Friends of Socialist China, Author at Friends of Socialist China

China and Bangladesh upgrade relations to a community with a shared future in the new era

Tarique Rahman, Prime Minister of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, paid an official visit to China from June 22 to 26, 2026, which included attending the 17th Annual Meeting of the New Champions 2026 (Summer Davos) held in the northeastern city of Dalian.

Rahman met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on the morning of June 26 and the two leaders jointly announced the decision to build a China-Bangladesh community with a shared future in the new era, elevating bilateral relations to a higher level.

President Xi Jinping noted that China has all along attached great importance to the development of China-Bangladesh relations and stayed true to the policy of good-neighbourliness and friendship toward all the people of Bangladesh. No matter how the world changes, China will not waver in its commitment to the overall direction of China-Bangladesh friendly relations, and will always be a trustworthy good friend, good neighbour, and good partner of Bangladesh. This year marks the 105th anniversary of the Communist Party of China. Looking back over its history, the CPC has united and led the Chinese people in emerging from poverty and weakness and blazing a path of Chinese modernisation. Its strength lies in independence and self-reliance, and in keeping the future of national development and progress firmly in its own hands. China supports Bangladesh in upholding national independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity and rejecting foreign interference. China is ready to work with Bangladesh to increase exchanges of governance experience, enhance ties at all levels, deepen strategic communication, strengthen political mutual trust, and continue to support each other on issues concerning the respective core interests and major concerns of the two countries.

China supports the new government of Bangladesh in its governance efforts, and stands ready to work with Bangladesh to carry out high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, further align development strategies, exchange development experience, make sound plans for orderly cooperation in priority areas, explore cooperation potential in green and low-carbon development, digital economy, information technology, and artificial intelligence, conduct exchanges in healthcare, culture and education and at subnational levels, and advance the development of the China-Myanmar-Bangladesh Economic Corridor for greater regional connectivity. China is ready to strengthen communication and coordination with Bangladesh within multilateral frameworks including the UN, so as to jointly promote an equal and orderly multipolar world and a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalisation and better uphold the legitimate rights and common interests of the two countries and the interests of the Global South.

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman extended congratulations on the 105th anniversary of the founding of the CPC. He said that China is a great country, holds a significant place in Bangladesh’s foreign policy, and is a valued and trusted partner of Bangladesh. He was pleased that bilateral relations have been raised to a new level of a Bangladesh-China community with a shared future in the new era. Under the strong leadership of President Xi Jinping, China has made great development achievements, and Chinese modernisation is an example for Bangladesh to learn from.

The two countries released a 15-point Joint Communiqué. In it, the two sides agreed to promote high-quality cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative and work together to realise their goals of modernisation. China will pursue greater synergy with Bangladesh on development plans, promote both major signature projects and “small and beautiful” livelihood projects, and continue to support Bangladesh in advancing industrialisation and enhancing agricultural modernisation and resilience.

Bangladesh appreciated China for the zero-tariff treatment for 100 percent of tariff lines and will foster a favourable environment for Chinese enterprises to invest in Bangladesh. The two sides agreed to deepen cooperation in such areas as integrated water resources management, water resources planning, hydrological forecasting, flood prevention and disaster reduction, and river dredging, and related technology sharing.

China supported Bangladesh in playing a greater role in multilateral institutions such as the UN, and supported Bangladesh to participate in the BRICS and the application of Bangladesh to become a partner of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). The two sides expressed readiness to continue promoting multilateral cooperation in the region and welcome more regional countries to join in the process.

Bangladesh commended China’s constructive role in promoting the resolution of the issue concerning the forcibly displaced people from the Rakhine State of Myanmar who have taken shelter in Bangladesh. The Chinese side commended Bangladesh for providing humanitarian assistance to those people, and supported Bangladesh and Myanmar in finding a mutually acceptable solution through friendly consultations. China will continue to facilitate this process to the best of its capabilities.

The previous day, Rahman had met with his Chinese counterpart Premier Li Qiang, who said that China stands ready to work with Bangladesh to consolidate strategic mutual trust, expand practical cooperation, and bring more benefits to the people of both countries.

China is also ready to work with Bangladesh to uphold good-neighbourliness and friendship, consolidate strategic mutual trust, expand practical cooperation, promote continuous new and greater development of China-Bangladesh relations, and bring more benefits to the people of the two countries.

China is also willing to work with Bangladesh to promote high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, import more high-quality products from Bangladesh, support capable Chinese enterprises in investing in Bangladesh, and expand cooperation in emerging industries such as new energy, digital economy, artificial intelligence and information and communication with the Bangladeshi side.

Li also noted that China stands ready to closely coordinate and cooperate with Bangladesh in multilateral affairs, safeguard common interests, promote unity and self-reliance among developing countries, and make greater contributions to the joint development of the Global South.

Rahman expressed his gratitude to China for the valuable support it has provided to Bangladesh’s economic and social development over a long period of time, noting that Bangladesh looks forward to maintaining close high-level exchanges with China and strengthening the alignment of their development strategies.

Bangladesh firmly defends the post-war international order and highly agrees with and supports the concept of a community with a shared future for humanity and the four major global initiatives proposed by China. Bangladesh is also willing to cooperate with China on multilateral platforms.

Rahman met with Zhao Leji, chairman of China’s National People’s Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, on June 26.

Zhao said China is willing to work with Bangladesh to implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, carry forward and practice the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, deepen political mutual trust, expand mutually beneficial cooperation and promote the continuous development of China-Bangladesh relations.

The previous day he met with Liu Haixing, Minister of the International Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee (IDCPC), in his capacity of Chairman of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).

Rahman said that China is a trustworthy old friend, a good friend and the most important development partner of Bangladesh. Bangladesh cannot achieve development and security without China’s assistance and support. Bangladesh firmly upholds the one-China principle and stands ready to work with China to carry forward the tradition of friendship, deepen mutual support, expand practical cooperation across all sectors, including livelihood projects in such areas as water infrastructure, industrial parks and hospitals, and push Bangladesh-China relations to a new height, so as to deliver greater benefits to the two peoples.

Liu noted that since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1975, friendship has always been the defining feature of China-Bangladesh relations, and continuity is a defining feature of the friendship. Today, with unprecedented changes unfolding at a faster pace, the two sides should further consolidate political mutual trust through mutual support, draw a blueprint for win-win outcomes through practical cooperation, strengthen the bonds between the two peoples through people-to-people exchanges, and uphold international equity and justice through multilateral collaboration, ensuring that the friendship between China and Bangladesh is passed down through generations and continues to brim with new vitality. The CPC attaches great importance to its friendly relations with the BNP, and stands ready to take the signing of the memorandum of understanding on exchanges and cooperation between the two Parties as an opportunity to further deepen institutionalised inter-party exchanges, raise the level of the exchange of experience in state governance and administration, and promote cooperation in such areas as sub-national, youth, media and livelihood affairs through the “political party+” channel, so as to contribute the strength of the political parties to the continued development of China-Bangladesh relations.

Tarique Rahman became the 11th Prime Minister of Bangladesh on February 17, 2026, following the BNP’s decisive victory in the general election of February 12, where it won two thirds of the parliamentary seats. The Awami League, winner of the last four elections, was banned and could not contest. Rahman’s late father and mother previously served respectively as president and prime minister of Bangladesh.

Manufactured outrage: the truth about China’s ethnic unity law

The following article by Carlos Martinez, co-editor of Friends of Socialist China, responds to the coordinated storm of condemnation that greeted the entry into force on 1 July of China’s Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress – a campaign that seeks to revive the discredited “Xinjiang genocide” narrative and extend it to Xizang (Tibet) and beyond.

Carlos examines what the law actually says, and contrasts China’s record on minority rights – rising life expectancy, the elimination of absolute poverty, and the protection and flourishing of minority languages – with the treatment of minority communities in the West.

He traces the long history of Western sponsorship of separatism in China, from the CIA’s two-decade Tibetan programme to the National Endowment for Democracy’s funding of exile groups today, and locates the current hysteria in the failure of the propaganda war: as polling shows steadily warming attitudes towards China, particularly among the young, the ideologues of the New Cold War are increasingly desperate to re-toxify China’s image. What China is building is strength through unity in diversity; what its adversaries want to see is disunity and disintegration.

On 1 July, China’s Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress came into force – the country’s first comprehensive national law on ethnic affairs, adopted by the National People’s Congress in March.

Within days, a remarkably well-coordinated storm of condemnation had been whipped up: denunciations from Washington and Brussels, a resolution in the European Parliament, and a wave of media coverage announcing that China had ordered its minorities to “assimilate”. The thoroughly discredited “Xinjiang genocide” narrative is being dusted off and relaunched – this time with Xizang (Tibet) added to the charge sheet for good measure.

What does the law actually say? It stipulates that upholding national unity and ethnic solidarity is the responsibility of all Chinese citizens, and it prohibits discrimination and suppression against any ethnic group. It strongly re-affirms the right of all peoples to use and develop their own spoken and written languages. It directs central and local government to strengthen infrastructure, industry, public services and environmental protection in minority regions, and to ensure that no ethnic group is left behind in China’s modernisation.

As such, it continues a long-standing programme of what would be called, in Western terminology, affirmative action: preferential university admissions for minority students, bilingual education, protected minority-language broadcasting, and formal autonomy arrangements from Inner Mongolia to Yunnan – to which one might add that China’s national minorities were exempt from the one-child policy throughout its existence. Altogether, strange provisions indeed for a programme of persecution.

CPC meets Spanish communists

On June 24, Ma Hui, Vice-minister of the International Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee (IDCPC) met in Beijing with a visiting delegation headed by Jose Luis Centella, President of the Communist Party of Spain (PCE).

The Spanish comrades were visiting China to attend the 2026 Think Tank Forum on National Governance in Developing Countries.

Ma briefed the guests on Xi Jinping Thought on Party Building, noting that it originates from the scientific theory of Marxism, takes root in the fine traditional Chinese culture, and has been nurtured by the great practice of exercising comprehensive and strict governance over the Party in the new era. It has made significant original contributions to the development of the Marxist theory of party building, he added.

Centella said that the Communist Party of Spain stands ready to learn from the CPC’s experience in party governance and discipline, further improve its own theoretical guidance of Marxism and ideological and organisational building, and better explore a development path suited to its national conditions.

Chinese Embassy in Canada marks the 105th anniversary of the CPC

On July 3, 2026, the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Ottawa, Canada, organised a Roundtable Discussion to celebrate the 105th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, under the theme, ‘Working Together to Build the China-Canada New Strategic Partnership’. In his opening remarks, Ambassador Wang Di highlighted that throughout its 105-year history, the CPC has been and remains the backbone of all advances in China. This includes the period of reform and opening up. As part of the development of modern China based on socialism with Chinese characteristics, the CPC, he continued, has changed the future and life of all Chinese people and has always stood on the right side of history. On the international stage, the Ambassador highlighted, among other points, the Chinese notion of a shared future for world peace. He stated that this gathering is taking place in the context of the new China-Canada Strategic Partnership, an important milestone since China and Canada first established diplomatic relations in 1970. The following guests participated in the roundtable:

Victor Oh: former Canadian Senator;
Warren Bethune: President of the Canada-China Friendship Association in Toronto and a relative of the legendary Canadian internationalist Dr. Norman Bethune;
Arnold August: author and journalist, who is a contributor to this website and active participant in the work of Friends of Socialist China in North America;
Dan Donovan: Publisher and Editor-in-Chief, Ottawa Life Magazine;
Julian Karagusian: Visiting Lecturer, McGill University, Montreal;
Claire Citeau: Senior Vice-President, Trade and Global Relations, Canadian Meat Council;
Miguel Figueroa: former President of the Canadian Peace Congress;
Maxime Proud: Co-Founder and President, China Canada Futures Foundation;
Alex MacDonald: Member of the Executive of the Ottawa Club of the Communist Party of Canada;
Lu Hongmin: Chairman, Board of Directors, Federation of Ottawa Chinese Canadian Community Organisations;
Deng Jun: President of the Canada China Chamber of Commerce;
Chen Chen: Chinese student representative, the University of Ottawa.

In his concluding remarks, Ambassador Wang mentioned the important role of Norman Bethune, about whom everyone in China knows. Other speakers also noted that Bethune was the most famous member of the Communist Party of Canada.

Chinese Embassy in London holds symposium on the CPC and the world

On the morning of July 6, 2026, the Chinese Embassy in the UK held a symposium entitled “The Communist Party of China and the World”, marking the CPC’s 105th founding anniversary.

The event was chaired by Minister Zhao Fei and Ambassador Zheng Zeguang delivered a keynote speech entitled ‘Reviewing the Glorious Journey, Creating New Historic Success, and Jointly Promoting the Building of a Community with a Shared Future for Humanity’.

In his presentation, Ambassador Zheng elaborated on General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important speech at the rally celebrating the 105th anniversary of the founding of the CPC, held in Beijing on July 1.

He described the speech as a political declaration for Chinese Communists to uphold and develop socialism with Chinese characteristics and continuously achieve new victories in Chinese modernisation on the new journey in the new era. It also serves as an important window through which friends from around the world can better understand the CPC.

He said that on the journey ahead, China will study and implement Xi Jinping Thought on Party Building, uphold a correct view of governance performance, persist in exercising full and rigorous self-governance of the Party, and carry forward the Party’s outstanding qualities, thus ensuring that the Party always maintains strong creativity, cohesion and combat effectiveness. Although the road ahead is full of risks and challenges, requiring constant readiness to withstand high winds, strong waves, and even turbulent storms, the CPC has strong confidence and firm resolve, and will remain steadfast and forge ahead with courage to create new historic successes.

Ambassador Zheng noted that while the CPC is committed to seeking happiness for the Chinese people and rejuvenation for the Chinese nation, it is also dedicated to advancing human progress and promoting harmony for the world.

He stressed the CPC’s readiness to engage in dialogue and exchanges and strengthen mutual learning with political parties and governments of all countries on the basis of mutual respect and equality and also briefed the participants on the development of China-UK relations since the beginning of this year.

Following the ambassador’s keynote report, contributions to the discussion were made by the following guests:

Alex Gordon, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Britain (CPB)
Andy Brooks, General Secretary of the New Communist Party of Britain (NCP)
Daniel O’Brien, Vice Chair of the Communist Party of Great Britain (Marxist-Leninist) (CPGBML)
Stephen Perry, Honorary President of the 48 Group
The Right Honourable Lord (Neil) Davidson KC, Baron of Glen Cova, Labour Member of the House of Lords
Sir Mark Hendrick, Labour Member of Parliament and Vice Chair of the China All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG)
Professor Kerry Brown, Director of the Lau China Institute, King’s College London
Keith Bennett, Co-editor of Friends of Socialist China
Kevan Nelson, International Secretary of the CPB
Dr Ali Al Assam, Committee member of Friends of Socialist China
Dr Francisco Dominguez, Committee member of Friends of Socialist China
George Korkovelos, Culture Secretary of the CPGBML

Cuba’s communists say: the Communist Party of China is today an indispensable reference point in the process of building socialism

On June 29, an important political function was held at the Palace of the Revolution in the Cuban capital Havana to mark the July 1 105th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the 90th anniversary of the victory of the Long March.

It was attended by the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, along with members of the party’s Political Bureau; leaders of the Party, the State, the Government, the Young Communist League, mass organisations, the Revolutionary Armed Forces, the Ministry of the Interior, the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP), and others. Also present were Chinese Ambassador Hua Xin, members of his staff, Chinese students, and representatives of Chinese companies based on the island; as well as ambassadors and other members of the diplomatic corps.

In his speech, Ambassador Hua Xin affirmed that: “The Communist Party of China will always stand with the Communist Party of Cuba,” adding:

“Today, faced with the escalating blockade imposed by the United States, as well as its military threats, the Party, the Government, and the people of Cuba remain steadfast in their conviction, will not yield to pressure, and will resolutely defend national sovereignty and the socialist cause.

“We categorically oppose the illegal unilateral sanctions and any form of military intervention; we demand that the United States immediately end the blockade and all forms of coercion, and that it cease violating the Cuban people’s right to survival and development.

“We firmly support Cuba in exploring a path of socialist development, in accordance with its national conditions; and we highly value the decision of the Communist Party of Cuba to courageously promote measures of economic and social transformation. We are confident that, under the leadership of the Communist Party of Cuba, the heroic Cuban people will overcome current difficulties and achieve new victories in socialist construction.”

The keynote address at the commemoration was delivered by Emilio Lozada García, member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and head of its International Relations Department. Recalling the visionary pioneers who founded the CPC in 1921, he said:

“Those 50 courageous communist militants have multiplied and today number more than one hundred million, making them the largest Communist Party in the world today.”

He added that: “In the history of its struggle, the heroic leadership of the Long March by the Red Army, between October 1934 and October 1936, stands out. This campaign gave a new and decisive direction to the war and demonstrated what a people, guided by its Communist Party, is capable of achieving.”

Moving towards the present day, he noted: “The Reform and Opening Up policy, after almost five decades of implementation, has allowed China to become the world’s second-largest economy and has demonstrated the validity of socialism as a political system.

“It has also been key in the process of national reunification, especially in the incorporation of Hong Kong and Macao in 1997 and 1999.

“The theoretical and practical contributions of Chinese communists to Marxism-Leninism and the process of building socialism have been fundamental, both economically, politically, and ideologically. The top Chinese Party leaders, from Chairman Mao Zedong to the current General Secretary Xi Jinping, have played a vital role in advancing socialist thought in a once-poor country that, in less than a century, has achieved a high level of socioeconomic development and the eradication of extreme poverty.”

In the international arena, Emilio Lozada highlighted that: “The initiatives promoted in recent years by the General Secretary of the Party, Comrade Xi Jinping, regarding the Belt and Road Initiative, the Building of a Community with a Shared Future for Humanity, as well as the initiatives on global security, development, civilisation, and governance, have been particularly relevant… Both parties promote cooperation with political forces of the Global South through the BRICS Political Parties Forum and other international party spaces. They foster unity and coordination among all communist parties at the International Meeting of Communist and Workers’ Parties.”

Bilaterally, he stressed: “We appreciate the firm and unwavering support of the Communist Party of China against the economic, commercial, and financial blockade and the energy embargo imposed by the United States government, as well as against the infamous accusation against Army General Raúl Castro Ruz.

“The Communist Party of Cuba is grateful for the constant support and accompaniment of the Communist Party of China, especially in the current circumstances of collective punishment and silent genocide against the Cuban people.”

He further emphasised: “The Communist Party of China is today an indispensable reference point in the process of building socialism and has demonstrated that the socialist system is a viable alternative to the savage capitalism that they are trying to impose on us from the North.

“Its commitment to achieving a more just, democratic, and equitable international order reaffirms that a better world is possible.”

Concluding, he noted: “In 2007, on the anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, the historic leader of the Cuban Revolution, Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro Ruz, stated: ‘Eighty-six years have passed since the establishment of the Communist Party of China. Now China has become an example and a bastion of hope for other countries.’

“Nineteen years later, these words remain fully relevant.”

The CPC’s contribution to global governance

The following article by Carlos Martinez asks what kind of international order the Communist Party of China has sought to build over its 105 years – and finds a consistent answer: an order founded on peace. Against the Western media’s warnings of Chinese “assertiveness” and “expansionism”, Carlos sets out China’s actual record: no major war in over four decades, a single overseas base, a no-first-use nuclear pledge, and a tradition running from the 1954 Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence to today’s Global Security Initiative. He traces how that principle – that security can only be common, or it is no security at all – has translated into practice, from the Iran–Saudi Arabia rapprochement to the Beijing Declaration on Palestinian unity.

The Long March spirit: enduring legacy, modern drive, and global vision

In the following article, which was originally published in China Today, Keith Bennett explores how the Long March spirit – defined by perseverance, unity, sacrifice, truth-seeking, and deep ties with the people – continues to shape China’s development and global engagement. It starts by revisiting Edgar Snow’s 1936 journey to the Communist Party’s revolutionary base, highlighting how his classic account ‘Red Star Over China’ offered the world an unprecedented, first-hand portrayal of the Communist Party of China (CPC), the Red Army, and the Long March, countering Western ignorance and distorted narratives. Snow’s vivid reporting revealed the CPC’s ideals, discipline, and commitment to national salvation, helping establish the Long March as an event of global significance in the fight against fascism.

The article emphasises Snow’s role as part of a broader tradition of international solidarity, alongside figures like the internationalist surgeons Norman Bethune from Canada and Dwarkanath Kotnis from India, who supported China in the bitter days of war.

Keith highlights the fact that the Long March spirit remains a living force in contemporary China, guiding such endeavours as poverty alleviation, rural revitalisation, scientific innovation, ecological civilisation, and major national development goals. It also informs China’s international role, for example through the Belt and Road Initiative and the Global Development, Security, Civilisation, and Governance Initiatives, which aim to build a community with a shared future for humanity, especially through partnerships with the Global South.

Keith concludes that commemorating the Long March means recognising its enduring values – conviction, discipline, and perseverance – which continue to inspire China’s modernisation and its vision of multipolarity, global cooperation and shared progress.

The Great Road – Zhu De, fifty years on

The following article by Carlos Martinez marks the 50th anniversary of the death of Zhu De – founder of the People’s Liberation Army and, with Mao Zedong, one of the leading architects of the Chinese Revolution’s victory.

Drawing on the classic accounts of Agnes Smedley, Edgar Snow and Evans Carlson, it traces Zhu De’s journey from a tenant’s hut in Sichuan, through to the founding of the Red Army and the rostrum at Tiananmen Square – and asks what his life still teaches, half a century on.

Fifty years ago, on 6 July 1976, Zhu De died in Beijing at the age of 89. It was a year of terrible losses for the Chinese people: Zhou Enlai had died in January; Mao Zedong would follow in September. Of the three, Zhu De is the least remembered in the West – and yet the army he built, the People’s Liberation Army, remains the guarantor of everything the Chinese Revolution has achieved, and his life traces the arc of that revolution more completely than almost any other.

Red Virtue: origins in Sichuan

Zhu De was born in December 1886 into a tenant family in Yilong county, Sichuan, on an estate whose landlord was known locally as the “King of Hell”. By what Edgar Snow called “a strange accident of language”, the two characters of his name mean “Red Virtue” – a fact his parents could hardly have foreseen, “or they would surely have changed it in terror”.

His mother bore 13 children; the last five were drowned at birth because the family could not feed them. She herself, he recalled, “was so humble that she had no name of her own”. The clan pooled its resources to educate a single son who could talk back to the tax collectors – and so Zhu De, almost by accident, became literate, passed through the old examination system in its dying days, and entered the Yunnan Military Academy, where he joined Sun Yat-sen’s revolutionary Tongmenghui (a radical secret society and precursor to the Kuomintang) and took part in the 1911 Revolution and the campaigns that destroyed Yuan Shikai’s attempted monarchy.

The hardest battle

By his mid-thirties Zhu De was a general in the warlord armies of the south-west: wealthy, decorated, and addicted to opium. The 1911 Revolution, he concluded, had been “aborted by republican compromise with foreign imperialism”; warlordism was a dead end, and he was part of it. So he walked away. He gave up his commands and his fortune, and broke his opium addiction alone – pacing the deck of a Yangtze steamer for a month, in what Snow called “the hardest battle of his life”, proof that “this man had more steel in his will than his acquaintances supposed”.

Then he asked to join the infant Communist Party. His reasoning was characteristically direct: if the foreign imperialists attacked this party with everything ugly in their vocabulary, “it was the party for Chu Teh” (Chu Teh being the older Western spelling of his name). Rejected in Shanghai by then CPC General Secretary Chen Duxiu – who could not believe a former warlord general capable of becoming a communist – he sailed for Europe, and in Berlin in late 1922 presented himself to a student organiser more than ten years his junior named Zhou Enlai. His old life, he said, “had turned to ashes beneath his feet”. He was admitted to the party he would serve for the remaining 54 years of his life.

Zhu and Mao: the birth of the Red Army

On 1 August 1927, after Chiang Kai-shek’s massacre of the Shanghai workers had drowned the first united front between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party in blood, Zhu De helped lead the Nanchang Uprising – the date still marked as the founding of the People’s Liberation Army. When the uprising’s forces were shattered, it was Zhu De who held the remnant together through a desperate winter retreat, facing down the defeatists: “I refused to return to warlordism. I had chosen the road of the people’s revolution and I would follow it to the end.”

In the spring of 1928 he brought his survivors to Jinggangshan and joined forces with Mao Zedong. From that meeting the two men’s lives became, in Agnes Smedley’s memorable phrase, “like the two arms of one body”; the Kuomintang press, unable to conceive of them separately, called the Red Army the “Chu Mao Army”.

An army of a new kind

What kind of army was it? Its commander-in-chief spun, wove, planted vegetables and carried supplies like any soldier. “Chu Teh’s devotion to his men was proverbial”, Snow recorded in Red Star Over China: he “lived and dressed like the rank and file, had shared all their hardships, often going without shoes in the early days, living one whole winter on squash, another on yak meat, never complaining”. Corporal punishment – which Zhu De had campaigned against as a cadet – was abolished; officers and men ate the same food; after every battle, conferences were held at which any fighter could criticise any commander, Zhu De included.

A comrade who knew him in his Berlin years told Snow that “he always invited criticism; he had an insatiable appetite for criticism”. It was an army that opened prison doors, divided the land, taught peasants to read, and understood – in Zhu De’s famous conclusion – that “the peasants of China are the most revolutionary people on earth”.

The Long March and the war of resistance

On the Long March he marched farther than anyone, spending an extra year in the Tibetan borderlands – and refusing the disastrous ‘southern retreat’ tactic advanced by Zhang Guotao, a founding member of the party who later abandoned the revolution: “We had not made the Long March in order to stick in the high Tibetan–Chinese borderland while the Japanese continued lopping off province after province.”

Snow’s verdict was unequivocal: “For pure military strategy and tactical handling of a great army in retreat nothing has been seen in China to compare with Chu Teh’s splendid generalship of the Long March.”

As commander-in-chief of the Eighth Route Army he led the resistance behind Japanese lines, launching the Hundred Regiments Offensive in 1940 – and ordering, against every convention of that savage war, that Japanese prisoners be treated humanely, as “the sons and brothers of the toiling Japanese masses”. This was not sentiment but strategy: an army that could distinguish the enemy’s conscripts from the enemy’s rulers was fighting a different kind of war.

In August 1945, when Chiang Kai-shek ordered the liberated areas’ armies to halt so that the Kuomintang could harvest the victory, Zhu De’s reply entered history: “We consider that you have given us a mistaken order. We are compelled to firmly refuse the order.” Four years later he stood beside Mao on the Tiananmen rostrum as commander-in-chief of the PLA at the proclamation of the People’s Republic. In 1955 he was named first among the ten marshals; from 1959 until his death he served as Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress – serving the people skilfully and without ostentation, until the end.

What his life teaches, fifty years on

What can we learn from such a life, half a century on? Three things, at least.

First, that revolutionary strength flows from the people or it flows from nowhere. Zhu De’s military genius – the guerrilla tactics that defeated four encirclement campaigns and were studied from Vietnam to Cuba – rested on a political foundation: an army that served the peasants could see with the peasants’ eyes, while its enemies “were afraid to advance after they sighted even one barefoot peasant watching them from a distance”.

Second, that people can change, profoundly and at any age. The warlord general who renounced wealth, rank and opium to start again at the bottom in his mid-thirties, standing to attention before a man ten years younger, is a standing rebuke to every cynic who says character is destiny. China’s revolution demanded the remaking of a nation; Zhu De began by remaking himself.

Third, that greatness and humility can inhabit the same person. Evans Carlson wrote that Zhu De combined “the kindness of a Robert E. Lee, the tenacity of a Grant, and the humility of a Lincoln”; his soldiers put it more simply – he was a peasant like themselves, and no officer dared curse or strike them while he commanded. The army’s affectionate nickname for him was “Chief of the Cooks”, earned the night he escaped assassination in a warlord coup by convincing the gunmen pointing revolvers at his head: “Don’t shoot me. I’m only the cook. Don’t shoot a man who can cook for you!”

A friendship across nations

It is fitting that his story reached the Western world through Agnes Smedley, the legendary North American revolutionary journalist who followed his headquarters through the war years and set down his life in The Great Road. She did not live to see it published; her ashes lie in Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery in Beijing, following her death in the UK in May 1950, beneath a stone bearing Zhu De’s own calligraphy – a friendship across nations that itself embodies what both fought for.

From a tenant’s hut on the “King of Hell’s” estate to the rostrum at Tiananmen, no life traced the revolution’s road more completely. Mao’s own verdict on him, quoted by Xi Jinping at the 130th anniversary of Zhu De’s birth, stands as the best epitaph: his magnanimity was as vast as the sea, his will as firm as steel. Smedley called her book The Great Road; fifty years after his death, China is still travelling it.

References

Agnes Smedley, The Great Road: The Life and Times of Chu Teh (Monthly Review Press, 1956) – the definitive biography, drawn from Smedley’s wartime interviews with Zhu De.
Edgar Snow, Red Star Over China (Victor Gollancz, 1937) – source of the accounts of Zhu De’s character, the Long March and the early Red Army.
Evans F. Carlson, Twin Stars of China (Dodd, Mead, 1940) – source of the “Robert E. Lee … Grant … Lincoln” comparison.
Xi Jinping, speech at the ceremony marking the 130th anniversary of Zhu De’s birth (2016) – source of Mao’s “vast as the sea … firm as steel” tribute.

What defines the CPC’s 105-year success? – a CGTN Dialogue

The following is a discussion from CGTN’s Dialogue programme marking the 105th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China. Broadcast in the wake of Xi Jinping’s anniversary speech – in which he hailed the Party’s 105-year history as the “most magnificent epic” of the Chinese nation – it brings together Xia Lu, associate professor at the School of CPC History and Party Building at Renmin University of China; Carlos Martinez, co-editor of Friends of Socialist China; and Radhika Desai, convenor of the International Manifesto Group.

The panel discusses how to evaluate the CPC’s achievements and governing logic; the role of Marxism – seeking truth from facts, the mass line, and the Party’s capacity for self-renewal – in explaining its longevity and legitimacy; and the distinctiveness of Chinese modernisation. Radhika Desai argues that the Chinese revolution, following the Bolshevik revolution, set humanity on a path to socialism, and that amid a declining capitalism China has become an “ocean of stability”. Carlos Martinez stresses that China’s is a modernisation achieved without colonialism, slavery or war – shattering the Eurocentric assumption that to modernise is to Westernise. Xia Lu reads the Party’s six outstanding qualities through the lens of dialectical and historical materialism, and emphasises the mass line and the Party’s vigilance against detachment from the people.

Trump, Panama and the Monroe Doctrine

Donald Trump has declared that the United States “will not let China take over the Panama Canal”.

Start with the obvious: China does not own, run or control the Panama Canal, and has no plans to do so. The canal is the sovereign property of Panama, operated by the Panama Canal Authority. The Chinese Embassy in Panama has stated plainly that China has never participated in the canal’s management or operation, respects Panama’s sovereignty over it, and recognises it as a permanently neutral international waterway. There is no Chinese takeover, planned or otherwise.

What actually exists is a modest commercial footprint. A Hong Kong company, CK Hutchison, won – through open bidding – the rights to handle cargo and warehousing at two terminals at either end of the canal. Terminals, not the waterway; commerce, not control. Chinese vessels transit the canal paying the same tolls, under the same rules, as everyone else.

And even that footprint is being dismantled: under relentless US pressure, Hutchison’s ports are being sold to a consortium led by the US asset manager BlackRock, while Panama has already been strong-armed out of the Belt and Road Initiative.

There’s a rich historical irony here. The one country that has actually seized and controlled the canal is the United States. Washington engineered Panama’s secession from Colombia in 1903 to build and own the canal; the US held Panama as a colonial enclave for most of the twentieth century; and invaded the country in 1989, killing hundreds of Panamanians. It returned the canal only because a mass sovereignty movement, and the Torrijos-Carter Treaties, forced it to. To this day the US retains a treaty-based claim to send troops into Panama whenever it unilaterally decides a “security risk” exists. If you want to identify the foreign power that constrains Panama’s sovereignty, there it is.

This is the Monroe Doctrine, alive and well. Trump’s own National Security Strategy states the aim plainly: to “deny non-Hemispheric competitors the ability to… own or control strategically vital assets in our Hemisphere”. Latin America is once again to be treated as the imperial backyard, and any Chinese presence – however commercial, however welcomed by the host nation – recast as a hostile incursion to be purged.

And the canal is only one piece on a much larger board. Driving Chinese investors out of Panama belongs to a broader global strategy: the same logic behind Washington’s designs on Greenland, Iceland, the Baltic and the Strait of Hormuz. The goal is to control the world’s trade routes, keep the oil trade priced in dollars, and preserve a financial system so thoroughly weaponised that the US can seize any country’s assets at will – as it has done with Venezuela’s gold, Russia’s reserves and Iran’s savings. Panama’s canal is a chokepoint on that map, and the “China threat” is simply the pretext for tightening Washington’s grip on it.

But Latin American countries are turning to China for a reason. Since establishing ties with Panama in 2017, China has helped revive stalled infrastructure and supported the country’s coffee industry through the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation. Across the region, trade with, and investment from, China have grown more than 20-fold since 2000, and the new Chancay mega-port in Peru is reshaping trade across the Pacific – cooperation on terms of sovereign equality and mutual benefit that Washington has never offered and never will.

The real question isn’t whether China will “take over” the Panama Canal. It’s whether Panama, and the region, get to make their own choices – or whether the empire next door still decides for them.

The USA and the CPC – a tale of two anniversaries

The following article by Carlos Martinez marks two anniversaries falling days apart – the 105th of the Communist Party of China on 1 July and the 250th of the United States on 4 July – and asks what these two political projects have contributed to the world.

This article first appeared in the Morning Star.

This week features two anniversaries that, taken together, tell much of the story of our age. On 1 July, the Communist Party of China marked 105 years since its founding. On 4 July, the United States celebrates 250 years since the Declaration of Independence. The two milestones invite a comparison: what have these two political projects contributed to the world?

War and peace

The US was born in a revolution against empire and has spent much of its life building one. By one widely cited reckoning, the US has been at war for over 90 percent of its history – from the wars of continental conquest to Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and Iran. It maintains around 800 military bases in 80 countries and spends over a trillion dollars a year on its armed forces.

China’s record could hardly be more different. It has not fought a war in close to five decades. The major conflicts it was previously drawn into – Korea and Vietnam – were in defence of neighbours resisting imperialism. It has never launched a war of aggression, never seized a colony, never carried out a regime-change operation, never imposed a unilateral sanctions regime. Its foreign policy still rests on the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence – mutual respect for sovereignty, non-aggression, non-interference, equality and mutual benefit – first articulated in 1954. Even on the nuclear question, where Western media warn of a Chinese build-up, China holds around 500 warheads to the United States’ several thousand, and remains the only major nuclear power consistently and unambiguously committed to a policy of no first use, in place since its first nuclear test in 1964.

This difference scales up to the level of the world system. The US sits at the head of an order it designed and polices – an order of dollar dominance, financial sanctions, military alliances, and the assumed right to intervene anywhere in defence of its own economic and strategic interests. As the New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman famously put it, “the hidden hand of the market will never work without a hidden fist – McDonald’s cannot flourish without McDonnell Douglas”.

China, by contrast, has thrown its weight behind a multipolar trajectory: the Belt and Road Initiative, to which three-quarters of UN member states have signed up; the expansion of BRICS; global initiatives on development, security, civilisational dialogue and governance; and an insistence on sovereign equality – that nations be free to choose their own path. One project seeks to preserve a hierarchy with a single power at the top. The other works towards a global community of shared future, in which all nations participate on equal terms.

Neoliberalism versus common prosperity

Over four decades China has lifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty – more than three-quarters of the global total – and in 2021 declared the elimination of extreme poverty, a decade ahead of the UN’s own target. It has built the largest public medical insurance network on earth, covering essentially its entire population, extended pension coverage to all its elderly, and largely solved the problem of homelessness.

Diane Abbott: The US plan is for global domination – we have to be determined in the campaign for peace

Nearly 3,000 delegates from across Britain, Europe and further afield packed London’s Westminster Central Hall on Saturday June 20 for a conference against war and militarism hosted by Britain’s Stop the War Coalition. It was the second conference of its kind, the first having been held in Paris in October 2025.

In a day noted for numerous rousing and militant speeches, special mention should be made of that made by Diane Abbott, which, despite its brevity, was unique in its providing an insightful overview of the international situation as a whole, the various struggles against imperialism and war and the significance of China.

After referring to the situations in Venezuela, Cuba, Nigeria, Syria, Palestine and Lebanon, Diane continued:

“There is a military build-up against China, especially through AUKUS. And of course, there is the war and blockade of Iran. Finally, there is the prolonged war in Ukraine, the largest war in Europe since the Second World War, much bigger even than the NATO campaign to destroy Yugoslavia.”

All these have one thing in common, she explained. “The United States is central to them all and initiated most of them.”

Referring to the latest US National Security Strategy, she noted that some people have argued that this means that the United States is now restricting its attention to the western hemisphere. But “none of that is true… It is a plan for global domination.”

Economically, the US is on the retreat and has lost its dominance. It has “lost out to the Global South in general and China in particular.” But it is attempting to recover its position primarily through a combination of trade wars, sanctions, and military methods. In this it relies on the overwhelming dominance of the US military, the global role of the US dollar and its network of allies.

However, not everything is going to plan. The US lost the first few rounds of the trade war with China.

She concludes: “It seems clear that we are in for a prolonged fight… We have to be determined in the campaign for peace, and unite with all those governments, movements and peoples who oppose this US rampage.”

Diane Abbott is the member of parliament for Hackney North and Stoke Newington in northeast London. She was first elected in 1987, becoming Britain’s first ever black woman parliamentarian. She is now the ‘Mother of the House’ – the longest currently serving woman member of the House of Commons. Having served as Shadow Home Secretary during Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership of the Labour Party, she is currently suspended from the Parliamentary Labour Party, due to the discredited regime of Keir Starmer’s war against the left and to her steadfast opposition to austerity, racism and imperialist war.

Xi Jinping delivers major speech marking 105 years of the Communist Party of China

On the occasion of the 105th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, a grand commemorative gathering was held in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People on July 1st, at which Comrade Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, President of the People’s Republic of China and Chairman of the Central Military Commission, made an important speech.

Among the key points made by Xi Jinping are:

One hundred and five years ago, amid the great awakening of the Chinese people and the Chinese nation and the close integration of Marxism-Leninism with China’s workers’ movement, the Communist Party of China was born. From that point on, the Chinese people and the Chinese nation had a most reliable backbone, and a China beset by internal turmoil and external aggression and mired in poverty and weakness embarked on an earth-shaking historical transformation.

Over these 105 years, our Party has held fast to its founding mission of seeking happiness for the Chinese people and rejuvenation for the Chinese nation. It has discerned the broad trends of world development, accurately grasped the changes in the principal social contradiction across different historical periods, and united and led the people of all ethnic groups in unremitting struggle. It has achieved the great successes of the new democratic revolution, of socialist revolution and construction, of reform and opening up and socialist modernisation, and of socialism with Chinese characteristics for a new era, writing the most magnificent epic in the several-thousand-year history of the Chinese nation.

Leading the people through magnificent and great struggles, our Party overthrew the three big mountains of imperialism, feudalism, and bureaucrat capitalism, established a New China in which the people are masters of the country, brought a definitive end to old China’s history as a semi-colonial, semi-feudal society, and achieved the historic leap in the people’s lives from inadequate food and clothing, to moderate prosperity in general, and then to moderate prosperity in all respects.

Through the great endeavours of revolution, construction, reform, and the new era, our Party has led the people through countless hardships to successfully open up and stay on the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics, completing in a few decades an industrialisation process that took developed countries several centuries, and producing the twin miracles of rapid economic growth and long-term social stability.

One hundred and five years of unremitting struggle have demonstrated the powerful vitality of Marxism. Our Party has integrated the basic tenets of Marxism with China’s specific realities and with fine traditional Chinese culture, continually advancing the adaptation of Marxism to the Chinese context and the needs of the times, and giving rise to Mao Zedong Thought, Deng Xiaoping Theory, the Theory of Three Represents, the Scientific Outlook on Development, and the Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, thereby greatly enriching and developing Marxism. Today the vigour and vitality of the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics have fully borne out the scientific and truthful nature of Marxism, fully displayed its people-centred and practical character, and fully demonstrated its openness and contemporary relevance.

One hundred and five years of unremitting struggle have profoundly shaped the course of world history. Our Party has always stood on the right side of history and on the side of human progress, and through tireless self-strengthening it has profoundly changed the trends and configuration of world development. Today, as the Party leads the people in advancing Chinese modernisation, it has created a new form of human civilisation and broadened the paths by which developing countries can achieve modernisation. We are working to build a community with a shared future for humanity, contributing Chinese wisdom, Chinese proposals, and Chinese strength to solving humanity’s major problems. Socialist China under the Party’s leadership is widely recognised as a builder of world peace, a contributor to global development, and a defender of the international order.

Our Party has kept firmly in mind the nature, purpose, and goals of a Marxist party, vigorously carried forward the great founding spirit of the Party, and grown ever more resolute through adversity and ever stronger through repeated tempering. Today our Party has grown into the world’s largest governing party with major global influence, enjoying the wholehearted support of the people, serving as the strong core of leadership for the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and proving itself fully worthy of being called a great, glorious, and correct party.

At this moment we deeply cherish the memory of the older generation of revolutionaries such as Comrades Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, Liu Shaoqi, Zhu De, Deng Xiaoping, and Chen Yun, and of Comrade Jiang Zemin, and we deeply cherish the memory of the revolutionary martyrs and people of high ideals who advanced wave upon wave, sacrificing and giving of themselves for national independence, the liberation of the people, the prosperity of the country, and the happiness of the people.

Our Party takes Marxism as a powerful ideological weapon for transforming both the subjective and the objective world; it upholds emancipating the mind, seeking truth from facts, keeping pace with the times, and taking a realistic and pragmatic approach; it works to reveal and apply truth within the movement of social contradictions.

Our Party keeps in mind that this country is its people and its people are the country; it upholds building the Party for the public good and exercising power for the people; it consciously acts on the fundamental purpose of serving the people wholeheartedly; and it stands firmly together with the people, thinking and working as one with them, giving it a solid foundation that no storm can shake.

Our Party cherishes the lofty ideal of communism and is dedicated to the enduring great cause of the Chinese nation; it firmly bears on its shoulders the heavy responsibilities entrusted to it by history and the people; it keeps long-term goals and stage-specific goals unified, sets central tasks in line with changes in the principal social contradiction, and formulates and implements correct lines, principles, and policies, ensuring that it keeps a firm grip on leadership and initiative in the development of its cause.

With a strong sense of history and a broad global vision, our Party has a clear-eyed grasp of China’s national conditions and the themes of the era; it actively recognises, responds to, and seeks change, forging ahead with determination.

It is both willing and able to struggle and has always maintained the conviction of certain victory. Our Party upholds and carries forward the spirit of fearing no sacrifice and fighting valiantly; for the sake of the people, the country, and the nation, and for the sake of its ideals and convictions, it cuts through thorns and presses forward.

It attaches great importance to its own development, resolutely removing every factor that damages the Party’s advanced nature and purity and clearing out every virus that erodes the Party’s healthy body, growing stronger and more capable through revolutionary tempering.

China’s development is at a stage in which strategic opportunities coexist with risks and challenges and in which uncertain and unpredictable factors are increasing, requiring us to be ready at all times to withstand major tests of high winds and rough seas, and even perilous storms. On the new journey, the whole Party must strengthen its sense of adversity and adhere to bottom-line thinking, carry forward the fighting spirit and enhance its capacity to struggle, better coordinate the two overall situations of the domestic and international spheres, coordinate development and security, and improve its ability to scientifically anticipate change, detect risks in good time, and respond effectively to challenges, ensuring that the great ship of China’s rejuvenation cuts through the waves and sails steadily into the distance.

To be firm in confidence and carry the struggle forward, we must continue to promote the building of a community with a shared future for humanity. As the once-in-a-century changes accelerate, the world has entered a new period of turbulence and transformation, and humanity once again stands at a crossroads over which way to go. On the new journey, we must follow the aspirations of the people and the trend of the times, hold high the banner of peace, development, cooperation, and mutual benefit, champion the common values of humanity, promote the building of a new type of international relations, and push forward the implementation of the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, the Global Civilisation Initiative, and the Global Governance Initiative, injecting more positive energy into world peace and development.

Taking the Party’s political building as the overarching principle, we must strengthen Party building in all respects, resolutely wage the tough, protracted, and all-out battle against corruption, and continually enhance the Party’s capacity to provide political leadership, to guide through theory, to organise the people, and to inspire society, ensuring that the Party always remains the strong core of leadership in the historical process of upholding and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era.

The 105-year glorious history of the Communist Party of China is a source of pride, but we must never become arrogant or complacent or come to a halt. By the middle of this century, we are to build China into a great modern socialist country in all respects and achieve the Second Centenary Goal. Time waits for no one. History waits for no one. All comrades of the Party must never forget our original aspiration and keep our mission firmly in mind, we must be modest and prudent and work hard, we must dare to struggle and be adept at struggling, closely rely on and unite with and lead the people of all ethnic groups of the whole nation in forging ahead on the new journey and performing meritorious deeds in the new era, and strive to create new historic glories!

Carlos Martinez: What would Rajani Palme Dutt have made of contemporary China?

The following is the text of a lecture delivered by Carlos Martinez, author of The East is Still Red: Chinese Socialism in the 21st Century and a co-editor of Friends of Socialist China, marking the 130th anniversary of the birth of Rajani Palme Dutt – theoretician, organiser and, for half a century, one of the foremost Marxist minds in the British movement.

Taking as its starting point Palme Dutt’s 1967 pamphlet Whither China?, written at the height of the Sino-Soviet split and a year into the Cultural Revolution, the lecture asks what this towering figure of British Marxism – who died in 1974 – would have made of the People’s Republic today. Carlos tests Palme Dutt’s critique against the verdict of history: on the Cultural Revolution, on the Theory of the Three Worlds, and on the rival conceptions of peaceful coexistence – finding some of it vindicated, and some of it a product of a European Marxism that struggled to fully grasp a peasant-driven revolution.

Confronted with two stubborn facts – that the People’s Republic still exists while the Soviet Union does not – Palme Dutt, who even in 1967 refused to write China out of the socialist camp, would, Carlos argues, have recognised China as the largest and most developed socialist society in history. He would have recognised that in China it is the state that disciplines capital, not the other way round. The lecture closes with a call to carry forward Palme Dutt’s enduring principle: solidarity with a socialist country under imperialist siege, “irrespective of any differences”.

The CPC continues to lead China’s journey toward prosperity, strength and a better life for the people

As the Communist Party of China (CPC) marked its 105th founding anniversary on July 1st, the Xinhua News Agency reported that the party had nearly 101.29 million members as of the end of 2025. The number increased by more than 1.01 million, or one percent, from the end of 2024.

When it was founded in 1921, the CPC had just over 50 members. Now, according to the latest figures reported by Xinhua, it had over 5.43 million primary-level organisations by the end of last year, up by some 181,000, or 3.4 percent year on year. Those aged 35 or below accounted for 84 percent of newly admitted members. More than half of the new members, or 51.4 percent, came from the forefront of production and work. Workers and farmers remained the largest segment of the Party, representing 32.4 percent of the total members.

China has continued sending “first Party secretaries” to villages, drawing cadres from across the nation to help drive rural revitalisation. By the end of last year, approximately 188,000 first secretaries were serving in villages nationwide.

A commentary published by the Xinhua News Agency on June 30 noted: “As the Communist Party of China (CPC) marks its 105th anniversary, its journey represents a mission of resilience, innovation and strong leadership. Staying true to its founding aspiration, the CPC has led one of the most far-reaching modernisation transformations in human history.

“Against the backdrop of a weak country that suffered from foreign humiliation, poverty, and failed attempts to save the nation, the CPC was founded in 1921 with a mission to seek happiness for the Chinese people and rejuvenation for the Chinese nation. The CPC united and led the Chinese people of all ethnic groups in working tirelessly to achieve national independence and the people’s liberation. In the following decades, the CPC has continued to lead China’s journey toward prosperity, strength and a better life for its people.”

Analysing the secrets of the CPC’s success, it explains:

“Unlike parties that primarily represent particular groups or interests, the CPC has always put the people first, responded to their concerns and needs, and worked to improve their well-being. These deep-rooted, inseparable flesh-and-blood ties with the masses provide the CPC with an inexhaustible source of strength. As a service-oriented political party, the CPC makes decisions and sets policies based on the fundamental interests of the people…

“Unlike Western political systems that are often plagued by partisan gridlock and the pursuit of electoral gains, the CPC maintains a long-term perspective and carries a blueprint through to the end. The five-year plans, which have guided national development since 1953, stand as a testament to this strategic consistency — a key reason for China’s rapid development and a sharp contrast to the policy volatility often observed in Western democracies.”

Among the other key points stressed by the article are:

The CPC is a dynamic organisation that constantly adapts to changing times. It is not bound by rigid dogma but has developed as a learning and innovative party that integrates the basic tenets of Marxism with China’s specific realities and fine traditional culture. Scientific political theories enable the CPC to grasp the overarching trends of human development and always stand at the forefront of the times.

The CPC is clear minded about the dangers and risks it faces, such as detachment from the people and corruption. With a zero-tolerance approach to corruption, the CPC has pursued full and rigorous self-governance.

The CPC is open minded and has a global vision, making China’s development increasingly integrated with the rest of the world. The Party has championed the building of a community with a shared future for humanity. Through its global initiatives on development, security, civilisation and governance, the CPC has contributed significantly to global peace, stability and prosperity.

It concludes: “The CPC’s 105th anniversary coincides with the 90th anniversary of the victory of the Long March of the CPC-led Red Army. The spirit demonstrated by that epic military maneuver, including a firm belief that a just cause will surely prevail, fearlessness in the face of any difficulties, a commitment to seeking truth from facts, and a steadfast reliance on the masses, will continue to empower the CPC to march forward and navigate any challenges.

“With a clear sense of mission, a strong executive capacity and a commitment to shared development, the CPC is certainly capable of leading China to achieve new victories on today’s Long March: advancing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts through a Chinese path to modernisation, and working with the rest of the world for a better future.”

Asian socialist countries greet CPC’s 105th anniversary

China’s socialist neighbours, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the Lao People’s Democratic Republic have extended their warm comradely greetings on the July 1st 105th founding anniversary of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

In his letter to Comrade Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and President of the People’s Republic of China, Kim Jong Un, General Secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea and President of the State Affairs of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, writes:

“The Communist Party of China built new China, where the people became the masters, by guiding them, and wrote a brilliant chapter in the history of the Chinese nation by vigorously promoting the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics, braving all trials and difficulties of history.

“There is no new China without the Communist Party. This is the truth the Chinese people have realised while advancing under its guidance for many years.” [Kim Jong Un here refers to one of the most famous songs of the Chinese revolution. You can listen to it, together with historic footage, here.]

The Korean leader added: “It is the steadfast stand of our Party and government to steadily develop the DPRK-China friendly relations with long and historical roots and with socialism as their core.

“The recent Pyongyang summit was a historic occasion of deepening the comradely friendship and trust between us and reconfirming the unshakable will to more dynamically promote socialist construction in the two countries and their traditional friendly relations…

“I am ready to add shine to socialism, the common cause of the two parties, and continue to develop the DPRK-China friendly and cooperative relations, the common wealth of the peoples of the two countries, as required by the times, together with you.”

Additionally, the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea sent a floral basket to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on the occasion.

Marking the anniversary, Chinese Ambassador to the DPRK Wang Yajun hosted a reception on June 30.

He said that after its founding the Communist Party of China united and led the people to build a new China where the people became masters and provide fundamental conditions for the great prosperity of the Chinese nation and rendered services to the development and progress of humanity.

He expressed the conviction that the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) would be strong and steady all the more and make new greater successes in accomplishing the socialist cause of Korea under the wise leadership of General Secretary Kim Jong Un who carried forward and developed the party-building idea of Comrades Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il and thus presented the five-point party-building line of the new era and ushered in the heyday of strengthening the whole Party.

Responding, Kim Song Nam, Member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the WPK and Secretary of the Party Central Committee, and who heads its International Department, said that the DPRK-China friendship has been developed onto a new height on the basis of the deep friendly relations between the respected General Secretary Kim Jong Un and the respected General Secretary Xi Jinping and stressed that the leaders of the two parties expressed their steadfast will to develop the traditional friendly relations between the two countries into the most powerful and strategic model relations between socialist states during their historic meeting in Pyongyang this year.

Earlier, there was a roundtable talk at the Chinese embassy to exchange the experiences of the DPRK and China in party building on the occasion.

The congratulatory letter from the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) to its Chinese counterpart noted that in recent years, under the leadership of the CPC Central Committee with General Secretary and President Xi Jinping as its core, the Chinese people have successfully achieved the first centenary goal, fulfilled the major targets and tasks of the 14th Five-Year Plan for Economic and Social Development, and laid a solid foundation for achieving the second centenary goal.

The CPV expressed confidence that the CPC will continue to lead the Chinese people in successfully implementing the Resolution of the 20th National Congress of the CPC, preparing for a successful 21st Congress, and achieving the second centenary goal of building China into a modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, civilised, harmonious and beautiful.

The Central Committee of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party (LPRP) wrote in its congratulatory message:

“Over the past 105 years, under the strong leadership of the Communist Party of China, the Chinese people have achieved remarkable accomplishments in the pursuit of national independence, founded the People’s Republic of China in 1949, launched the reform and opening-up policy in 1978, and, under successive generations of the Party’s central leadership, have steadily advanced socialism with Chinese characteristics.”

It continued: “The Party, State and people of Laos warmly congratulate the Party, Government and people of China on the great achievements they have made over the past 105 years. We firmly believe that, under the strong leadership of the Communist Party of China with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, the Chinese people will continue to make new and greater achievements in realising the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, attain the Second Centenary Goal, and build China into a great modern socialist country in all respects…

“The Party, State and people of Laos reaffirm their firm commitment to working together with the Party, Government and people of China to preserve, consolidate and further strengthen the longstanding friendship between the two countries, jointly advance the building of a Laos-China community with a shared future, contribute to building a community with a shared future for humanity, and promote peace, stability, fairness, justice and development cooperation in the region and beyond.

“On this auspicious occasion, we sincerely wish the Communist Party of China new and even greater achievements in advancing socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era and in building China into a strong, prosperous, modern and culturally advanced socialist country.”

105 years of the Communist Party of China – true to its principles, firm in its course

The 1st of July 2026, marks the 105th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China. To mark the occasion, we are pleased to publish this reflection by Oliver Vargas, a British-Bolivian current affairs commentator working for CGTN in Beijing, written from Yan’an – the revolutionary base where the Long March ended and where the Party made its headquarters through the most decisive years of war and revolution.

Vargas argues that the revolutionary sites of Yan’an are best understood as global heritage sites of the international workers’ movement, whose lessons belong to the peoples of Latin America and the wider Global South. He locates the secret of the Party’s enduring vitality in its tradition of rigorous self-governance and self-reform – a habit written into its DNA since 1921 and raised by Xi Jinping into a systematic doctrine – bound together with its unbroken bond with the people.

Wang Yi in New Delhi: BRICS should take the lead in speaking out for justice

A meeting of BRICS National Security Advisers was held in the Indian capital New Delhi on June 23. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi attended in his capacities of 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.

The meeting was chaired by India’s National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and the attendees held in-depth exchanges of views on issues including response to non-traditional security challenges, counter-terrorism and cybersecurity.

Wang Yi said at the meeting that BRICS cooperation has gone through 20 years and has increasingly become a core force in the world that safeguards peace, promotes development and upholds justice. Facing the complex and profound changes in the current international landscape, China is willing to work with other BRICS countries to jointly address the urgent challenges facing human society and jointly adhere to the right direction of world history evolution.

In this regard he put forward four key points which included:

Uphold the international order with BRICS responsibilities. “We must hold high the banner of multilateralism, firmly safeguard the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, and unequivocally oppose unilateralism and protectionism. As the forefront of the Global South, BRICS countries should take the lead in speaking out for justice and acting fairly and enhance their status and role in international affairs.”

Respond to global challenges with BRICS actions. “We must resolutely combat all forms of terrorism, unequivocally oppose the militarisation of outer space, effectively address global energy and food security challenges, strengthen cooperation on strategic mineral resources, and unite to respond to the Ebola epidemic in Africa.”

Wang Yi stressed that the vitality of BRICS lies in equality and mutual benefit and the strength of BRICS lies in unity and mutual assistance.

Summarising the outcomes and significance of the meeting, Wang Yi said that “the common message sent by this meeting is that BRICS and the Global South should uphold independence, strengthen solidarity and mutual assistance, pool more collective wisdom, and coordinate stronger joint actions. The clear direction set by this meeting is that we support further leveraging the mechanism of the Meeting of BRICS National Security Advisors and High Representatives on National Security, maintaining communication and coordination on major international and regional hotspot issues, and continuously enriching the dimensions of greater BRICS cooperation.”

Next year China will assume the BRICS chairmanship and Wang said that he looks forward to gathering with everyone again in China.

Wang also referred to lessons to be drawn from the US-Iran war, noting that the United States and Iran have recently reached a first-phase memorandum of understanding. “The conflict, which lasted over a hundred days, has sharply affected the regional and international situation and offers us profound lessons”:

The importance of upholding international rules. The settlement of any international and regional hotspot issues should be based on abiding by international rules. The law of the jungle may succeed for a while, but it is not sustainable.

The importance of respecting national sovereignty. Territorial integrity shall not be violated and a country’s internal affairs shall not be interfered with.

The importance of establishing a new vision of security. Countries are increasingly becoming a community of a shared future and the practice of seeking absolute security of oneself at the expense of others will only backfire.

The importance of understanding the new forms of warfare.

On the issue of strengthening BRICS cooperation on counter-terrorism and cybersecurity, Wang said that, at present, the world is witnessing a new wave of international terrorist activities. The root cause of this is the intensifying confrontation caused by unilateral actions and the increase in inter-civilisation and inter-religion tensions.

BRICS countries should jointly safeguard international rules in cyberspace, oppose the deliberate creation of division and confrontation, promote the signing and ratification of the United Nations Convention against Cybercrime by all countries as soon as possible, and actively participate in the international alliance against telecom cyber fraud.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with the delegates on the same day.

Speaking with Wang, Modi noted that both India and China are ancient civilisations with a history of friendly exchanges spanning several millennia, and for a long period the two countries held leading and influential positions in the world. Under the current circumstances, it is necessary for the two sides to carry forward their traditional friendship, maintain high-level exchanges, advance practical cooperation, and safeguard the common interests of Global South countries. The Indian side supports China in assuming the BRICS chairmanship next year and is ready to work with China to advance the BRICS cause.

Wang said that as the two largest developing countries and important members of the Global South, China and India should play an exemplary role in promoting unity and self-reliance among Global South countries. China will continue to support India in fulfilling its responsibilities as the rotating chair of the BRICS and work together to promote deeper and more substantive progress in BRICS cooperation.

The previous day, he met with Indian National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.

Wang said that under the joint guidance of President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, China-India relations have gradually emerged from the low ebb and returned to the track of recovery and improvement. The two leaders agreed that China and India are partners, not rivals, which constitutes the most important strategic consensus between the two sides and provides strong impetus and strategic guarantee for the sound and steady growth of bilateral relations. As the world’s two most populous economies, China and India should not only view bilateral relations with a long-term perspective but also advance bilateral cooperation with a global vision. At present, the Global South, including China and India, is experiencing a collective rise. As the first echelon of the Global South, BRICS should actively champion and advance the process toward multipolarity, safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of developing countries, and work for a more just and equitable international order.

Thanks to the joint efforts of both sides, exchanges in various fields have gradually resumed, communication and cooperation are progressing in an orderly manner, and the border areas have remained generally peaceful. These outcomes are hard-won and should be doubly cherished. It is important to respect each other’s core interests, properly handle sensitive issues, and keep the China-India boundary question at an appropriate place in bilateral relations so as to prevent it from affecting the overall relationship.

Ajit Doval noted that through their meetings in Kazan and Tianjin, the leaders of India and China have charted the course for the development of bilateral relations, and agreed that India and China are partners, not rivals. They believe that a stable India-China relationship serves the common interests of both sides. India is ready to continue to view its relations with China from a strategic perspective, work with China to implement the common understandings of the two leaders, take a forward-looking approach in viewing and accelerating the development of bilateral relations, properly handle differences, and strive for win-win outcomes. India is one of the first countries to recognise the People’s Republic of China, and its position on the Taiwan question remains unchanged.

On June 23, Wang Yi met with Secretary of the Russian Federation Security Council Sergei Shoigu.

Wang Yi noted that Russian President Vladimir Putin paid a successful state visit to China in May, during which the two heads of state had in-depth strategic communications. The two sides issued two joint statements: one sets out strategic plans and provides strong impetus for the China-Russia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership of Coordination for the New Era; the other points out the future direction for the development of human society and clarifies the prospect of a multipolar world.

Sergei Shoigu said that facing the profound changes unseen in a century, Russia and China should deepen mutual trust, carry out close cooperation, jointly resist all kinds of interference and infiltration by external forces in the security field, and oppose Japan’s attempts at remilitarisation.

Meeting with Secretary General of the Egyptian National Security Council Youssef Alaa El-Deen on June 22, Wang Yi noted that this year marks the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Egypt, an important milestone for the bilateral relationship to carry forward past achievements and forge ahead into the future. He stated that the international landscape is undergoing profound and complex shifts. As important members of the Global South, China and Egypt share extensive common ground on international and regional affairs and shoulder important responsibilities for safeguarding global and regional stability. China is willing to step up coordination and collaboration with Egypt on multilateral platforms including the BRICS and the United Nations, jointly uphold the independence and self-reliance of the Global South and promote its unity and self-strengthening, actively advance the multipolarisation process, and work together to build a community with a shared future for humanity.

Youssef Alaa El-Deen said that centering on the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations, Egypt will boost high-level exchanges and deepen practical cooperation under frameworks such as the Belt and Road Initiative, the BRICS mechanism and the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) to deliver greater progress to bilateral ties.

The two sides also exchanged views on the Middle East situation. Youssef Alaa El-Deen briefed Wang Yi on the latest developments and mediation efforts by the Quartet including Egypt and spoke highly of China’s vital role in stopping the fighting and promoting peace. [Besides Egypt, the recently established ‘Regional Quartet’ includes Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye.]

Wang said that the memorandum of understanding signed between the United States and Iran, which commits both sides to respect each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, refrain from launching any military operations and avoid interfering in each other’s internal affairs, sends a positive signal to the world and should be jointly upheld and implemented. The negotiation process can hardly be smooth and may face various disruptions and even setbacks. Yet now that the door to peace has been opened, it must not be closed again.

The next day, Wang met with Secretary-General of the Supreme National Security Council of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Ali Mohammed Hammad Al Shamsi.

Wang said that the US-Israeli war against Iran should never have happened and should be brought to an end as soon as possible. Recently the conflict has finally turned toward dialogue, but whether genuine peace can be achieved still requires the joint efforts of all parties. At the current stage, priority should be given to three things:

Uphold a permanent and comprehensive ceasefire and effectively implement the memorandum of understanding just signed.

Resume normal navigation through the Strait of Hormuz as soon as possible.

Draw lessons from the repeated turmoil in the Middle East, rebuild mutual trust among regional countries, and explore a new regional security architecture suited to the evolving situation.

Why the Chinese working class won’t pay for Western neoliberalism

The following article by Carlos Martinez responds to German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s call at the recent EU summit for a new “Plaza Accord” to force up the value of the Chinese renminbi.

Carlos recalls how the original 1985 Plaza Accord was not a neutral rebalancing of trade but the deliberate kneecapping of an economic competitor – Washington strong-arming Japan, West Germany, France and Britain into driving down the dollar, plunging Japan into a “lost decade” of stagnation while failing to dent a US trade deficit that originated in Washington’s own model of high consumption and low savings, not in the exchange rate.

Carlos argues that China today cannot be treated as Japan was. Where Japan was a subordinate Cold War ally hosting tens of thousands of US troops; China is a sovereign socialist state with an increasingly prosperous domestic market of 1.4 billion people, an independent financial policy and a central bank that answers to no one in the West – it simply cannot be “Plaza’d”.

The article also takes aim at the language of “overcapacity”, which Carlos describes as a euphemism for European and North American industry failing to compete after nearly half a century of financialisation, privatisation and deregulation. Chinese competitiveness in electric vehicles, batteries and solar panels flows from a complete industrial system and sustained investment in technology – not from currency manipulation – and the EU’s tariffs of up to 35 per cent on Chinese electric vehicles are, he writes, “an act of self-harm disguised as self-defence”.