniversary of its victory in World War II on Sept. 3 this year, the nation expressed sincere gratitude to the foreign governments and individuals who aided its people.
China was the first country to rise against fascist aggression with the longest-lasting resistance that began in 1931. The country tied down and struck over half of Japan’s overseas forces, at the cost of 35 million military and civilian casualties — accounting for approximately one-third of all WWII casualties worldwide.
“The exhibition aims to deepen the understanding that the Chinese people, at a tremendous national cost, made significant contributions to the victory of the World Anti-Fascist War,” Zhao told Xinhua.
“Meanwhile, the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression received extensive support from the international community, and the Chinese people will forever cherish these contributions. China will continue to work hand in hand with the rest of the world — and strive tirelessly to build a brighter future for humanity,” Zhao added.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for an immediate and lasting ceasefire in Gaza and urged the international community to step up efforts to support the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people.
In his congratulatory message to a UN meeting held on November 25 to commemorate the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, Xi said the Palestinian issue lies at the heart of the Middle East conflict, affecting international fairness, justice, and regional stability. “As a permanent member of the UN Security Council, China firmly supports the just cause of the Palestinian people to restore their legitimate national rights.”
He added that post-conflict governance and reconstruction in Gaza should be carried out under the principle of “Palestinians governing Palestine,” with full respect for the will of the Palestinian people and said the Palestinian issue is also a test of the effectiveness of the global governance system.
He called on nations to confront the root causes of the Palestinian issue, shoulder responsibility, take strong actions, correct historical injustices and uphold fairness and justice.
Chinese President Xi Jinping called for an immediate and lasting ceasefire in Gaza and urged the international community to step up efforts to support the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, according to Chinese media cited by the Anadolu news agency.
In his congratulatory message to a UN meeting held on Tuesday to commemorate the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, Xi said the Palestinian issue lies at the heart of the Middle East conflict, affecting international fairness, justice, and regional stability, the Xinhua news agency reported.
Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke by telephone with his US counterpart Donald Trump on November 24. This latest exchange follows their October meeting in Busan, Republic of Korea, and came against a backdrop of complicated diplomatic maneuverings aimed at ending the conflict in Ukraine and heightened tensions around the Chinese province of Taiwan following provocative comments made by Japan’s new hard right and bellicose prime minister Sanae Takaichi.
During their call President Xi outlined China’s principled position on the Taiwan question. He underscored that Taiwan’s return to China is an integral part of the post-war international order. China and the US fought shoulder to shoulder against fascism and militarism. Given what is going on, it is even more important for us to jointly safeguard the victory of WWII.
President Trump said that China was a big part of the victory of WWII. The US understands how important the Taiwan question is to China.
The two presidents also discussed the Ukraine crisis. President Xi emphasised China’s support for all efforts that are conducive to peace and expressed the hope that the various sides would narrow their differences, reach a fair, lasting and binding peace agreement at an early date, and resolve the crisis at its root.
The following is the text of the readout of the call issued by the Chinese Foreign Ministry and first published on its website.
On the evening of November 24, 2025, President Xi Jinping spoke with U.S. President Donald J. Trump on the phone.
President Xi noted that we had a successful meeting in Busan last month, and reached many important common understandings. We recalibrated the course of the giant ship of China-U.S. relations and provided more momentum for it to sail forward steadily, thus sending a positive message to the world. Since then, the China-U.S. relationship has generally maintained a steady and positive trajectory, and this is welcomed by the two countries and the broader international community. What has happened demonstrates yet again that the description of China-U.S. cooperation benefiting both sides and confrontation hurting both sides reflects a common sense that has been repeatedly proven by experience, and the vision of China and the U.S. helping each other succeed and prospering together is a tangible prospect within reach. The two sides should keep up the momentum, keep moving forward in the right direction on the basis of equality, respect and mutual benefit, lengthen the list of cooperation and shorten the list of problems, so as to make more positive progress, create new space for China-U.S. cooperation and bring more benefits to the people of both countries and the world.
President Xi outlined China’s principled position on the Taiwan question. He underscored that Taiwan’s return to China is an integral part of the post-war international order. China and the U.S. fought shoulder to shoulder against fascism and militarism. Given what is going on, it is even more important for us to jointly safeguard the victory of WWII.
President Trump noted that President Xi is a great leader. I very much enjoyed our meeting in Busan, and fully share your comments about the China-U.S. relationship. The two sides are implementing all elements of what we agreed to in Busan. China was a big part of the victory of WWII. The U.S. understands how important the Taiwan question is to China.
The two presidents also discussed the Ukraine crisis. President Xi emphasized China’s support for all efforts that are conducive to peace, and expressed the hope that the various sides would narrow their differences, reach a fair, lasting and binding peace agreement at an early date, and resolve the crisis at its root.
The International Forum of Overseas Studies on Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era was held in Beijing, November 12-13.
Hosted by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), it was organised by the Research Centre for Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era and the Academy of Marxism (both affiliates of CASS), along with the World Association for China Studies.
Delegates from across China were joined by former government ministers, communist party leaders, scholars and others from numerous countries including:
Vietnam, Cambodia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Türkiye;
South Africa, Nigeria, Senegal, Ghana, and Burundi;
Argentina, Brazil, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Mexico, and Venezuela; and
Russia, Belarus, Serbia, Italy, Spain, Britain, Montenegro, Poland, North Macedonia, Ireland, France, Hungary, and Greece.
Former President of Costa Rica José María Figueres addressed the conference by video.
Friends of Socialist China co-editor Keith Bennett presented a paper, highlighting some of our observations to date on studying and applying Xi Jinping Thought in an imperialist country. The following is the text of his presentation.
I am very pleased to be able to take part in this important international forum of overseas studies on Xi Jinping’s Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era and thank the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences for their kind invitation.
The basic principles of Marxism-Leninism are universally applicable, as Mao Zedong pointed out long ago. However, they must be applied and developed according to the concrete reality of each country, people, society and nation. Moreover, as Xi Jinping has pointed out, if Marxism is to truly grip the hearts of the masses and become a material force, it also needs to be integrated and combined with a people’s fine traditional culture and civilisational inheritance.
Marxism is international in its relevance, scope and sweep but it is national in its application and development. It is by no means coincidental that the five socialist countries that survived the counter-revolutionary tsunami of 1989-1991 have all not merely inherited Marxism-Leninism as it is but have creatively applied and developed it by integrating it with their indigenous revolutionary traditions and the thoughts of their own revolutionary leaders.
Moreover, life is constantly evolving, developing and changing, so Marxism also cannot stand still. If it did so, it would become ossified, dogmatic and irrelevant. Indeed, it would cease to be Marxism. Only by changing and developing in accordance with the needs and trends of the times can it remain true to its original mission and retain its relevance and scientific veracity. Based as it is on dialectical and historical materialism, Marxism itself needs to be in the vanguard not the rearguard of change and development.
The United States is once again steering dangerously toward an illegal war, this time in Latin America. Over the past two months Washington has been engaged in a military buildup around Venezuela, launching lethal strikes in international waters, dispatching its most advanced aircraft carrier, and openly weighing plans for direct attacks on Venezuelan territory. It is the largest US military concentration in the region in decades.
The arrival of the USS Gerald R Ford, the world’s largest aircraft carrier, along with three destroyers and more than 5,500 troops, has heightened fears of imminent assault. The Ford joins roughly 10,000 US troops already stationed in the region. Ostensibly, these deployments are to counter drug trafficking, but Washington has provided zero evidence to substantiate any such threat.
Since early September, US forces have carried out at least 19 airstrikes, killing nearly a hundred people on boats in international waters. These attacks have been widely denounced as being extrajudicial killings and blatant violations of international law.
President Trump said on 16 November that he wouldn’t rule out sending US troops to Venezuela, essentially to carry out a regime change operation. “I don’t rule out anything. We just have to take care of Venezuela.”
China on the other hand has taken a consistently clear and principled stand, continuing to develop its bilateral cooperation with Venezuela and roundly condemning the US’s “unilateral and excessive enforcement operations”, stressing that these violate international law and the UN Charter. China has urged the US to return to proper judicial cooperation frameworks rather than acting as a self-appointed global policeman. In contrast to Washington’s coercion, China’s position rests on respect for sovereignty and international law, and an orientation towards peace.
Cuba’s electricity system has come under intense pressure in recent years, shaped by decades of US sanctions, an ageing oil-based grid, and chronic fuel shortages due to restrictions on imports from Russia and Venezuela – a function of the US’s illegal and suffocating blockade. With peak demand reaching 2,500 MW and shortfalls of up to 1,300 MW, widespread daytime power cuts have caused significant disruptions to daily life, from water pumping to refrigeration. While emergency repairs and energy-efficiency measures—supported partly by Russian engineering—have stabilised around 850 MW, the fundamental solution being pursued is based on restructuring Cuba’s energy matrix toward renewable sources.
In this project, China has emerged as Cuba’s most vital partner. In 2024–25, China helped launch an ambitious programme of 55 solar farms capable of supplying 1,200 MW by the end of the year, with 37 more planned by 2028. This collaboration directly addresses Cuba’s shortfalls and reduces its dependence on imported fossil fuels. Chinese assistance also includes refurbishing wind turbines and supplying distributed-generation equipment, spare parts, and thousands of photovoltaic systems for isolated homes.
A recent landmark inauguration in Guanajay of the Mártires de Barbados II solar park symbolises this deepening partnership. The project, part of a Chinese donation that will add 120 MW to Cuba’s grid, was completed in record time thanks to tight coordination between Chinese and Cuban companies. The second phase, already underway, will add another 85 MW plus battery storage. Addressing the inauguration, Chinese Ambassador Hua Xin stated that these efforts embody China’s commitment to Cuba’s sustainable development and to building a China–Cuba community with a shared future. Cuban officials echoed this sentiment, emphasising that the new solar parks will save tens of thousands of tons of imported fuel annually, cut nearly 50,000 tons of CO₂ emissions, and significantly reduce service disruptions.
Against a backdrop of US hostility and sanctions, China’s steady, practical support is helping Cuba advance toward energy sovereignty, economic resilience, and a cleaner, more secure future.
We republish below a report on the inauguration from Granma, the newspaper of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba, along with the text of a speech by British environmental campaigner Paul Atkin at the National Education Union (NEU) Cuba Solidarity Education Conference on 15th November about Cuba’s turn to solar power.
China’s cooperation with Cuba in the energy sector remains strong and steady
Guanajay, Artemisa.– “China’s cooperation with Cuba in the energy sector remains strong and steady, from ongoing projects, such as equipment and spare parts for distributed generation, the 5,000 photovoltaic systems for isolated homes, and the installation of other solar photovoltaic parks (PSFV) with a total capacity of 85 MW, to the next project to install another 200 MW and the new 5,000 photovoltaic systems for isolated homes.”
In the video embedded below, Jyotishman Mudiar of the popular India and Global Left channel interviews Friends of Socialist China co-editor Carlos Martinez on a range of topics related to China and global political economy, including: the dimensions of China’s economic progress since 1949; the differences between the first three decades of socialist construction and the Reform and Opening Up period; the differences between Socialism with Chinese Characteristics and capitalism; the definition of socialism; the political system that enables China’s unprecedented progress on poverty alleviation and green energy; the nature of multipolarity; the differences between today’s emerging multipolarity and the inter-imperialist rivalry of the early 20th century; how multipolarity opens a path for advance to socialism; the nature of the current long crisis of capitalism; and the meaning of “changes unseen in a century”.
The 15th World Socialism Forum was held in Beijing from November 3-4. Organised by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), the forum was hosted by the World Socialism Research Centre, the Academy of Marxism, and the Institute of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, all of which operate as units of CASS.
With an overall theme of ‘At the Crossroads of World History: The Choice of all Nations’, the forum addressed a number of topics, namely:
Chinese Modernisation and a New Form of Human Advancement
The Rise of Global South Countries and Transformation of the Global Governance System
Rejecting Unilateral Power Politics and Upholding International Equity and Justice
New Features and Trends of World Socialism amid Profound Global Changes
Safeguarding the Outcomes of the World Anti-fascist War and the Postwar International Order
Several hundred Chinese delegates were joined by comrades from Vietnam, Laos and Cuba and by senior representatives from communist parties from around the world, including:
Communist Party of Peru (Red Fatherland)
Peruvian Communist Party
Communist Party of Argentina
Colombian Communist Party
Communist Party of Uruguay
Communist Party of Spain (Party of the European Left)
Communist Refoundation Party of Italy (Party of the European Left)
Italian Communist Party
Communist Party (Italy)
Communist Party of Italy
Hungarian Workers’ Party
Communist Party (Denmark)
Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia [Czech Republic]
Communist Party (Switzerland)
Communist Party of Finland
German Communist Party
Progressive Party of the Working People of Cyprus (AKEL)
Communist Party of Ireland
Portuguese Communist Party
Communist Party of Armenia
Communist Party of the Russian Federation
Belarusian Communist Party
Socialist Platform (Georgia)
New Socialist Movement of Georgia
South African Communist Party
Japanese Communist Party
Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist)
Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Socialist) [On November 5, this party was one of 10 that united to form the Nepali Communist Party]
Communist Party of Bangladesh
Communist Party of Lebanon
Iraqi Communist Party
Other participants included academics and scholars of Marxism from Venezuela, Colombia, Tanzania, Russia, Hungary, Ireland, Britain and other countries, think tanks and Marxist study institutions, including from Latin America, Russia, India, Germany, Italy and Cyprus, and young scholars of Marxism currently studying in China, including from the United States, Denmark and India.
Friends of Socialist China was represented by our co-editor Keith Bennett. Below we publish his speech to the forum on the subject of ‘Changes Unseen in a Century – The Collective Rise of the Global South with Socialist China at the Core.’
Following the World Socialism Forum, Keith also attended the ‘International Academic Conference on Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era and 21st Century Marxism’, with sessions in Xi’an and Yan’an, and then the ‘International Forum on Overseas Studies on Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era’, held in Beijing.
General Secretary Xi Jinping often reminds us that we are living in a moment of history where we are witnessing changes unseen in a century.
This statement has applicability and relevance across a range of events and numerous spheres of human endeavour. But perhaps it does not express itself quite so cogently, or with such profound import, as it does with regard to the tectonic changes in the world’s geopolitical configuration and the consequent evolution and reform of global governance.
Over a century ago, as Lenin observed, the division of the world among the great powers had been completed. This meant that the world was divided into a small number of oppressor nations on the one hand and a great mass of oppressed nations on the other. Semi-colonial, semi-feudal China, despite being the world’s longest continuous civilisation, was to be found in the latter group.
