Author: Friends of Socialist China

Friendship with Pakistan is cornerstone of China’s regional diplomacy

Following his visits to India and Afghanistan, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi concluded his regional tour of South Asian countries, with a series of important meetings in the Pakistani capital Islamabad on August 21.

Co-chairing the Sixth Round of China-Pakistan Foreign Ministers’ Strategic Dialogue with Pakistani Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar, Wang Yi said that China and Pakistan are devoted friends tested by adversity and are also trustworthy and reliable ironclad friends. China will continue to prioritise Pakistan in its neighbourhood diplomacy, and will, as always, firmly support Pakistan in safeguarding its national independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, countering terrorism, achieving unity and stability, accelerating development and revitalisation, and playing a greater role in international and regional affairs. Wang Yi congratulated Pakistan on assuming the rotating presidency of the United Nations Security Council for July, upholding justice for developing countries and enhancing Pakistan’s international standing and influence.

He added that China is working with neighbouring countries to promote the building of a neighbourhood community with a shared future. China is ready to make joint efforts with Pakistan to fully implement the important common understandings reached between President Xi Jinping and Pakistani leaders, make good preparations for high-level exchanges in the second half of the year, ensure that the building of a China-Pakistan community with a shared future continues to take the lead in the building of a neighbourhood community with a shared future, better benefit the people of both countries, and play a demonstrative role in safeguarding regional peace, stability, development and prosperity. China is ready to work with Pakistan to create an upgraded Version 2.0 of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), strive to build a growth corridor, a livelihood-enhancing corridor, an innovation corridor, a green corridor and an open corridor, focus on the three key sectors of industry, agriculture, and mining, build and operate the Gwadar Port well, ensure the smooth passage of the Karakoram Highway, and promote the CPEC into a new stage of high-quality development. China is ready to deepen cooperation with Pakistan in areas such as information technology, cybersecurity, and people-to-people and cultural exchanges.

Mohammad Ishaq Dar thanked China for its steadfast support to Pakistan over the years, saying that as the international situation is undergoing profound changes, the strategic dialogue between the foreign ministers of Pakistan and China is timely and a concrete embodiment of the ironclad friendship between the two countries. Pakistan and China have strong political mutual trust, and bilateral relations have reached new heights, becoming a model for state-to-state relations. Friendship with China is the cornerstone of Pakistan’s foreign policy and a consensus shared throughout the nation. Pakistan upholds the one-China principle and firmly supports China without hesitation on all issues concerning China’s core interests.

Following their dialogue, the two Foreign Ministers jointly met the press.

Wang Yi said that South Asian countries have a long history, splendid civilisation, large population, and huge development potential. They are China’s close neighbours linked by mountains and rivers, and also an important direction for China to build a community with a shared future in its neighbourhood. Stressing that he felt the immense development potential and resilience of South Asia following this visit to India, Afghanistan and Pakistan, Wang Yi said the 21st century should be an era of accelerated development and revitalisation for Asia, especially South Asia.

He added that although India, Afghanistan and Pakistan have different national conditions, they all recognise that development is the top priority and the broadest consensus among them, as well as among all countries in the region. A peaceful, stable and prosperous South Asia serves the common interests of all parties and meets the aspirations of the people of all countries. In the face of pressure from unilateral and bullying acts, the three countries all believe that they should adhere to multilateralism, safeguard their legitimate rights and interests, and strive to promote an equal and orderly multipolar world and universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalisation.

Wang Yi emphasised that China pursues a policy to foster an amicable, secure and prosperous neighbourhood, adheres to the principle of amity, sincerity, mutual benefit and inclusiveness, and upholds the vision of a shared future. China has always been committed to fostering mutual respect, mutual understanding, and mutual trust with South Asian countries, and helping each other succeed. China and South Asian countries are natural partners, with broad space for cooperation. Despite ups and downs, China-India relations have a long history and increasingly demonstrate a clear historical logic. The China-Pakistan friendship has withstood the test of time, become as strong as steel, and gained stronger internal impetus. The relationships between China and Pakistan, China and India, as well as China and other neighbouring countries, are not directed against any third party and are not subject to any third-party influence. The building of a China-Pakistan community with a shared future is at the forefront of China’s building a community with a shared future with neighbouring countries, setting an important example. The building of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor will not only benefit the people of the two countries but also extend to Afghanistan and other countries.

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China extends a hand of friendship to Afghanistan

Following his successful visit to India, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi flew to Kabul, Afghanistan, for a series of meetings on August 20.

Wang Yi participated in the Sixth China-Afghanistan-Pakistan Trilateral Foreign Ministers’ Dialogue together with Afghan Foreign Minister Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi and Pakistani Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar.

Wang Yi said that since the trilateral foreign ministers’ dialogue mechanism was resumed in Tunxi, Anhui Province in 2022, the three sides, based on the principles of mutual respect, equal-footed consultation and mutual benefit, have continuously advanced cooperation in the fields of politics, development and security, safeguarded regional peace and tranquility, and responded to various risks and challenges. He added that China is ready to work with Afghanistan and Pakistan to deepen good-neighbourliness and mutual trust, render mutual understanding and support on issues concerning each other’s core interests, and firmly oppose interference by any external forces in the region, as well as any organisation or individual engaging in acts within their countries that undermine the national sovereignty, security and territorial integrity of the other sides.

He noted that China and Pakistan have been at the forefront of the international community and regional neighbours in helping Afghanistan restabilise and rebuild the country and expand its foreign exchanges. China will continue to uphold justice for Afghanistan on multilateral occasions, encourage the international community to engage with Afghanistan in a constructive manner, and support Afghanistan in advancing the normalisation of its diplomatic relations. The three sides should expand development cooperation, increase trade and investment exchanges, strengthen the building of connectivity networks, and enhance people-to-people bonds. And they should improve the security dialogue mechanism, deepen law enforcement and security cooperation, intensify efforts to combat transnational terrorist activities, and eradicate the breeding ground of terrorism by addressing both symptoms and root causes on the basis of consensus. It is important to uphold the principle of indivisible security, respect each other’s legitimate security concerns, and blaze a path of cooperative and common security.

 Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi welcomed the attendance of the Chinese and Pakistani foreign ministers at the dialogue and thanked China and Pakistan for their steadfast support for Afghanistan on the international stage. He said that given the profound changes in the current international and regional situation, Afghanistan hopes to take this meeting as an opportunity to deepen friendly relations, strengthen coordination and collaboration, and work for greater development of trilateral cooperation.

Mohammad Ishaq Dar said that Pakistan, China and Afghanistan share close historical, cultural and economic ties, and that trilateral cooperation enjoys great potential. The three sides should jointly advance their partnership, and enhance cooperation in trade, the Belt and Road Initiative, connectivity, counter-terrorism and other areas to achieve common development. As a neighbouring country of Afghanistan, Pakistan is willing to make greater contributions to the peace process in Afghanistan and to improving the livelihood of the Afghan people. Pakistan also called for the unfreezing of Afghanistan’s overseas assets.

Meeting with Wang Yi, Afghan Prime Minister Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund asked him to convey his cordial greetings to Chinese leaders. He said that the Chinese government and people have always held a friendly and positive attitude towards Afghanistan, and thanked China for speaking up for Afghanistan on the international stage. China is a force for justice in the world and is consistently committed to friendly cooperation with Afghanistan and other countries for common development and progress. History has shown that those countries attempting to interfere in other nations’ affairs will only suffer the consequences, while those pursuing friendly policies will achieve success. This is China’s unique strength. Afghanistan does not wish to and will not create trouble for other countries. Afghanistan looks forward to strengthening cooperation with China to advance a positive and sustainable friendly relationship. Afghanistan will never allow any force to use its territory to threaten China and will always stand firmly with China.

Wang Yi conveyed the kind greetings of the Chinese leaders and said that China-Afghanistan exchanges have spanned thousands of years, and the two countries have always maintained friendly relations. He noted that throughout history, imperialists, colonialists and hegemonists have all attempted to invade Afghanistan but all have failed, and such schemes will not succeed in the future. The world should not be one where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Every country, including Afghanistan, has the right to achieve development and revitalisation.

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Dongji Rescue: An inspiring blockbuster of courage, resistance and shared humanity

Friends of Socialist China (FOSC) was grateful to be invited to the European premiere of the film Dongji Rescue by the Chinese Embassy. The screening took place in the Odeon Luxe in Leicester Square, a grand venue fit for the opening of such a blockbuster film, attended by some of China’s biggest acting stars. The premiere took place on the 15th of August, the 80th anniversary of VJ day, commemorating the allied victory over imperial Japan in World War Two, the most appropriate date for a film examining the shared Chinese and British fight against fascism.

We are very pleased to publish the following review by FOSC Britain Committee member Alfie Howis and hope that as many as possible of our readers take the opportunity to see this inspiring and moving film.

Dongji Rescue is effectively a follow up to the documentary The Sinking of the Lisbon Maru which was released earlier this year. The documentary was a groundbreaking study of the sinking of a Japanese ship off China in 1942 by a US submarine, killing over 800 British POWs onboard who had been captured in Hong Kong, with 384 others rescued from the water by Chinese villagers from the nearby island. The film follows the story of the people on Dongji Island defying their Japanese occupiers and setting sail to rescue, and fight alongside, the drowning British soldiers at the shipwreck. The film was made possible as part of an initiative by the Chinese government to promote media about the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-fascist War, to maintain accurate memory of Japanese imperialism and learn lessons from the successful fight against it.

“At the darkest hour of the Second World War, China and the UK fought on different fronts but shared a common mission: to defend humanity against fascism and aggression. Fighting side by side, the peoples of our two countries forged a deep friendship,” said Chinese Ambassador Zheng Zeguang at the premiere. Public awareness of China’s role in WW2 is deeply lacking in Britain, and even where there is knowledge of it, the scale of China’s contribution, even beyond their own fight for national liberation, is lost on most. Dongji Rescue, which is now on general release across UK cinemas, will go some way to rectifying that and may help contribute to a deepening  of the understanding of this topic.

Dongji Rescue is a film about heroism, solidarity, and anti-fascism, but above all it shows the power of collective, militant struggle to resist oppression and take the most just course of action. Throughout the film there are individual heroes, but the central junction of the narrative is the collective decision of the islanders, after wavering on the part of some, to rise up against the Japanese occupation, take to their boats, and risk death together in order to save the soldiers. This would not have been possible without all of the boats taking to the seas as one in a unified action, able to overwhelm the Japanese forces on the sinking ship and provide enough space to rescue hundreds of POWs. The sense of solidarity that the villagers embody as they liberated themselves, however briefly, from occupation is extended to the British men as they share the same struggle in that one moment, both fighting for their lives under attack from the same seemingly overwhelming force, in the end blunted by their collective bravery and resistance. Even the regimented and rank subordinated POWs can only succeed through self-organised collective efforts. Whether freeing themselves from the locked hold or flipping Japanese motorboats, the reactive instinct of the men goes beyond the orders from their commanders and is more akin to the spirit embodied by the islanders, which ultimately saves many of their lives.

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80 years since the end of World War II – Japanese militarism has not changed its spots

In the following contributed article, Stephen Chang of People’s Forum Ltd. (UK) outlines how, far from uprooting the soil in which Japanese militarism and fascism had bred, the United States, as the occupying power following Japan’s surrender 80 years ago, pressed leading war criminals from Emperor Hirohito himself down into the service of its own hegemonic project. As a result, the USA, along with its client state Japan, remains today the greatest threat to peace in the Asia Pacific region. Vigilance is needed.

As we commemorate Japan’s unconditional surrender 80 years ago, on 15 August 1945, which ended WWII in Asia Pacific, we must remain vigilant.

Hirohito, the war time emperor of Japan, was a war criminal who escaped punishment on the insistence of the US.  Hirohito was directly and personally involved in the conduct of Japan’s invasion of sovereign nations and the death and atrocities inflicted on millions of civilians during WWII in Asia Pacific. Hirohito’s surrender speech is full of lies, half-truths and distortion of facts about Japan’s declaration, conduct and even surrender of its barbaric war against the people of the Asia Pacific region.

Hirohito, in his surrender speech, referred to Japan’s four years of war in Asia Pacific.  This is a blatant lie. Japan invaded and occupied part of northern China, namely the Manchurian region, on 18 September in 1931, attacked and bombed Shanghai in 1932, and expanded its war on the rest of China in 1937.  The reference to four years by Hirohito (1941-1945) is a deliberate attempt on the part of fascist Japan to exclude and ignore its invasion and occupation of part of China from 1931 and the atrocities committed in China like the massacre of 300,000 Chinese civilians, men, women and children, in Nanjing in 1937.

Fascist Japan announced its unconditional surrender to the Allied powers (China, Soviet Union, UK and USA) on 15 August 1945 and formally surrendered on 2 September 1945.   China declared the end of the Chinese people’s war against the Japanese invaders on 3 September 1945, and the formal ceremony of Japan’s surrender to China took place on 9 September 1945.  So, WWII in Asia lasted 14 years, not four years as claimed by war criminal Hirohito, as China forms a large part of Asia and suffered most severely from Japan’s war crimes and atrocities.

Why was Hirohito not tried as a war criminal?  Because the USA wanted a fascist puppet regime in the Asia Pacific region to further its post WWII global imperial domination.  Hirohito remained emperor of Japan until his death in 1989.  In 1971, the UK, a subservient nation to the US, accorded this war criminal the highest honour of an official State Visit.  Under Hirohito, and Japan’s post war constitution drafted by the US, Japan became an effective puppet state of the US from the end of WWII to the present time.

We should know that Nobusuke Kishi, Prime Minister of Japan from 1957 to 1960, was the mastermind of Japan exploitative economic and industrial policies in the Manchurian region of China from 1932 following its invasion in 1931, enslaving millions of Chinese for the benefit of Japan.  This is also where Japan’s Unit 731, the secret Japanese military testing facility (on live Chinese, Korean, Russian and other men, women and children) for biological warfare was based – in Harbin.

None of the leaders of Unit 731 were prosecuted for war crimes at the insistence of the US, in exchange for full disclosure to the US by Japan of the findings and results of its biological warfare experiments. (Only the Soviet government set up a special military tribunal at Khabarovsk in December 1949 to hold a joint trial of 12 former Japanese army officers on criminal charges relating to Unit 731’s wartime activities.) Unit 731 commanding officer Surgeon General Shiro Ishii, who commanded bubonic plague attacks on the Chinese cities of Changde and Ningbo, was awarded a special service medal by war criminal Hirohito and was granted immunity from war crimes against humanity by the US in 1948.  He was subsequently hired by the US to lecture US officers at Fort Detrick on the use of bioweapons and the findings made by Unit 731.

General Dr Masaji Kitano was the second commander of Unit 731 from 1942.  He too was granted immunity from war crimes prosecution and released as a POW and repatriated to Japan in 1946.   Using his biological warfare knowledge, in 1950 Kitano was a founder of Green Cross Corporation, which became one of Japan’s premier pharmaceutical companies, now known as Mitsubishi Pharma Corporation.  Murray Sanders, the US officer who led the US cover-up of Japanese war crimes, became a consultant to Green Cross.

In 1941 Kishi became a member of Japan’s WWII cabinet.  He was arrested to face trial as a Class A war criminal on Japan’s surrender.  However, the US released him without charges in 1948 and groomed him to be a leader of post war Japan.  This war criminal was elected to Japan’s parliament (National Diet) in 1953. With US support, he consolidated Japanese conservatives so as to counter the influence of Japan’s Socialist and Communist parties.  In 1955 he was instrumental in the establishment of the Liberal Democratic Party.  He was also key to setting up the “1955 System” that provided the basis for the LDP to remain Japan’s dominant party.

Kishi’s (the war criminal turned prime minister of Japan) younger brother, Eisaku Sato, was Japan’s prime minister from 1964 to 1972.   Kishi’s grandson, Shinzo Abe, was Japan’s prime minister from 2012 (the start of the Obama/Clinton “Pivot to Asia Pacific” designed to contain China) to 2020.

We should know that today:

  • Japan’s military is the fifth largest in the world and based on its current military budget is projected to become the third largest after the US and China.
  • The US has 120 active military bases and 55,000 military personnel in Japan.
  • Japan is home to the US’ largest and most heavily armed overseas military base.
  • The US military is the main and greatest beneficiary from the Japanese WWII Unit 731 biowarfare research on live human beings.

The US, the leader of the “free world” since WWII, self-styled beacon of democracy and human rights, and party to Japan’s war crimes against humanity, is today, together with its puppet client state Japan, the greatest threat to peace in the Asia Pacific region and globally.

While we commemorate the end of WWII 80 years ago, we must remember that the US is the main country in the world that has waged covert and overt wars against sovereign nations in most if not all of the 80 years since the end of WWII.

Wang Yi’s visit turns the corner on relations with India

As we recently noted, relations between China and India have lately been seeing significant improvement. This process has now been qualitatively accelerated with the August 18-20 New Delhi visit by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

On August 19, Wang Yi met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Prime Minister Modi asked Wang Yi to convey his cordial greetings to President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang and expressed his anticipation of visiting China to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Tianjin Summit, to be held end August, and meet with President Xi Jinping. (This will be Modi’s first visit to China in seven years.) India will fully support China’s work as the rotating chair of the SCO to ensure the complete success of the Summit.

The Prime Minister said that both India and China are ancient civilisations, and they have enjoyed a long history of friendly exchanges. The meeting between the leaders of the two countries at the BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia, last October marked a turning point for the improvement and development of bilateral relations. India and China are partners, not rivals, and are facing the common task of accelerating development. The two sides should also properly manage and settle boundary questions, so that differences will not evolve into disputes.

Modi added that that this year marks the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between India and China. Both sides should view bilateral relations from a long-term perspective. India-China cooperation is indispensable for the advent of an Asian century. Working hand in hand, the two sides will contribute to world development and benefit all humanity.

Wang Yi said that the successful meeting between the leaders of the two countries in Kazan last October has provided guidance for the resumption and a new start for China-India relations. This has not come by easily and should be cherished. He added that his visit to India, upon invitation, to attend the Talks Between the Special Representatives of China and India on the Boundary Question also serves to prepare for high-level exchanges between the two countries. Through comprehensive and in-depth communication, in terms of bilateral relations, the two sides have agreed on restarting dialogue mechanisms across various fields, deepening mutually beneficial cooperation, upholding multilateralism, jointly addressing global challenges, and opposing unilateralism and bullying acts. On boundary questions, the two sides reached new consensus on conducting normalised management and control, maintaining peace and tranquility in the border areas, properly handling sensitive issues, and initiating boundary delimitation negotiations in areas where the conditions are met.

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The real reason the West is warmongering against China

In the opinion piece below, originally published in Al Jazeera, Jason Hickel and Dylan Sullivan argue that Western hostility towards China is not driven by serious concerns over China’s putative threat to the “international rules-based order” but rather by its very real challenge to the imperial economic order. Over the past two decades, US policy has shifted from cooperation to confrontation, with sanctions, trade restrictions and military build-up. The authors write: “Washington wants people to believe that China poses a threat. China’s rise indeed threatens US interests, but not in the way the US political elite seeks to frame it.”

The article situates US-China tensions in the framework of the capitalist world system, where the core imperialist states rely on cheap labour and resources from the Global South. For decades, China provided low-cost but skilled labour for Western supply chains. However, wages in China have risen from under $1 an hour in the early 2000s to over $8 today, undermining Western firms’ profits and reducing the West’s ability to extract value through unequal exchange. Strengthened public services and state intervention over the last two decades have further empowered Chinese workers.

At the same time, China is putting an end to the West’s monopoly in advanced technology, and now leads in sectors like renewable energy, electric vehicles, AI, and high-speed rail. This gives developing countries alternative suppliers and threatens the West’s strategy of maintaining dependency. The authors observe that this “poses a fundamental challenge to the imperial arrangement.”

Beijing has used industrial policy to prioritise technological development in strategic sectors over the past decade, and has achieved remarkable progress. It now has the world’s largest high-speed rail network, manufactures its own commercial aircraft, leads the world on renewable energy technology and electric vehicles, and enjoys advanced medical technology, smartphone technology, microchip production, artificial intelligence, etc. The tech news coming out of China has been dizzying. These are achievements that we only expect from high-income countries, and China is doing it with almost 80 percent less GDP per capita than the average “advanced economy”. It is unprecedented.

This poses a problem for the core states because one of the main pillars of the imperial arrangement is that they need to maintain a monopoly over necessary technologies like capital goods, medicines, computers, aircraft and so on. This forces the “Global South” into a position of dependency, so they are forced to export large quantities of their cheapened resources in order to obtain these necessary technologies. This is what sustains the core’s net-appropriation through unequal exchange.

China’s technological development is now breaking Western monopolies, and may give other developing countries alternative suppliers for necessary goods at more affordable prices. This poses a fundamental challenge to the imperial arrangement and unequal exchange.

In response, the US has turned to sanctions and escalating military rhetoric, presenting China as a threat to global security. But this is transparent propaganda.

The material facts tell a fundamentally different story. In fact, China’s military spending per capita is less than the global average, and 1/10th that of the US alone. Yes, China has a big population, but even in absolute terms, the US-aligned military bloc spends over seven times more on military power than China does. The US controls eight nuclear weapons for every one that China has…

Furthermore, China has not fired a single bullet in international warfare in over 40 years, while during this time the US has invaded, bombed or carried out regime-change operations in over a dozen Global South countries. If there is any state that poses a known threat to world peace and security, it is the US.

The authors conclude that the real reason for Western warmongering is that “China is achieving sovereign development and this is undermining the imperial arrangement on which Western capital accumulation depends”. That is, China’s rise, its alignment with the countries of the Global South and its promotion of multipolarity are posing an existential threat to the imperialist world system.

Over the past two decades, the posture of the United States towards China has evolved from economic cooperation to outright antagonism. US media outlets and politicians have engaged in persistent anti-China rhetoric, while the US government has imposed trade restrictions and sanctions on China and pursued military build-up close to Chinese territory. Washington wants people to believe that China poses a threat.

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Myanmar peace and reconciliation discussed in four-party talks

During the tenth Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, which was held in Anning, in China’s southwestern Yunnan province, on August 15 Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi also held an important quadrilateral meeting on the sidelines, together with Lao Foreign Minister Thongsavanh Phomvihane, Myanmar Foreign Minister Than Swe, and Thai Foreign Minister Maris Sangiampongsa, which was focused on the situation in Myanmar and its implications for the country’s immediate neighbours.

Wang Yi said that China, Laos, and Thailand, as friendly neighbours of Myanmar, have a better understanding of Myanmar’s unique national conditions and are more eager to see Myanmar restore stability, achieve national reconciliation, hold an open and fair general election, and pursue a development path suited to its national conditions and supported by its people. Since the first quadrilateral meeting last year, the situation in Myanmar has generally stabilised, and efforts are underway to advance post-earthquake reconstruction and safeguard its sovereignty, independence and national stability. He called for adhering to a “Myanmar-led, Myanmar-owned” approach, supporting the choices of the Myanmar people, and resolving differences through dialogue. The Chinese Foreign Minister also stressed the importance of mediation by ASEAN (the Association of South East Asian Nations) and assistance from neighbouring countries, with ASEAN serving as the main channel, while also giving full play to mechanisms like the Informal Discussion between the Foreign Ministers of China, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand and the Foreign Ministers’ Meeting among the Neighbouring Countries of Myanmar. He further urged prioritising people’s livelihoods and development, supporting Myanmar in improving people’s well-being and post-earthquake reconstruction, and promoting cooperation in various fields for people’s benefit, while warning against improper interference by external forces that could undermine regional stability.

The Myanmar side expressed gratitude for the support and assistance provided by China, Laos and Thailand, as friendly neighbouring countries, in addressing challenges. It reiterated its commitment to advancing the domestic peace and reconciliation process through political dialogue and stated that it is actively preparing for an open and transparent general election at the end of the year to return power to the people.

The Lao side expressed its support for a “Myanmar-led, Myanmar-owned” political process and for Myanmar’s general election to achieve peace, stability and national reconciliation.

The Thai side stated that the Myanmar issue is an internal affair of the country, and the international community should respect the choices of the Myanmar people.

The following article was originally published on the website of the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

On August 15, 2025, China, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand held an informal discussion between foreign ministers in Anning, Yunnan. Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Lao Foreign Minister Thongsavanh Phomvihane, Foreign Minister of Myanmar Than Swe, and Thai Foreign Minister Maris Sangiampongsa were present.

Wang Yi said that China, Laos, and Thailand, as friendly neighbors of Myanmar, have a better understanding of Myanmar’s unique national conditions and are more eager to see Myanmar restore stability, achieve national reconciliation, hold an open and fair general election, and pursue a development path suited to its national conditions and supported by its people. Since the first quadrilateral meeting last year, the situation in Myanmar has generally stabilized, and efforts are underway to advance post-earthquake reconstruction and safeguard its sovereignty, independence and national stability. Wang Yi called for adhering to a “Myanmar-led, Myanmar-owned” approach, supporting the choices of the Myanmar people, and resolving differences through dialogue. Wang Yi stressed the importance of mediation by ASEAN and assistance from neighboring countries, with ASEAN serving as the main channel, while also giving full play to mechanisms like the Informal Discussion between the Foreign Ministers of China, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand and the Foreign Ministers’ Meeting among the Neighboring Countries of Myanmar. He also urged prioritizing people’s livelihoods and development, supporting Myanmar in improving people’s well-being and post-earthquake reconstruction, and promoting cooperation in various fields for people’s benefit, while warning against improper interference by external forces that could undermine regional stability.

The Myanmar side briefed on the domestic situation and preparations for the upcoming general election, stating that since the last meeting, the domestic situation in Myanmar has generally deescalated and stabilized. The Myanmar side expressed gratitude for the support and assistance provided by China, Laos and Thailand, as friendly neighboring countries, in addressing challenges. The Myanmar side reiterated its commitment to advancing domestic peace and reconciliation process through political dialogue, and stated that it is actively preparing for an open and transparent general election at the end of the year to return power to the people.

The Lao side expressed its support for a “Myanmar-led, Myanmar-owned” political process and for Myanmar’s general election to achieve peace, stability and national reconciliation.

The Thai side stated that the Myanmar issue is an internal affair of the country, and the international community should respect the choices of the Myanmar people. The general election is an important step in Myanmar’s political transition. Thailand is willing to work with other ASEAN countries to provide support and assistance for the smooth progress of Myanmar’s general election based on the principle of non-interference in internal affairs.

The four foreign ministers exchanged views on joint efforts to combat cross-border crimes. Wang Yi pointed out that combating cross-border crimes bears on the well-being and safety of the people, represents a common concern of the four countries, and requires coordinated action. Since the last meeting, the four parties have closely cooperated, strengthened border control, and achieved notable results in jointly combating cross-border crimes. However, the regional security situation is still not optimistic, requiring continued coordinated efforts. First, strengthen conceptual guidance and institutional building to implement the Global Security Initiative. Second, strengthen joint operations and border control to block any attempt by lawbreakers to commit cross-border crimes. Third, strengthen capacity building and judicial coordination, and enhance publicity, education, and law enforcement training. Fourth, strengthen transformation development and social governance, coordinate security and development, continuously improve local socioeconomic conditions, and eradicate the breeding ground for illicit and gray industries.

The four parties agreed to continue to strengthen law enforcement and security cooperation, step up efforts to combat cross-border crimes, including online gambling, telecom fraud, drug and weapon trafficking, and human trafficking, and jointly safeguard regional peace and stability.

Britain is sinking into ‘yellow peril’ hysteria on China

In the article below, written for the Morning Star, Carlos Martinez discusses Britain’s intensifying Sinophobia, describing it as a new McCarthyism aimed at preparing public opinion for confrontation with China. He argues that recent media stories – about Chinese students being pressured to spy on their classmates, Hong Kong separatists facing legal action, and opposition to China’s proposed new embassy in Tower Hamlets – are part of a broader hybrid war being led by the US and followed by Britain.

Underlying this torrent of anti-China stories is a geopolitical reality of the US applying pressure on Britain to downgrade its cooperation and trade with China. As Jenny Clegg has written, “the US elite has convinced itself that China is intent on taking over the world, just as Fu Manchu threatened to disintegrate Western civilisation back in 1912.” Carlos observes that, “in the current geopolitical conjuncture, where the US goes, Britain almost invariably follows.”

The article concludes that ordinary people in Britain have nothing to gain from hostility towards China.

This new McCarthyism and “yellow peril” fear-mongering serve to build public support for the project of waging a new cold war — and potentially a hot war — against the People’s Republic of China. By corollary, it also seeks to demonise and isolate those of us who oppose the new cold war and who are working towards a future of peace, friendship and co-operation.

The British working class has nothing to gain by falling for this nonsense. China’s proposal is for mutual respect and non-interference; an economic relationship based on mutual benefit; and for close co-operation on the central issues of our era: climate change, pandemics, peace and development.

A spectre is haunting Britain: the spectre of the Communist Party of China. The last couple of weeks have witnessed a flurry of news reports reminding the good people of this country about the imminent threat posed to their way of life by Xi Jinping and his henchmen.

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Mekong Foreign Ministers meet in China’s city of peace and harmony

On August 15, 2025, the tenth Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) Foreign Ministers’ Meeting was held in Anning, in China’s southwestern Yunnan province.

The LMC is a cooperation mechanism, founded a decade ago, that groups China with five of its close southeast Asian neighbours who all share the Mekong River.

Following the meeting, Chinese Foreign Wang Yi and his Thai counterpart, Maris Sangiampongsa, as co-chairs of the gathering, jointly met the press to brief on its outcome.

Wang Yi said that over the past decade, the building of the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Economic Development Belt has made a smooth start. Trade between China and the five Mekong countries has reached 437 billion US dollars, an increase of 125 percent. Both hard and soft connectivity of regional infrastructure have been strengthened, industrial and supply chain cooperation has deepened, and the Innovation Corridor has become a new highlight of development.

He added that the six Lancang-Mekong countries, as a natural community with a shared future, have gained invaluable experience from a decade of cooperation. In the face of multiple international and regional challenges, the key to the robust growth of the LMC lies in adherence to four principles: first, uphold good-neighbourliness, friendship and a shared future; second, focus on development and pragmatic cooperation; third, ensure benefits for the people and remain open and inclusive; fourth, pursue innovation as the driving force and implement pilot projects.

As the day also marked the 80th anniversary of Japan’s unconditional surrender in World War Two, Wang Yi further said that he would like to state clearly China’s position on this very day. Eighty years ago today, Japan was defeated, accepted the Potsdam Proclamation and announced its unconditional surrender. The war of aggression waged by Japanese militarists at that time inflicted catastrophes not only on the people of China and other Asian countries, but also on the people of Japan. A series of international documents, including the Cairo Declaration and the Potsdam Proclamation, clearly defined Japan’s responsibility for the war and required that Japan return all the territories it had stolen from China, including Taiwan. This is an indisputable outcome of the victory in the World Anti-Fascist War and constitutes an important part of the post-war international order. Yet to this day, certain forces in Japan are still trying to whitewash or deny the aggression, distort or falsify history, and even honour the war criminals and justify their crimes. Such despicable and disgraceful actions bring shame upon themselves, and challenge the United Nations Charter, the post-war international order, human conscience, and all the people of the victorious countries. Only by facing up to history can respect be earned; only by drawing lessons from history can a future be forged; only by remembering the past can straying onto the wrong path again be avoided.

The previous day, Wang Yi had held a trilateral gathering as well as bilateral exchanges with all five of his counterparts.

He held a ‘tea chat’ with Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Prak Sokhonn and Thai Foreign Minister Maris Sangiampongsa, providing an opportunity to discuss the current Thai-Cambodian border dispute in a friendly and candid way.

‘Tea chats’ are playing an increasing role as an arm of Chinese diplomacy as ‘tea culture’ is deeply embedded not only in Chinese society but also in many other countries in east and southeast Asia.

Wang Yi stated that neither Cambodia nor Thailand wants the border conflict to continue, and both are willing to resume dialogue and improve relations. The Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Foreign Ministers’ Meeting held in Anning has provided an opportunity for this. The name “Anning” signifies peace, harmony, and amity, which is also the way neighbours should get along.

The Chinese side is ready, in line with the wishes of Cambodia and Thailand, to provide support and assistance for the clearing of mines and other activities in the border areas of the two countries. As an old Chinese saying goes, “Brothers may quarrel within the family, but they stand together against outside threats.”

The Chinese Foreign Ministry reported five outcomes from the chat, including that:

  • Cambodia and Thailand have expressed their commitment to strengthening engagement and communication, resuming normal exchanges at the earliest time, and rebuilding and enhancing mutual trust. 
  • Cambodia and Thailand are encouraged to build up conditions for returning to normality in the border areas, so as to live up to the expectations of the people living there.
  • Based on the wishes of Cambodia and Thailand, China stands ready to continue its constructive role, including providing support and assistance for de-mining in the border areas agreed by both Cambodia and Thailand.

Meeting with Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Vietnam Bui Thanh Son, Wang Yi stated that this year marks the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the founding of the United Nations, as well as the 80th anniversary of the founding of Vietnam and the 50th anniversary of the liberation of the South. During the years of pursuing national independence and liberation, China and Vietnam treated each other with sincerity and stood together to provide mutual assistance, forging a deep friendship featuring the spirit of being both “comrades and brothers”. In the course of China’s reform and opening up, as well as Viet Nam’s Doi Moi reforms, the two countries have supported each other and moved forward hand in hand, blazing socialist paths towards modernisation suited to their respective national conditions. Facing profound changes unseen in a century, China is ready to work with Vietnam to carry forward traditional friendship, strengthen strategic mutual trust, implement the outcomes of General Secretary and President Xi Jinping’s state visit to Vietnam, jointly build a China-Vietnam community with a shared future that carries strategic significance, ensure that China-Vietnam mutually beneficial cooperation brings greater benefits to the peoples of both countries, and make due contributions to regional peace and stability.

Continue reading Mekong Foreign Ministers meet in China’s city of peace and harmony

FBI upgrade enmeshes New Zealand in anti-China war plans

In the following article, which was originally published on Consortium News, Mick Hall analyses how the recent visit to New Zealand by Kash Patel, Donald Trump’s far-right Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), where he announced a significant upgrade in the bureau’s local presence, will further enmesh the twin island South Pacific nation in the anti-China machinations of the Anglo-Saxon ‘Five Eyes’ espionage cabal.

Speaking in the capital Wellington on July 31, Patel was clear as to the main purpose of his visit: “Some of the most important global issues of our times are the ones that New Zealand and America work on together – countering the CCP [Chinese Communist Party].”

The upgraded presence will also oversee FBI activities in Antarctica, Samoa, Niue, the Cook Islands and Tonga, as well as in New Zealand itself.

The day after Patel’s comments, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun warned that “cooperation between countries should not target any third party.”

He added: “Seeking so-called absolute security through forming small groupings under the banner of countering China does not help keep the Asia-Pacific and the world at large peaceful and stable.”

New Zealand’s main opposition Labour Party questioned why the office was needed and said more information would be sought before commenting further.

Other opposition parties were more outspoken. Addressing demonstrators outside the US Consulate in Auckland on August 2, representatives of the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand and Te Pati Maori (representing the country’s indigenous people), drew cheers after vowing to have the office shut down.

Green Party co-leader Chloe Swarbrick had posted on social media that the opening of the office signalled New Zealand was “tying itself to an increasingly unstable Trump administration.”

“We are not, nor should we allow ourselves to be, pawns in a power struggle between the US and China.”

Hall observes that: “The Wellington upgrade is a sign of increasing Western focus on the Asia-Pacific region. The US and Five Eyes intelligence-sharing partners Australia and New Zealand have been preparing for war with China… [but] as many analysts observe, the real threat is the rise of multipolarity, as Western neocolonial hegemony is challenged by the expanding BRICS trading group, led by China, Russia and emerging nations in the Global South. The Asia-Pacific region is relatively peaceful, with an increasing BRICS presence dovetailing with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), an organisation of 10 countries in Southeast Asia, promoting economic, political, and security cooperation.”

The opening of a Federal Bureau of Investigations standalone office in New Zealand has caused widespread opposition, sparking a protest outside a U.S. consulate and vows by opposition parties to have it closed.

F.B.I. Director Kash Patel announced his organisation’s upgraded presence in the South Pacific nation on July 31, during a visit to Wellington, standing alongside senior government officials in its parliamentary building, The Beehive.

He told media:

“Some of the most important global issues of our times are the ones that New Zealand and America work on together — countering the CCP [Chinese Communist Party] in the Indo PACOM theatre, countering the narcotics trade, working together against cyber-intrusions and ransomware operations and, most importantly, protecting our respective citizenry.”

The F.B.I. operates legats, or legal attaches, across the world, allowing the organisation to coordinate with domestic law enforcement agencies, government officials and intelligence partners. The bureau has maintained a presence in Wellington since 2017, with its main regional office based in Australia’s capital, Canberra, since 1999.

Continue reading FBI upgrade enmeshes New Zealand in anti-China war plans

Beyond victory: Rethinking WWII’s legacy in a fractured world

We are pleased to publish below an original article by Wu Yanni, a Beijing-based political commentator and contributor to Chinese and international media, arguing that the lessons of World War II remain relevant – and indeed urgent – in today’s geopolitical context.

Marking the 80th anniversary of the victory over fascism and the founding of the United Nations, Wu stresses that the war’s devastation—100 million casualties worldwide, including 35 million Chinese lives—is a sobering reminder that militarism “leads not to greatness, but to ruin.” For China, the 14-year resistance against Japan became both a struggle for survival and part of the foundation of its modern nationhood.

A central theme is the danger of selective memory. Wu critiques attempts in Japan to downplay atrocities such as the Nanjing Massacre or Unit 731, a secret research facility in Heilongjiang, northeast China, where criminal and inhumane experiments were carried out on Chinese, Russian, Korean and other prisoners. Globally, she warns, invoking distorted history to justify present-day militarism and aggression undermines the spirit of the UN Charter and runs counter to the multipolar trend.

The article highlights the overlooked role of the Global South in the war: India’s 2.5 million volunteer soldiers, African and Latin American contributions, and Brazil’s combat role. These experiences have been marginalised and largely ignored in Western historical accounts. Wu writes:

As soldiers returned home, many questioned why they had fought for freedom abroad while being denied basic rights at home. From Vietnam to Ghana to Indonesia, national liberation movements accelerated. The 1955 Bandung Conference, where newly independent nations charted a path toward nonalignment and sovereignty, marked a turning point.

Today, however, “the Global South is no longer a silent object of history. From BRICS cooperation to African-led development frameworks and Latin American regionalism, formerly marginalised voices are demanding a say in shaping global rules.”

Wu Yanni concludes by recounting China’s peaceful rise and its consistent orientation towards inclusive development and multilateral cooperation. As such, China is helping to truly apply the lessons of WWII, “building a future where peace is sustained not by dominance but by cooperation, equity, and respect”.

War and peace have always shaped the trajectory of human civilization. This year marks the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the broader World Anti-Fascist War, as well as the founding of the United Nations.

Eighty years ago, nations came together in the wake of unprecedented devastation to chart a new path for global peace. China, along with the Soviet Union, was among the first to sign the UN Charter, an act symbolizing a shared hope that the horrors of fascism would never be repeated.

The price of that hope was staggering: over 100 million casualties, with half of humanity drawn into the conflict. For China, the war was not just a battleground against foreign invasion; it was a pivotal moment in its modern nationhood. The 14-year resistance against Japanese aggression, which cost 35 million Chinese military and civilian lives, held the Eastern Front and helped shape the moral foundation of the postwar international order.

Looking back from today’s fractured and uncertain world, the lessons of that war remain painfully relevant. Militarism, no matter how technologically advanced or ideologically justified, inevitably breeds destruction. Dominant narratives that claim moral superiority cannot contain the rising currents of multipolarity. Real peace cannot be achieved through alliances defined by exclusion. It requires a shared commitment to inclusion, fairness, and mutual respect.

Continue reading Beyond victory: Rethinking WWII’s legacy in a fractured world

Chinese Ambassador recalls wartime solidarity between Chinese and British people

On August 15, which marked the 80th anniversary of Japan’s surrender in the Second World War, Chinese Ambassador to Britain Zheng Zeguang published an article in the Guardian newspaper entitled, ‘China and Britain shared a mission to fight aggression and fascism. And we can work together today’.

Ambassador Zheng wrote: “At the darkest hour of the Second World War, China and the UK fought on different fronts but shared a common mission: to defend humanity against fascism and aggression. Millions of lives were lost, cities razed, and families torn apart. Yet in that darkness, courage and solidarity illuminated the way forward. The Chinese and British peoples stood shoulder to shoulder, united by sacrifice and a shared belief in freedom and justice.”

Among the examples he cites:

  • In Asia, Chinese forces made immense sacrifices to support Allied efforts. In 1942, the Chinese Expeditionary Force marched over 1,500 gruelling kilometers through the jungles of Myanmar to rescue British forces trapped by Japanese troops.
  • In Britain, thousands of Chinese seamen served with quiet courage in perilous convoys. They braved the freezing Atlantic to deliver fuel and supplies to British forces on the front lines – often with little recognition and no promise of return. [In fact, thousands of them were shamefully deported after the war in an act of egregious racism by the Labour government that tore families apart forever.]
  • In October 1942, when the Lisbon Maru, a Japanese transport vessel carrying over 1,800 British prisoners of war, was mistakenly torpedoed by a US submarine… local fishermen risked their lives, dodging volleys of Japanese gunfire, to rescue 384 survivors from the sea.
  • Across the UK, ordinary citizens formed aid organisations, held fundraisers, and sent donations to support the Chinese people.
  • George Hogg, a young man from Harpenden (a one-time reporter for the Manchester Guardian) [the precursor of today’s Guardian]… journeyed to China to provide schooling and shelter for displaced children, dedicating his youth, passion and ultimately his life to a just cause. His internationalist spirit remains deeply cherished by the Chinese people. 

“History has shown,” Zheng Zeguang writes, “what China and the UK can achieve when we stand together. As we commemorate this historic anniversary, China stands ready to work with the UK to carry forward the legacy of those who came before us.”

The following is the full text of the Ambassador’s article as reproduced on the website of the Chinese Embassy in London.

This year marks the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Chinese people’s war of resistance against Japanese aggression and the world anti-fascist war. There will be a two-minute silence at 12 noon in the UK to honour the 80th anniversary of VJ Day. This is a moment not only for solemn remembrance, but also for reflection on the enduring bonds forged in the crucible of history—bonds that continue to resonate in our world today.

At the darkest hour of the second world war, China and the UK fought on different fronts but shared a common mission: to defend humanity against fascism and aggression. Millions of lives were lost, cities razed, and families torn apart. Yet in that darkness, courage and solidarity illuminated the way forward. The Chinese and British peoples stood shoulder to shoulder, united by sacrifice and a shared belief in freedom and justice.

Continue reading Chinese Ambassador recalls wartime solidarity between Chinese and British people

Academic witch hunt: US arrests Chinese scientists in dangerous escalation

This episode of The China Report, hosted by KJ Noh in collaboration with Pivot to Peace, focuses on the recent arrest of two Chinese researchers from the University of Michigan on US federal charges of ‘agroterrorism’. The scientists, Yunqing Jian and Chengxuan Han, are accused of smuggling biological materials into the country – fusarium graminearum, a plant fungus – without permits. Prosecutors allege these could pose a grave threat to US crops, but plant pathology experts say the fungus is already widespread in the United States, is not on any official list of dangerous pathogens, and that the researchers’ work aimed to mitigate its effects, not cause harm.

The discussion brings together three guests: Linda Wan, a University of Michigan alumna and Code Pink organiser; Julie Tang, retired judge and co-founder of Pivot to Peace; and Bob McMurray, local resident and Michigan graduate. Linda Wan, who has been helping to organise protests and petitions in defence of the scientists, frames the case as part of a broader pattern of fear-mongering and xenophobia toward China and Chinese people.

Julie Tang calls the prosecution a clear case of overcharging – padding the main allegation with lesser counts to pressure a plea deal – and situates it within the racist McCarthyite China Initiative, introduced under the first Trump presidency, which investigated hundreds of Chinese scientists in order to whip up anti-China hysteria.

Bob McMurray notes that this case follows a standard playbook for manufacturing consent for both cold and hot wars. The arrests are part of an escalating pattern of propaganda, legal overreach and racial tropes aimed at building public support for confrontation with China. This is damaging to US-China relations, to the Asian-American community, to scientific progress, and to the prospects for peace.

Trump’s tariffs against Latin America: part of a global battle

In the following Morning Star article, Francisco Domínguez (Secretary of the Venezuela Solidarity Campaign and member of Friends of Socialist China’s Britain committee) situates Donald Trump’s escalating tariff war against Latin America within a broader US imperial strategy to block the emergence of a multipolar world — particularly one shaped by China’s growing influence.

While Trump’s tariffs and other coercive economic measures often appear chaotic, their underlying goal is to “slow down, reduce and if possible, eliminate altogether” China’s alternative vision of global order, based on solidarity and mutually beneficial cooperation rather than “weaponisation of the dollar, economic sanctions or military aggression.”

Washington views the increasingly close relationship between the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) and China as intolerable. China has become South America’s main trading partner and Central America’s second largest, expanding beyond raw materials into infrastructure, electric vehicles, telecommunications and renewable energy. Thus China is helping the countries of the region to break out of centuries of underdevelopment imposed by North America and Europe.

Francisco argues that the US–China relationship is often misrepresented as an inevitable conflict between superpowers (a ‘Thucydides Trap’), when in reality it reflects “two different conceptions of how to organise the global economy.” The US insists on a zero-sum model that creates winners in the developed North and losers in the Global South; China promotes a model based on multipolarity, sovereignty and common prosperity.

The article concludes: “The US considers itself the ‘indispensable nation’ which has always engaged in zero-sum games whose outcome produces winners (the US and its economically developed accomplices) and losers (the vast majority of humanity who reside in the global South). Trump’s tariffs intend to keep it that way, while Latin America’s orientation towards Asia, China and the Brics is correctly pushing in the opposite direction: to a fairer, multipolar world.”

Francisco elaborates on these points in a recent interview on the Global Majority for Peace podcast, which we embed below the article.

Trump’s threat of imposing a crippling 50 per cent tariff on all Brazilian imports to the United States took everyone by surprise, especially, considering the US enjoys a trade surplus with the South American giant (surplus it has enjoyed since 2007). Lula made it clear that Brazil would reciprocate in kind.

Trump tariffs against Brazil are in line with his overall policy of applying tariffs on all countries in the world. Under Trump US imperialism seeks to establish a global system that it suits itself such that it can impose or change any rule any time it wants and attack any country it dislikes.

As with many other global institutions, Trump, following in the footsteps of previous US administrations, is prepared to run roughshod over World Trade Organisation rules that US imperialism itself was central in establishing in 1995.

Thus, his attack on Mexico is not surprising either, country with which it has a substantial trade deficit caused by its southern neighbour’s incorporation into US supply chain arrangements ever since the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta).

The US has had a trade deficit with Mexico ever since 1995, exactly one year after Nafta.

To Trump’s chagrin, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has vigorously defended her country’s sovereignty and has skilfully navigated US provocations.

To the charge of Mexico being a drug-trafficking hub, she has pointed out to US negotiators that the “the US itself harbours cartels, is the largest narcotic consumer market, exports the majority of armaments used by drug barons and hosts money-laundering banks.” She has also resolutely refused the deployment of US troops on Mexican soil.

Continue reading Trump’s tariffs against Latin America: part of a global battle

At the UN Security Council and on the streets of Taipei, Chinese people speak out for Palestine

China has firmly condemned the Israeli government’s genocidal plan to reoccupy Gaza.

Speaking at a United Nations Security Council meeting on August 10, Ambassador Fu Cong said that: “The Gaza conflict has persisted for 22 months, leading to over 61,000 civilian deaths and resulting in an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe… Given the urgency at hand, the international community, including the Security Council, must take all necessary actions before a greater disaster unfolds.”

He then put forward ‘four musts’:

  • Any attempt to occupy Gaza must be firmly opposed. Gaza belongs to the Palestinian people. It is an integral part of the Palestinian territory. Any action that seeks to alter its demographic and territorial structure must be met with utmost rejection and resistance.
  • The illusion of military supremacy must be abandoned… The country with significant influence over the parties must uphold a just and responsible stance and take concrete steps to push forward a ceasefire. [Referring to the United States, which was alone among Security Council members in refusing to criticise Israeli actions.]
  • The humanitarian disaster in Gaza must be alleviated. Gaza is on the verge of famine, with nearly 200 people having already died of starvation. Israel issued forced evacuation orders one after another, affecting over 87% of the Gazan territory and repeatedly displacing more than 1.9 million people. The lives of two million Gazans must not be the sacrifice of the war. The weaponisation of humanitarian supplies is unacceptable. The collective punishment of the Gazan people is unacceptable. Attacking civilians and humanitarian workers as they search for supplies is equally unacceptable.
  • The prospect of the two-State solution must be reinvigorated. Implementing the two-State solution is the only viable path to resolving the Palestinian question.

Meanwhile, on August 3, the Middle East Monitor, citing the Andalou News Agency, reported that hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists in Taipei, capital of China’s Taiwan, banged pots and pasted mock banknotes smeared with red dye symbolising blood on Israeli and Taiwanese separatist flags outside Taiwan’s “Foreign Ministry”. They accused Taipei’s envoy to Israel of pledging money to a health centre inside an illegal Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank and demanded that the Taiwan authorities halt all financial assistance to Israel. The website noted that Taiwan, “has deepened ties with Israel since the Gaza war erupted nearly two years ago. It has launched a parliamentary friendship group, donated $500,000 to Israeli medical patrols, opened a reciprocal working-holiday program, as well as encouraged technology and trade cooperation.”

The Taiwan International Workers Association, which fights for the rights and interests of migrant workers on the island, says that several Taiwanese firms supply components used in American and Israeli weapons systems.

The following articles were originally published on the website of the Chinese UN Mission and by Middle East Monitor.

Remarks by Ambassador Fu Cong on the Palestinian-Israeli Issue at the UN Security Council Briefing

President,

China supports the initiative of the United Kingdom, Denmark, France, Greece, and Slovenia to convene this meeting. We also thank Assistant Secretary-General Miroslav Jenča and Mr Ramesh Rajasingham for their briefings.

Continue reading At the UN Security Council and on the streets of Taipei, Chinese people speak out for Palestine

Trump makes BRICS great again

As Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump prepare to meet in the current US state and former Russian territory of Alaska on August 15 for talks centred on the conflict in Ukraine, they do so against a wider diplomatic background of engagements among the Global South, with BRICS+ in the lead, and triggered not least by the indiscriminate bullying tactics on the part of Trump.

Faced with the shameless bullying and arbitrary economic punishment beating on the part of the United States, not least in support of Trump’s fascist friend, former President Jair Bolsonaro, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has conducted telephone diplomacy to coordinate positions with his Chinese, Russian and Indian counterparts.

On August 12, President Xi Jinping spoke with President Lula for one hour, at the latter’s request.

Xi Jinping pointed out that China-Brazil relations are at their best in history, with a good start and strong momentum in building the China-Brazil community with a shared future and aligning development strategies. China is ready to work with Brazil to seize opportunities, strengthen coordination, deliver more mutually beneficial cooperation outcomes, set an example of uniting for strength among major Global South countries, and build a more just world and sustainable planet.

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva briefed on Brazil’s current relationship with the United States and Brazil’s principled stance on firmly safeguarding its sovereignty. He appreciated China’s efforts to uphold multilateralism and free trade rules, and its responsible role in international affairs. Brazil is ready to enhance communication and coordination with China within BRICS and other multilateral mechanisms, oppose unilateralism and bullying acts, and safeguard the common interests of all countries.

Xi Jinping said that China supports the Brazilian people in defending national sovereignty and supports Brazil in safeguarding its legitimate rights and interests. Countries should unite in unequivocally opposing unilateralism and protectionism. The BRICS mechanism is an important platform for building consensus in the Global South. He congratulated Brazil on successfully hosting the BRICS Summit. Global South countries should join hands to uphold international fairness and justice, safeguard the basic norms governing international relations, and protect the legitimate rights and interests of developing countries.

Their conversation was preceded by an August 6 call between Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Brazilian Chief Advisor to the Presidency Celso Luiz Nunes Amorim, again at the latter’s request.

Wang Yi said that China resolutely supports Brazil in defending its state sovereignty and national dignity and opposes groundless interference in Brazil’s internal affairs by external forces. China firmly supports Brazil in protecting its development rights and interests and resisting the bullying practices of arbitrary tariffs. China firmly supports Brazil in strengthening solidarity and cooperation among the Global South through the BRICS mechanism and promoting strength through unity among developing countries. Using tariffs as a weapon to suppress other countries runs counter to the purposes of the United Nations Charter and undermines WTO rules. Such practices will win no support and cannot be sustained. China is ready to work with Brazil to fully implement the important common understandings reached by the two heads of state, deepen bilateral cooperation, enrich the strategic dimension of the China-Brazil community with a shared future, and effectively offset external uncertainties through the stability and complementarity of bilateral cooperation.

Celso Amorim noted that the profound friendship, strong mutual trust, and fruitful pragmatic cooperation between the two countries are truly commendable. Brazil is willing to work with China to fully implement the common understandings reached between the two heads of state and deepen cooperation in various fields such as trade and finance. The United States’ imposition of high tariffs on Brazil has disrupted normal economic and trade relations and interfered in Brazil’s internal affairs, which Brazil firmly opposes. Brazil thanks China for its steadfast support and is willing to work with China to promote the improvement and development of the BRICS mechanism, enhance solidarity and self-strength among the Global South, and uphold international fairness and justice.

What is also noteworthy is that relations between China and India are significantly improving.

On August 13, the financial news service Bloomberg reported that, “Prime Minister Narendra Modi is drawing closer to the BRICS countries after US President Donald Trump hit the South Asian nation with a 50% tariff.

“Modi’s latest move is to resume direct flights with China as soon as next month, said people familiar with the negotiations who asked for anonymity to discuss private matters. The deal could be formally announced when Modi is expected to head to China for the first time in seven years and meet leader Xi Jinping at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation held in Tianjin from Aug. 31…

“Modi’s economic calculus was fundamentally altered this month when Trump doubled tariffs on Indian goods to 50% as a penalty for its purchases of Russian oil. The US president’s remarks that India’s economy was ‘dead’ and its tariff barriers ‘obnoxious’ further strained relations.”

The report added: “The Adani Group [of billionaire Gautam Adani, currently facing a US court indictment] is exploring a tieup with Chinese EV giant BYD Co. that would allow… Adani’s conglomerate to manufacture batteries in India and extend its push into clean energy, according to people familiar with the matter.”

Moreover, prior to his Alaska visit, Vladimir Putin also had a telephone conversation with Xi Jinping on August 8, at the request of the Russian President.

President Putin briefed Xi Jinping on Russia’s views on the current situation of the Ukraine crisis and the recent contact and communication between Russia and the United States, adding that Russia highly appreciates the constructive role China has been playing in the political settlement of the crisis. He stated that the comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination between Russia and China will not change under any circumstances.

Xi Jinping said that no matter how the situation evolves, China will maintain its consistent position and continue promoting talks for peace. China welcomes contacts between Russia and the US to improve bilateral ties and advance the process of realising a political settlement of the crisis.

Both sides said they will make concerted efforts in preparation for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Tianjin Summit to ensure a successful gathering of friendship, solidarity and fruitful results.

This call was one of a number made by the Russian President to brief and discuss with friendly leaders in the Global South ahead of his meeting with Trump. They include – in the order reported by the Russian President’s website – the leaders of South Africa, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Belarus, India, Brazil, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).

Continue reading Trump makes BRICS great again

Wales mobilises against AUKUS

Campaigners in southwest Wales say that their campaign against the local installation of US ‘space war’ radar is continuing to grow following an August 7 demonstration along the Pembrokeshire coastline.

Local group PARC Against DARC has been campaigning against Ministry of Defence (MoD) plans to build 27 radar dishes at the local Cawdor Barracks. They are considered to be an integral part of the tripartite AUKUS project that threatens war against China. (PARC  = Pembrokeshire Against Radar Campaign; DARC = Deep Space Advanced Radar Capability)

Reporting the launch of the project on December 2, 2023, the Pembrokeshire Herald wrote:  “This pioneering initiative aims to significantly bolster the defence capabilities of AUKUS nations (Australia, the UK, and the US) by providing 24/7, all-weather capabilities to monitor objects as far as 36,000 kilometers away from Earth.”

Uncritically regurgitating British government propaganda, it added: “AUKUS, a landmark security and defence partnership, is set to benefit significantly from DARC, marking a significant step forward in delivering enhanced security capabilities among the partner nations and supporting a free and open Indo-Pacific region.”

The paper did however report a spokesperson for the Campaign Against the Arms Trade (CAAT) as insisting that “The huge sums of money involved would be far better spent building fairer and more equal societies here rather than further militarising space.”

Reporting the August 7 protest, the Morning Star quoted PARC Against DARC campaigner Jim Scott as saying: “ “We believe [it] is intended to allow the US to make a first strike against… China without fear of retaliation, threatening to encumber the world with even more economic and military subservience to America at a time when it has such little regard for international law that it is openly arming a live-streamed genocide in Gaza and the West Bank.”

The following article was originally published in the Morning Star.

More information on the excellent work of PARC Against DARC, including a short introductory video, can be found on its website. It reports that, at its October 2024 conference, the Welsh nationalist party Plaid Cymru unanimously voted to support the campaign. Current polls suggest that Plaid Cymru, which celebrated its 100th birthday on August 5, has become the most popular party in Wales, with support for Labour collapsing. Elections to the Senedd (Welsh Parliament) are due in 2026.

Public opposition to plans for a US space radar array in Pembrokeshire “just seems to grow and grow,” campaigners said today, following a demonstration on the famous Welsh coastline.

In action organised by the pressure group PARC (Pembrokeshire Against Radar Campaign), locals linked hands on Newgale beach to protest against Ministry of Defence (MoD) plans to build 27 radar dishes at Cawdor Barracks in Brawdy, Pembrokeshire, known as Darc.

PARC campaigner Jim Scott said: “Although Darc is a hangover from Biden’s AUKUS pact between the US, the UK and Australia, its purpose of allowing the US to target and shoot down other nations’ satellites is exactly in line with Donald Trump’s outrageously aggressive and wasteful plan to create a multi-trillion-dollar ‘Golden Dome’ of satellite weaponry.

“We believe [it] is intended to allow the US to make a first strike against other superpowers like China without fear of retaliation, threatening to encumber the world with even more economic and military subservience to America at a time when it has such little regard for international law that it is openly arming a live-streamed genocide in Gaza and the West Bank.”

The group has “no intention of easing up our pressure on UK and Welsh Labour decision-makers, and their refusal to live up to their jobs as public servants,” he added.

Brian Jones, of Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament Wales, said: “I do wonder how much longer we can walk that tightrope of countries having nuclear weapons poised to launch at a moment’s notice, and there won’t be time to check if something was just a mistake, a false reading, or a miscalculation.”

Boris Johnson plays the fool in Taiwan with provocative remarks against China and Palestine

Serial buffoon and former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson recently visited China’s island province of Taiwan, where, participating in the Ketagalan Forum, a security confab, he made a series of absurd and provocative remarks, not only encouraging the separatist forces seeking to divide China but even going so far as to claim that Taiwan has a “far more robust” claim to statehood than Palestine.

Posting on X/Twitter, our co-editor Carlos Martinez aptly described Johnson as a clown and noted, “the closer parallel is actually between Taiwan and Israel. Both are essentially colonial projects designed to facilitate US power projection and to undermine Global South sovereignty.

“As Mao Zedong said in 1965, ‘Israel and Taiwan are bases of operation for imperialism in Asia. They created Israel for the Arabs and Taiwan for us. They both have the same objective.’

“And it’s no coincidence that Taiwan consistently supports Israel whereas China consistently supports Palestine. [Taiwan even made a big show recently of donating to illegal and fascist settlers in the occupied West Bank.]

“The correct anti-imperialist position is therefore: One China, Free Palestine.”

In a commentary, the website Middle East Monitor called out Johnson for “dismissing the UK’s historic responsibility for Palestinian statelessness and misrepresenting norms around international recognition of states.” It added:

“Johnson’s comments contradict the legal and diplomatic realities. As of August 2025, Palestine is recognised by… a majority of UN member states and the overwhelming majority of states in the Global South. By contrast, Taiwan is recognised by just 12 countries, with most of the international community upholding the One-China policy.

“In a column for the ‘Daily Mail’, Johnson accused UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer of capitulating to ‘Hamas propaganda’ and described the move to recognise Palestinian statehood as ‘craven and pathetic.’

“Yet Johnson’s framing has been criticised for omitting the fact that Palestine’s right to statehood is affirmed in numerous UN resolutions, and that its pursuit of self-determination predates the formation of Hamas in 1987. It has further been pointed out that Israel’s borders remain undefined under international law, as claims to territory beyond the 1967 Green Line have been consistently rejected by the UN Security Council and ruled unlawful by the International Court of Justice.

“Palestinians and legal scholars have pointed to Britain’s own colonial history as a direct cause of Palestinian dispossession… Palestinians view the UK as bearing a direct historical responsibility for creating the conditions that have led to decades of occupation, apartheid, and now genocide in Gaza.”

Continue reading Boris Johnson plays the fool in Taiwan with provocative remarks against China and Palestine

Interview: China shows socialism is the future

Sydney Loving, a Central Committee member of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, joined the 2025 Friends of Socialist China delegation on a ten-day visit to Xi’an, Yan’an, Dunhuang, Jiayuguan, and Shanghai. The trip, hosted by the China NGO Network for International Exchanges, aimed to deepen solidarity, build understanding of the Global Civilisation Initiative, and counter Western Cold War lies about China.

In the interview below, originally published in FightBack News, Sydney emphasises that China’s achievements must be seen in the context of its pre-1949 poverty, war, and foreign domination. Visiting Yan’an, the cradle of the revolution, underscored how the Communist Party of China (CPC) grounded itself in the masses. Today, after 76 years of socialist construction, China has lifted hundreds of millions out of extreme poverty, raised life expectancy to over 79 years, and built a high-tech, increasingly green economy.

Daily life in China, Sydney observes, contrasts sharply with US cities: clean, walkable streets, safety for pedestrians, abundant public spaces, and virtually no homelessness. Historical and cultural heritage is actively preserved and made accessible. In poorer Gansu Province, projects like the JISCO steel complex, solar power plants, and ecological greening of desert areas illustrate the link between poverty alleviation and environmental sustainability.

Sydney stresses the CPC’s visible role in daily life, from free medical checkups to street sanitation, with leadership positions earned by serving the people rather than by spending money on marketing. She argues that socialism’s central planning and mass mobilisation achieve outcomes capitalism simply cannot.

For US revolutionaries, the lesson is twofold: socialism works, and the main obstacle to global peace and dignity is US imperialism. While China’s path cannot be copied directly, its example shows that a people-centred, revolutionary movement is possible.

Fight Back!: How did you go to China? What was the purpose of the trip?

Sydney Loving: The delegation was organized by Friends of Socialist China, a political project aiming to strengthen understanding and support for China on the basis of solidarity and truth. I repped Freedom Road Socialist Organization, and the delegation included folks from Black Alliance for Peace, Workers World, Progressive International, Communist Party of Britain Young Communist League, Black Liberation Alliance, Qiao Collective, Iskra Books, and others.

We were invited by the China NGO Network for International Exchanges, and over ten days we visited Xi’an, Yan’an, Dunhuang, Jiayuguan, and Shanghai.

Traveling to a range of areas, we got to investigate how China is building socialism, the incredible advances they’ve made in 76 years of socialist construction, and we had awesome dialogues about how we can better counter the negative narratives and Cold War-type lies we’re bombarded with in the West. Ultimately what we found was a country led by a forward-thinking political party, with a purpose that’s carving out a better future for everybody.

Continue reading Interview: China shows socialism is the future

Chinese and Russian diplomats celebrate anti-fascist victory in DPRK

Chinese and Russian diplomats in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) jointly commemorated the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War on July 31.

Chinese Ambassador Wang Yajun said that 80 years ago, China and the Soviet Union fought side by side and supported each other, won the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the Great Patriotic War on their respective battlefields, and made significant historical contributions to the victory of the world anti-fascist war. In May this year, President Xi Jinping attended a celebration commemorating the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Soviet Union in the Great Patriotic War. In September, President Putin will also attend the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression.

Russian Ambassador Alexander Matsegora congratulated the Chinese people on the 80th anniversary of the victory in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, saying that the Russian and Chinese peoples made the greatest sacrifices in the European and Pacific theatres respectively and played a decisive role in the struggle to defeat German Nazism and Japanese militarism.

The following article was originally published in Chinese on the website of the Chinese Embassy in the DPRK and has been machine translated.

On July 31, 2025, Ambassador Wang Yajun and Russian Ambassador to the DPRK Matsegora led diplomats from the Chinese and Russian embassies in the DPRK in a friendly exchange event to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War. The event was attended by Minister Feng Chuntai of the Chinese Embassy in the DPRK, Defense Attaché Major General Wang Yisheng, Counsellor Gao Wu, and Counsellor Xu Feng, as well as Minister Counsellor Topeha, Defense Attaché Major General Batusov, and Political Counselor Shutov of the Russian Embassy in the DPRK.

Ambassador Wang stated that 80 years ago, China and the Soviet Union fought side by side and supported each other, achieving victory in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the Great Patriotic War on their respective fronts, making significant historical contributions to the victory of the World Anti-Fascist War. In May of this year, President Xi Jinping attended the celebrations commemorating the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory in the Great Patriotic War. In September, President Putin will also attend the commemorations of the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression. China is willing to work with Russia, guided by the important consensus reached by the two heads of state, to remember history, cherish the memory of the martyrs, promote a correct view of World War II history, safeguard the achievements of World War II and the post-war international order, and uphold international fairness and justice and regional peace and stability.

Ambassador Matsegora congratulated the Chinese people on the 80th anniversary of the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression. He stated that the Russian and Chinese peoples made the greatest sacrifices in the European and Pacific theaters, respectively, and played a decisive role in defeating German Nazism and Japanese militarism. Russia has always advocated peace and hopes to create a peaceful and stable environment for economic development and improving people’s livelihoods. The international community should work together to build a just and peaceful international order and ensure equal rights for all nations and peoples.

The two sides jointly watched a video commemorating the victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the victory of Russia’s Great Patriotic War. Chinese and Russian diplomats respectively recited the poem “The Eternal Torch” and sang the song “Blood Type” to express their remembrance of history and their cherishment of peace.