In this episode of Wave Media’s Roughly Chinese podcast, hosted by Mimi Zhu and recorded live in Shanghai in October 2025, Martin Jacques (British academic and author of the bestselling When China Rules the World) and Carlos Martinez (co-editor of Friends of Socialist China and author of The East is Still Red) discuss their motivations for researching and writing about China; the trajectory of Britain-China relations; changing perceptions of China in the West; the long-term crisis of capitalism and its manifestation in an ascendant far-right in Britain; and more.
Category: New Cold War
Germany is sabotaging its relations with China on behalf of Washington
In the following article, Sevim Dağdelen, German member of parliament from 2005-25 and foreign policy spokesperson of the Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW), contrasts two moments in German–Chinese relations, arguing that today’s German foreign policy is abandoning the mutual respect that characterised earlier diplomacy. She begins with the 1975 visit of West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt to Beijing. Schmidt explicitly sought to break from European colonial attitudes, and called for the West to treat China as an equal partner.
Fifty years later, Dağdelen argues, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul represents the opposite approach. She describes Wadephul as adhering to Washington’s geopolitical dictates rather than pursuing an independent German foreign policy. His planned visit to China was cancelled at the last minute, following a trip to Asia in which he issued assorted slanders against Beijing. “His appearance gives the impression that he wants to continue the anti-Chinese turn in German foreign policy from 1937, and again pursue an alliance with Japan against China and Russia.”
Dağdelen writes that “neither German nor European foreign policy seems prepared to apply the principle of reciprocity in international relations.”
Wadephul appears in Asia only as the squire of knight Trump, who attempts to fight the Chinese wind-mills. Concretely, one laments China’s restrictions on the export of rare earths for Western arms companies without recognising that the export bans to China came from the USA. One laments Chinese tariffs on US products without mentioning that the first shot in the trade war with Beijing was clearly fired by the USA. One allows via the Netherlands a Chinese chip-manufacturer to be placed under Western control and then complains that China no longer delivers chips to Europe and Volkswagen’s production lines stand still. And one wants to teach Beijing morals on human rights, yet supports – as the German government does – Israel’s genocide of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, with arms and trade privileges.
Such behaviour is reprehensible; moreover, it will not succeed, as “China is a country that is ready to accept a challenge”.
The article concludes that Germany, by aligning with Washington’s confrontational stance, risks destroying 50 years of productive relations with China, undermining its own economic interests, and isolating itself from an emerging multipolar world order. Such a trajectory must be firmly resisted.
China is a centre of the multipolar world order. This insight is urgently needed. A German foreign policy that acts in the interest of the desperate maintenance of the USA’s doomed unipolar world order is destined to fail. In the interest of the German population however lies being in good relations with this centre.
This article first appeared in German in the Berliner Zeitung, and was published in English in Geopolitical Economy Report.
The visit of German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt to Beijing 50 years ago was a visit that lifted German-Chinese relations to a completely new level. On 31 October 1975, Schmidt met the Chinese head of state Mao Zedong. In preparation he had read Mao’s poems. It was the first visit of a German chancellor to China.
Schmidt remained someone who, throughout his life, wanted to break with the colonial past of the West in China, and advocated relations on equal footing and with mutual respect. For example, in his discussion of the book The Governance of China by Chinese President Xi Jinping, he called on the West to replace arrogance with fair competition in its relationship with China. Good relations with China were among the priorities of German foreign policy.
Continue reading Germany is sabotaging its relations with China on behalf of Washington
Trump makes fools of Britain’s China hawks
In this witty and perceptive article, originally published on his Substack, ‘The Rest is Bullshit’, Steve Howell excoriates Britain’s right wing anti-China hawks in politics and the media, arguing that Donald Trump’s positive meeting with President Xi Jinping in the Republic of Korea has exposed their foolishness.
Having noted that, “The US and China surprised almost everyone last week by calling off their trade war – for now at least. The summit between presidents Xi and Trump ended with both parties dropping plans for tougher trade restrictions and tariffs,” Howell adds:
“This was awkward for the British media. For weeks, they had been pumping out headlines on what they called the China spy scandal – the collapse of the prosecution [of] two men accused of passing information to China. There were virtually no dissenters to the view that the charges being dropped was bad news. The only issue for the media was who to blame for the failure to convict the two defendants, as if the small matter of their actual guilt was not in doubt.”
Giving the recent historical background, he writes that:
“In the build up to the US elections of 2016, both Bernie Sanders and Trump – from very different perspectives – made cheap imports from China an issue and blamed them for the de-industrialisation of the Midwest ‘rust belt’ states. On being elected, Trump introduced the first wave of tariffs on China, marking the start of a new Washington consensus that President Biden not only continued but escalated. True to form, Britain fell into line.”
However: “Amid the furore over the China ‘spy’ case, our commentariat appears not to have noticed the emerging change of policy in Washington.
“The Telegraph’s Sherelle Jacobs was certainly caught out badly, having written shortly before the summit that the government’s ‘refusal to break with China has explosive geopolitical implications.’ She thought that Britain’s ‘inaction over China’ could send Trump ‘over the edge’ and claimed that ‘if anything ends up destroying the Special Relationship it will be our gutless cosying up to Beijing.’ She must have been mortified when Trump described his meeting with Xi as ‘the G2 summit’, relegating the G7 – of which Britain is a member.”
He adds: “It remains to be seen what Trump’s China game plan is. The trade agreement arising from his summit with Xi has yet to be finalised. There is talk of Xi visiting Washington. Whatever happens, a couple of things are clear. Firstly, Britain’s long-standing policy – whoever occupies Downing Street – of hanging on to America’s coattails is a recipe for being badly bruised when there is a sudden change of direction. Secondly, if the US has had to treat China with respect, it is absurd for Britain to act as if it is ready to send gunboats up the Yangtze again.”
Steve Howell served as the Labour Party’s deputy director of strategy and communication in 2017, during the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn. He is the author of ‘Game Changer: Eight Weeks That Transformed British Politics’, about Britain’s 2017 general election; ‘Collateral Damage’, a political and international relations thriller; and ‘Cold War Puerto Rico: Anti-Communism in Washington’s Caribbean Colony (Culture and Politics in the Cold War and Beyond)’ (forthcoming).
The US and China surprised almost everyone last week by calling off their trade war – for now at least. The summit between presidents Xi and Trump ended with both parties dropping plans for tougher trade restrictions and tariffs. Asked to evaluate it on a scale of one to ten, Trump said that he thought “it was a 12.”
This was awkward for the British media. For weeks, they had been pumping out headlines on what they called the China spy scandal – the collapse of the prosecution two men accused of passing information to China. There were virtually no dissenters to the view that the charges being dropped was bad news. The only issue for the media was who to blame for the failure to convict the two defendants, as if the small matter of their actual guilt was not in doubt.
War of position vs. war of manoeuvre: China’s Gramscian trade strategy
The article below, written by CJ Atkins for People’s World, analyses the recent Trump–Xi summit in Busan, South Korea, noting that while both leaders announced modest compromises – with the US easing tariffs and approving limited chip exports, and China resuming agricultural purchases and delaying rare earth export regulations – the meeting “represents a truce, not a treaty”.
The ambitions of the U.S. corporate oligarchy to derail China’s growth and hobble their competition have not been set aside. Nor have China’s desires to continue developing its economy and raising living standards for its 1.4 billion people… There is still a contest underway between the world’s biggest capitalist power and the world’s biggest socialist country, and the leaders of the two nations are following very different strategies as they seek to bring the rest of the globe onside.
To interpret this ongoing struggle, the article draws on Italian Marxist Antonio Gramsci’s distinction between a “war of manoeuvre” and a “war of position.” A war of manoeuvre is a rapid, frontal assault to disrupt the status quo; a war of position is slower, focused on building long-term consensus and influence within institutions and public opinion. “Neither strategy was inherently right or wrong, Gramsci said; it was a matter of surveying the battlefield, so to speak, and determining which was appropriate given the political situation at the time.”
Trump’s trade war embodies the war of manoeuvre: abrupt tariffs, bans on technology exports, and pressure on allies to cut trade with China. His aim is to force quick concessions and signal dominance to domestic political supporters and corporate interests.
China by contrast is engaged in a war of position. The Chinese leadership emphasises cooperation, multilateralism, and shared prosperity. Rather than retaliating aggressively against the US’s unilateral measures, China strengthens regional institutions and trade networks – upgrading the China–ASEAN free-trade agreement, deepening APEC cooperation and upgrading trade partnerships. As a result, China is seen as a predictable and responsible global partner.
The article argues that Trump’s aggressive tactics have largely failed: US tariffs raised domestic inflation, damaged the agricultural sector, and highlighted China’s success over the course of recent years diversifying suppliers and trade partners. “By trying to enforce subservience to his demands, Trump’s strategy has actually generated further legitimacy for China’s model of multilateral cooperation in the eyes of much of the world.” CJ concludes:
Trump’s war of manoeuvre has depended on flashy claims and regular assurances of victories that are yet to materialise. But as China is showing in practice, and as Gramsci concluded in his Prison Notebooks, “In politics, the ‘war of position,’ once won, is decisive definitively.”
Fresh off his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, President Donald Trump hailed the summit as “amazing,” a “12” on a scale of 1 to 10. Xi’s assessment was also positive but more measured in tone. “In the face of winds, waves, and challenges,” he said, “we should stay the right course, navigate through the complex landscape, and ensure the steady sailing forward of the giant ship of China-U.S. relations.”
Headlines in the media, meanwhile, rattled off details of the agreements reached in Busan: A delay of Chinese rare earth export controls, the lowering of the U.S.’ supposedly fentanyl-linked tariff rates, the resumption of Chinese purchases of American soybeans, U.S. approval for the sale of some advanced microchips to Chinese firms, the mutual lowering of port fees, further talks about the future of TikTok, and more.
Continue reading War of position vs. war of manoeuvre: China’s Gramscian trade strategy
Understanding the changes unseen in a century
The following text is based on a presentation given by Friends of Socialist China co-editor Carlos Martinez at the Thinkers Forum, held at Fudan University, Shanghai, on 16 October 2025, which event brought together thinkers and scholars from around the world to discuss “Global Changes and the Reshaping of the World Order.”
Carlos explores the meaning of Xi Jinping’s observation that “the world is undergoing profound changes unseen in a century”, arguing that these changes reflect a historic shift from Western-led unipolar dominance toward a multipolar, post-imperialist global order. The article traces these changes back to the October Revolution of 1917, which opened a new era of socialist development and anti-colonial liberation.
After the setbacks of the 1980s and 1990s — including the collapse of the Soviet Union and the rise of neoliberal globalisation — Western commentators like Francis Fukuyama declared “the end of history”. Yet, as Deng Xiaoping noted, history advances through contradictions and reversals. The 2008 financial crisis, widening inequality and environmental collapse have since exposed the limits of neoliberal capitalism.
Meanwhile, a multipolar world is emerging. China stands at the centre of this process, advancing initiatives such as the Belt and Road, the Global Development Initiative, and the Global Governance Initiative — all based on sovereignty, non-interference, and mutual benefit. Such efforts are helping countries of the Global South break from dependency and pursue sustainable, sovereign development.
The US and its allies, meanwhile, cling to hegemony through wars, sanctions, economic coercion and destabilisation. Humanity faces a stark choice: socialism or barbarism, cooperation or confrontation. Carlos concludes by calling for a global united front of socialist, anti-imperialist, and progressive forces to ensure that this century’s transformations lead to peace, justice, and sustainable development.
Carlos’s presentation was summarised in the popular Chinese news website Guancha.
General Secretary Xi Jinping has observed several times that “the world is undergoing profound changes unseen in a century”. What are these changes, and what are their implications for the current global situation?
Before addressing the changes the world is experiencing today, it is worthwhile reflecting on the major changes that occurred a century ago, since the dramatic shifts of that time laid the foundations for the transformations we are witnessing now.
The October Revolution of 1917 was a watershed moment marking the beginning of humanity’s transition from capitalism to socialism. The revolution in Russia led to the formation of the world’s first socialist state – the Soviet Union – which became a revolutionary base area for the working class and oppressed peoples of the world. The Soviet Union provided crucial support for the liberation of, and construction of socialism in, Eastern Europe, China, Cuba, Korea, Vietnam and elsewhere.
The Soviet Union and China played the decisive role in the defeat of fascism in World War II. This victory gave tremendous impetus to the anti-colonial movement and national liberation struggles around the world – in Africa, in Asia, in Latin America, in the Caribbean and the Pacific. The colonial system was no longer viable.
As such, the October Revolution constituted the first major breach in the imperialist world system, thereby marking the start of the current era of human development.
Continue reading Understanding the changes unseen in a century
Sinister spy hysteria risks poisoning UK-China relations
The decision by Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to drop charges brought under the Official Secrets Act 1911 against Christopher Cash and Christopher Berry, far from drawing a line under the matter, has seen the country become engulfed in a wave of spy hysteria and mania redolent of the worst features of the US McCarthyite persecution in the 1950s. Whilst the script seems to owe more to Slow Horses than George Smiley, being rich in farcical ineptitude and improbable story lines, it is no less sinister for that.
For the unfortunate Cash and Berry, the always hypocritical claim that under the British justice system a person is ‘innocent until proven guilty’ has become a case of being ‘guilty despite being proven innocent’. Meanwhile, we see blatant acts of political interference by figures such as Ken McCallum, Director General of MI5, the Security Service, and blatant acts of political interference in the judicial process by figures in both the government and opposition parties. And whilst on the part of at least some players – certainly including the Conservative Party and the right wing press – the target of this campaign seems at times to be as much the Labour government as it is China, Starmer and members of his hapless and utterly mediocre administration are typically only capable of responding with a toxic cocktail of capitulation, disingenuity, incompetence, pusillanimity, counter-accusation and hypocrisy, serving only to perpetuate and compound their own deepening crisis, not to mention undermining the basis for stable, rational and mutually beneficial UK-China relations.
On October 16, the Spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in London responded to what it described as the “hype” over the issue, specifically the release of three CPS “witness statements”, a highly unusual move occasioned by an all too usual Starmer ‘u-turn’, and the trading of accusations by the Labour and Conservative parties, emphasising that the statements “are nothing but sheer fabrications made out of thin air.” The spokesperson added that:
“The attempt by some British politicians to smear China is doomed to fail. We urge the relevant parties in the UK to stop making an issue of China at every turn, stop hyping up anti-China narratives, and stop undermining China-UK relations.”
The same day, at the regular Foreign Ministry press conference in Beijing, spokesperson Lin Jian was asked several questions related to China-UK relations and responded to one from Bloomberg by stating: “The accusations are nothing but smears. We urge relevant personnel in the UK to stop their vilification and stop this kind of political manipulation.”
In a further post on the Chinese Embassy website the same day, the spokesperson responded to the provocative remarks made by the head of MI5, stating: “China does not pose a threat to any country, and has neither the intention nor the interest to interfere in the UK’s internal affairs. The UK’s intelligence agencies should focus on real security threats facing their own country rather than concoct and spread disinformation about China for ulterior political motives. Such actions are irresponsible and unprofessional. They will only further damage the credibility of the UK’s intelligence agencies.”
Amidst this atmosphere of growing and irrational hysteria, it was almost inevitable that new Housing Minister Steve Reed would yet again postpone a decision on planning permission for the new site of the Chinese Embassy, something that has been a political football for a number of years now, from 21 October to 10 December.
The Embassy Spokesperson stated: “We strongly deplore the UK’s repeated postponement of the approval deadline for the new Chinese Embassy project.
“It is an international obligation of the host country to provide support and facilitation for the construction of diplomatic premises. Both China and the UK have plans to build new embassies in each other’s capitals, and both sides should facilitate each other’s efforts.”
At the October 17 Foreign Ministry press conference, Lin Jian responded, again to Bloomberg, with remarks that appear to, not unreasonably, indicate a growing exasperation on the part of China:
“China expresses strong concern and opposition to the UK’s latest decision on the new Chinese embassy project, which has been put off by the UK for seven years. In the recent rounds of communication between the two sides for the early approval of the project, China has shown utmost sincerity and patience, while the UK over the years has shown a total lack of the spirit of contract, credibility and ethics, and has repeatedly put off the approval of the project citing various excuses and linked the project with other issues, constantly complicating and politicising the matter. That goes entirely against the UK’s commitments and previous remarks about improving China-UK relations. We once again call on the UK to fulfill its obligation and honor its commitments at once, otherwise the consequences arising therefrom shall be borne by the UK side.”
In its editorial for October 15, the Morning Star described the whole affair as “a concocted controversy to shackle us to Trump” and noted that Cash and Berry, “have not even been afforded a trial by media: instead, the right-wing press, the Tory Party and even the Labour government have hurled themselves into a blame game in which their guilt is assumed and only the failure to jail them needs explaining.”
It adds: “The media storm is not really about the men in question. It is an attempt to derail any improvement in Britain-China relations, and is wholly political… This is a concerted political offensive designed to shackle Britain ever more closely to Donald Trump’s United States. Some hint at this openly, warning Labour that the White House will look askance if it hesitates to denounce Beijing.”
The same angle was also analysed in an article carried in the Chinese newspaper Global Times on 12 October, citing British media reports that, “the White House has sent a warning to UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, claiming that Britain’s failure to prosecute the two alleged ‘China spies’ risks damaging their special relationship and jeopardising intelligence sharing between London and Washington.”
The paper quotes Cui Hongjian, a leading Chinese scholar of international relations, as pointing out that the US is forcing the UK to make a binary choice between the “special relationship with the US” and “improving relations with China,” which is, in essence, a threat to the UK’s policy autonomy.
Earlier, on 7 October, in his Opinion column in the South China Morning Post, Alex Lo analysed both the UK case and recent attacks on the Chinese community in Canada, writing:
“Both cases in the UK and Canada have many similarities. The security services in both countries pushed for them with flimsy evidence and went public with their allegations, effectively imputing guilt in the mind of the public. And anti-China politicians in both countries jumped on the bandwagon, thereby helping to build up momentum before anyone could or dare to challenge the basis of their charges or allegations.”
Regarding the British case, Alex notes: “The latest row over the case stems less from the alleged intelligence breach or its sudden collapse but more from the infighting between the Starmer cabinet and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office on the one hand, and MI5 and the Home Office, both of which are under the Home Secretary.
“Without even bothering to hide it, officials from MI5 and/or the Home Office appear to be providing background briefings to such outlets as the Financial Times, Sunday Times and The Telegraph, among others.”
The following articles were originally published on the website of the Chinese Embassy in London and by the Morning Star, Global Times and the South China Morning Post. The latter is republished with the kind permission of the author.
Embassy Spokesperson on the UK’s Hype over the So-called “China Spy Case”
October 16 (Embassy of China in the UK) – Question: For some time now, there has been repeated hype in the UK about the collapse of the so-called “China spy case”. The UK government said that it was disappointed by the CPS’ decision to drop the charges, and released three “witness statements” yesterday. There has also been finger-pointing between the government and opposition parties. What is your comment?
Embassy Spokesperson: We have emphasised from the outset that the allegation about China instructing the relevant British individuals to “steal British intelligence” is pure fabrication and malicious slander, which we firmly reject.
The so-called “witness statements” released after the CPS dropped the case are rife with unfounded accusations against China. They are nothing but sheer fabrications made out of thin air. We strongly condemn such acts.
Continue reading Sinister spy hysteria risks poisoning UK-China relations
KJ Noh: Washington has been preparing for war with China for over a decade
This wide-ranging interview with political analyst KJ Noh on India and Global Left centres on China’s geopolitical role, the US’s evolving imperial strategy, and the urgent need for solidarity among the nations of the Global South.
KJ begins by responding to the criticism that China is not doing enough to end the genocide in Palestine. He states bluntly: “let’s be clear – no country is doing enough. We are witnessing a live-streamed genocide – children are starving, journalists and doctors are being killed, and an entire population is being besieged and starved. This cannot and should not be tolerated.”
Nonetheless, he contends that blaming third parties such as China diverts responsibility from the Western powers funding, arming and shielding Israel. “In reality, this is not just an Israeli genocide — it is a US-led imperial genocide, with Israel acting as the subcontractor. The project of colonisation and control of West Asia’s resources is part of a larger imperial strategy.”
Regarding China’s position, KJ notes that China was one of the first countries to recognise the State of Palestine, and has long supported its liberation struggle. China last year hosted reconciliation talks among 14 Palestinian factions and has explicitly backed the right of occupied peoples to armed resistance. He further argues that China’s approach is constrained by international structures it cannot unilaterally override.
Turning to US policy and the unfolding New Cold War, KJ asserts that Washington has been preparing for war with China since at least 2009, when the “Air-Sea Battle” doctrine was formulated — a continuation of its “Shock and Awe” strategy of pre-emptive decapitation. He describes a three-stage process of escalation: information warfare, military positioning and provocation, warning that the US now considers tactical nuclear weapons usable. The US, he argues, seeks proxies such as Taiwan Province, the Philippines and South Korea to wage a regional war that could quickly turn nuclear.
To avoid becoming proxy battlegrounds, KJ urges that countries of the Global South build sovereignty — digital, financial, energy, and territorial — and strengthen mutual alliances such as BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.
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.
Continue reading The real reason the West is warmongering against China
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.
Continue reading Britain is sinking into ‘yellow peril’ hysteria on China
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
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
Hawaiian independence party resists US war drive against China
The following is an interview by People’s Dispatch with Kawenaʻulaokalā Kapahua, of the Hawaiian independence party Hui Aloha ʻĀina (Hawaiian Patriotic League).
Kawena spoke to People’s Dispatch ahead of the People’s Summit for Korea, which took place in New York City, July 25-26.
“Our nations are caught in the middle,” of the massive US escalation in aggression towards China, said Kawena, who is the Political Education Chair for Hui Aloha ʻĀina. The party was founded in 1893 to resist the US occupation of Hawai’i. He says that the US drive towards war can in fact present “a major opportunity to start building, not just with ourselves in Hawai’i, but also with our Pacific comrades, neighbors, and cousins, to start fighting back… Our ocean is the frontline in this Cold War between China and the United States.”
Referring to the deleterious effect on his country of the escalating US confrontation with China, he adds: “Now as the military pivots towards confrontation with China, it’s also at the same time trying to extend and even expand its control of Hawaiian land through new land acquisitions, through the retention of current leases that are expiring.”
He also links the struggle of his people to that of the Palestinians:
“Israel cannot exist without the support of the United States. One of the ways that they offer support in addition to the military and stuff they get is training and military exercise involvement through the United States. RIMPAC is a great example of that. The largest military wargames that take place in the entire region, the largest naval war games on the planet, they’re called the Rim of the Pacific exercises. And yet Israel is always invited and always takes part… Contrary to whatever Zionist expansionist belief, Israel doesn’t have a Pacific coast. They have no tie to the region and yet are involved in this.”
Peoples Dispatch: What is the significance of anti-imperialism to the independence movement in Hawai’i?
Kawenaʻulaokalā Kapahua: US violence against the rest of the world is funneled through the Pacific. Not just Hawai’i, but Guam, and the Micronesian nations like Marshall Islands and Palau, as well as the Philippines. These end up becoming launching points for US imperialism. We’re operating both as a frontline and behind enemy lines, because the US military’s presence within our region is so massive.
The Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) is the largest military command on the planet. The US is pouring more and more resources into the Pacific every day. They’re moving more troops into the Pacific, more military equipment, and more weapons. This offers us an opportunity in the Pacific battle against that, because there are so many new weaknesses in their logistics supply chains that are being unveiled, and they’re starting to stretch themselves thin.
Military recruitment has been down for years at this point. It’s not going to go back up anytime soon, unless the US institutes a mandatory draft. We’re watching the fraying at the edges of this military apparatus.
Especially in Hawai’i, you’re starting to see the tide turn against this. The military has never been more unpopular, then maybe when they first invaded and took over, and the poisoning of the water via the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility.
Continue reading Hawaiian independence party resists US war drive against China
Jean-Luc Mélenchon discusses China with Tariq Ali
The following is an extensive interview with the French left-wing leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon that was conducted by Tariq Ali, the veteran writer and activist, and that was originally published on Sidecar, the blog published by New Left Review.
In their wide-ranging discussion Mélenchon makes a number of important comments about China – to which he has consistently advocated a position of friendship – which are especially significant coming from probably the most important leader of the contemporary European left.
Asked by Ali about the significance of the recent conflict between Iran and Israel, and specifically the role played by the United States, Mélenchon responds:
“We must try to understand the rationale of these Western states. It’s not simply that Trump is crazy or that the Europeans are cowards; maybe they are those things, but what they are doing is nonetheless based on a long-term plan, one that has failed in the past but is now in the process of being realized. The plan is, first, to reorganize the entire Middle East to secure access to oil for the countries of the Global North; and, second, to create the conditions for war with China.”
This theme is further developed in the two men’s conversation, with Tariq Ali positing:
“You mentioned that the second part of America’s plan is conflict with China. A lot of liberals and left-liberals are now finally recoiling from the events in Middle East and saying that our real target should be China. But what they don’t realize is that the real target is China, because, as you say, if the United States controls all the region’s oil – as it would if Iran were to fall – then they would control the flow of this basic commodity. They could force Beijing to beg for it, which would help to keep it in check. So the US strategy in the Middle East might seem completely crazy – and it is crazy on various levels – but there is also a deep logic behind it: that it’s better to fight China in this way than to go to war with it. This has already started to create huge problems across the East. I noticed that the leaders of Japan nor South Korea, two countries that have major US military bases, abruptly cancelled plans to attend the NATO summit in June.”
Mélenchon replies: “The conflict between the US and China is over trade and resource networks, and in some respects the Chinese have already won, because they produce almost everything the world consumes. They have no interest in fighting a war because they are already satisfied with their global influence. Yet this is both a strength and a weakness. When 90% of Iranian oil goes to China, for instance, blocking the Strait of Hormuz would cut off crucial supply chains and bring a large part of Chinese production to a halt. So China is vulnerable on that front. You are right to say that some in the West would prefer a cold war to a hot war, encirclement and containment rather than direct conflict. But these are nuances, and in reality it is easy to move from one to the other. One of [former US President] Biden’s top economic advisors said that there is no ‘commercial solution’ to the problem of competition with China, which means there can only be a military one.
“The point about Japan and Korea is also significant. Not only them, but also many other powers in the region, are now strengthening ties with China. Vietnam was supposed to be in the US bloc, but they’ve signed agreements with the Chinese. So has India, despite the tensions between the two countries. The backdrop here is that, throughout much of Asia, capitalism is still defined by dynamic forces of trade and production, whereas in the US it has assumed a predatory and tributary character.”
He recalls that: “I once had an interesting conversation with a Chinese leader. When I said to him that China was flooding the European market with its overproduction of electric cars, he replied, ‘Mr. Mélenchon, do you think there are too many electric cars in the world?’ Of course I had to answer ‘no’. Then he said: ‘We’re not forcing you to buy our products; it’s up to you whether you want to purchase them.’ Here was a Communist explaining to me the benefits of free trade.
Continue reading Jean-Luc Mélenchon discusses China with Tariq Ali
Black Agenda Report at the Belt and Road Journalism Forum in China
In the following report for Black Agenda Report, Margaret Kimberley reflects on her participation in the 2025 Belt and Road Journalists Forum in Jiangxi, China, representing the only US-based outlet at the event. The forum brought together 100 media professionals from across the globe, fostering cross-cultural understanding and promoting dialogue through journalism.
Margaret highlights how the forum offered historical and cultural context, particularly through Jiangxi’s significance in Chinese revolutionary history, as the site of the founding of the People’s Liberation Army and the starting point of the Long March.
While Western media fixates on bizarre anti-China narratives like the “spy balloon” episode, China continues to grow economically and improve the living conditions of its people.
While the corporate media inundate the public with tall tales of spy balloons and claims that China is making nefarious purchases of U.S. farmland, that nation forges ahead in spite of futile U.S. efforts to diminish its economic prowess.
The forum’s theme—“Promoting Civilisations Dialogue and Global Modernization with Power of Journalists”—underscored the importance of accurate, context-rich reporting, especially in an era when corporate media serves state interests and contributes to public misinformation. Margaret critiques mainstream journalism for failing to investigate or challenge official narratives, instead functioning as “a public relations arm for the state and the ruling class.”
The article concludes that independent outlets like Black Agenda Report play a crucial role in countering imperialist narratives. Exposure to countries like China is essential for journalists who seek truth over propaganda. Participation in the forum affirms the value of BAR’s principled, anti-imperialist perspective.
The 2025 Belt and Road Journalists Forum in China was an opportunity for Black Agenda Report to join an international group of journalists working to promote meaningful dialogue on world issues.
The invitation extended to Black Agenda Report to participate in the 2025 Belt and Road Journalists Forum , held in the cities of Nanchang, Jingdezhen, and Ganzhou in Jiangxi province China, was a testament to our 19 year history of providing “news, commentary, and analysis from a Black left perspective.“ Our work is appreciated nationally and internationally, and this columnist attended the Forum along with 100 media representatives from around the world. The Forum is a venue for journalists from Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) nations, but Black Agenda Report was also included, the only outlet participating from the United States.
While the people of the U.S. are subjected to an endless stream of dangerous anti-China war propaganda, the Forum provided participants with the historical and cultural context needed to understand China’s history through the lens of the Jiangxi province region. The city Jiangdezhen has been an important center in the creation of ceramics, the porcelain that came to be known as china, for 1,000 years, and from which it was traded internationally on the original Silk Road. The People’s Liberation Army was founded in Jiangxi and in 1934, the Long March of the Communist Party of China (CPC) began in Jiangxi. The Long March was a strategic retreat from the Kuomintang forces and it allowed the CPC to live to fight on for many years, through the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, known in this country as World War II, and to eventually establish the People’s Republic of China in 1949.
While the corporate media inundate the public with tall tales of spy balloons and claims that China is making nefarious purchases of U.S. farmland, that nation forges ahead in spite of futile U.S. efforts to diminish its economic prowess. Donald Trump’s ever changing tariff policies resulted in China imposing tariffs of its own and buying soy beans from Brazil and beef from Australia when those commodities had long been a part of agricultural trade between the two countries. Joe Biden’s attempt to stop China’s access to computer chip production resulted in new innovations like DeepSeek, which created a model for Artificial Intelligence that surpassed ChatGPT at a fraction of the cost.
China’s rise as an economic power has thrown the United States into panic and counterproductive decision making. Artificial Intelligence is not the only example of futile efforts to keep China down. The first Trump administration imposed high tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, such as BYD, which stands for Build Your Dream. BYD cars are the biggest sellers in China and can be seen alongside U.S. cars on the streets of Beijing and Nanchang. But it was Joe Biden who imposed 100% tariffs on this popular brand and handed off this prohibition to Donald Trump’s second administration. In the meantime, U.S. consumers are deprived of a product they would want, and Detroit automakers have nothing to offer except state protected mediocrity. Trump’s wild indecision on tariffs is an indicator that the U.S. is lost as it tries to do what it cannot, make China a subservient power.
The Forum theme, “Promoting Civilizations Dialogue and Global Modernization with Power of Journalists,” is one that should be of interest to every person calling themselves a journalist. There cannot be information sharing without dialogue but in the U.S., true journalism, providing investigation and analysis, was always at the mercy of the powerful and has now completely devolved into little more than being a public relations arm for the state and for the ruling class. Corporate news gathering at present rarely yields very much that the people need to know, and coverage of China is emblematic of that downward trend.
In 2023, when a Chinese weather balloon was blown off course, the Biden administration declared it to be a spy balloon and predictably, all of the leading broadcast and print media dutifully followed along and used the same language which emanated from the white house press office. While Joe Biden bragged about shooting the balloon down, there was little follow up reporting on the finding that the balloon was just what China said it was, a weather balloon that went off course.
Unlike corporate media outlets, Black Agenda Report and other independent media outlets understand that China is, in fact, an ancient civilization, and like all other nations, a sovereign one with rights under international law that ought to be respected. Bullying with tariff threats and a plethora of accusations of wrongdoing should not be taken seriously and must be seen as part of a larger but failed effort to maintain U.S. hegemony.
The Forum presented a series of seminars and roundtable discussions on topics such as presenting cross cultural narratives, the challenges of authentic news gathering in the age of Artificial Intelligence, and regional focuses on Europe and on Latin America. Discussions were supplemented by tours to historic and cultural sites in Jiangxi. Participants came away with greater appreciation of China as a nation and of their own work, which can be used to benefit the people of the world or which can also be a tool of parties whose goal is to keep the people in a state of misinformation. Unfortunately, this dynamic applies to most U.S. reporting, which is useful only in keeping the public in a state of hostility towards China, viewing it as an “adversary” which must be bested at every turn.
The reality is far different, and even for those who see themselves as living up to journalistic ethics, can become taken in by false narratives when they are repeated often enough. In-person visits are a necessity in preventing the repetition of harmful tropes that are used to manipulate opinion when factual reporting is needed and should be the standard for the profession.
Black Agenda Report has always been dedicated to analyzing the world from an anti-imperialist perspective, an objective that demands not just good information gathering but also exposure to nations like China, whose history requires study and analysis, and whose present day trajectory requires rejection of what most so-called journalists present, the repetition of fake news.
This site strives to be one that is respected nationally and internationally. Participation in the Belt and Road Journalists Forum is an indication that our work is held in high regard. It does not matter if large corporate outlets do not produce the same news that Black Agenda Report presents. In fact, that difference is proof of our standing as journalists.
British Defence Secretary threatens war with China
Britain’s Defence Minister, the largely and justifiably unknown John Healey, has made an extraordinary threat to go to war with China over the question of Taiwan, an island province that Britain legally recognises – not least according to the bilateral agreement concluded in 1972 between the two countries that elevated their diplomatic relations to ambassadorial level – as part of China.
Speaking on board the HMS Prince of Wales aircraft carrier, after it had docked in the north Australian port of Darwin, where it is to join the United States and other countries in the warmongering Talisman Sabre exercises largely aimed at China, Healey was asked by the right wing Telegraph newspaper, “what the UK is doing to help countries like Taiwan to prepare for potential escalation from China, Mr Healey said: ‘If we have to fight, as we have done in the past, Australia and the UK are nations that will fight together. We exercise together and by exercising together and being more ready to fight, we deter better together.’”
The HMS Prince of Wales is on a nine-month deployment to the Pacific region and is widely expected to sail through the Taiwan Strait around upcoming visits to Japan and South Korea. Already, the Royal Navy provocatively sailed the HMS Spey warship through China’s Taiwan Strait on June 18. It was the first such incident in four years.
Never one to miss out on a free trip, David Lammy, Britain’s equally preposterous Foreign Secretary, accompanied Healey. He has previously said that the UK plans to conduct more so-called “freedom of navigation operations” in the Taiwan Strait.
Further underlining the gravity of the situation, the Labour supporting Mirror newspaper noted:
“In April, Keir Starmer met the crew onboard HMS Prince of Wales during an overnight stay ahead of their voyage. The PM said the mission showed the UK’s ‘leadership on global issues and security and defence’.
“‘We all know that the world is more uncertain than it felt a few months or years before – we’re in a new era,’ Mr Starmer said at the time. ‘We are sending a clear message of strength to our adversaries, and a message of unity and purpose to our allies.’”
As with most, if not all, members of the current British government, it is difficult to fathom whether Healey’s outburst represents blood-curdling bellicosity, strategic myopia, rank ignorance and stupidity, gross irresponsibility, or just plain inexperience. However, the smart money is likely to be on any combination of all of the above.
In an editorial response, the Morning Star noted that: “British troops will be engaged in provocative manoeuvres viewed by Beijing as part of Washington’s bid to encircle it militarily. That is itself part of a wider US strategy to derail China’s rise… That is the overarching war game in which Operation Talisman Sabre takes place. Britain should have no part in it.”
China’s Global Times was more hard-hitting, noting that: “Chinese observers slammed the blatant remarks over China’s internal affair, saying it was a show of residual British colonial mentality.”
It added: “Observers also pointed out that, amid warming China-Australia relations highlighted by the Australian Prime Minister’s successful July visit to China, the British defence official’s remarks attempt to place Canberra in a difficult position. Full alignment with the UK and the US is not a wise choice.”
A spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in London was direct and to the point:
“If the said report is true, I am sure the UK official will regret having said that. China will never allow anyone to separate Taiwan from China in any way. Nor will China allow any external forces, the UK and Australia included, to undermine our efforts for complete reunification.”
Earlier, on July 25, the spokesperson responded to Foreign Secretary Lammy and Yvette Cooper, the tinpot totalitarian Home Secretary, having issued a joint statement making unwarranted comments on the law enforcement action taken by the Hong Kong SAR police against anti-China disruptors who have fled abroad:
“Hong Kong is China’s Hong Kong, and Hong Kong affairs are purely China’s internal affairs. China urges the UK to abandon its colonial mentality, stop interfering in Hong Kong affairs, cease meddling in China’s internal affairs, stop shielding criminals, and refrain from going further down the wrong path.”
Prior to Healey’s outburst, on 25 July 2025, the Chinese Embassy in the UK held a reception celebrating the 98th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Liberation Army of China. Ambassador Zheng Zeguang pointed out in his speech that this year marks the 80th anniversary of the recovery of Taiwan. Taiwan has been an inalienable part of China’s territory since ancient times. Both the Cairo Declaration and the Potsdam Proclamation, issued by major victorious nations of WWII, including China and the UK, stated in explicit terms that Taiwan is a territory that Japan had stolen from the Chinese, and shall be restored to China. All these instruments have confirmed China’s sovereignty over Taiwan and formed an important part of the post-WWII international order.
The Ambassador further emphasised that the Chinese people and their armed forces will never allow anyone to separate Taiwan from China in any way. Nor will they allow any external forces to undermine their efforts for complete reunification. All countries having diplomatic ties with China must properly handle Taiwan-related issues, which is key to the smooth development of bilateral relations with China.
Zheng Zeguang also noted that 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. More than 80 years ago, the peoples of China and the UK fought valiantly against fascist aggression on the main Eastern Front and the European battlefield, making enormous contributions to the global victory against fascism. China’s fight was the earliest to begin, and the longest-lasting. The Chinese people suffered the most significant human and material losses before ultimately defeating Japanese aggressors.
Ambassador Zheng emphasised that it should never be forgotten that China and the UK were allies and fought shoulder to shoulder during the war. That part of history has left behind many touching stories of solidarity and mutual support in the flames of war. In 1942, Chinese fishermen from Zhoushan risked their own lives under Japanese gunfire to save 384 British prisoners of war on board Lisbon Maru, which was mistakenly torpedoed by a US submarine. Also in 1942, the Chinese Expeditionary Force successfully rescued British troops besieged by the Japanese army in Myanmar. In 1938, George Hogg, a young Briton, travelled thousands of miles to China, where he established schools, aided orphaned children and gave his life for the Chinese people’s righteous cause. We should remember history, honour those fallen heroes, cherish peace and strive for a better future.
The reception was attended by nearly 300 guests.
In characteristically pugilistic terms, George Galloway responded to Healey in his MOATS (Mother of all Talk Shows) broadcast.
Denouncing his remarks as madness, George noted that Britain, a bankrupt and broken country that has given billions to the ‘thief of Kiev’ and spends millions on reconnaissance flights to facilitate the Gaza genocide, was now threatening China with war. Referring to the 1949 Amethyst Incident, George recalled that the last time Britain had ‘sailed a gunboat up the Yangzi [river]’, the Chinese had sunk it. And China is now a far more powerful country than it was 76 years ago.
Noting the contempt shown for democracy, as highlighted by the fact that Britain’s rubber stamp parliament had not even been consulted or informed, George addressed Healey: “You little runt are threatening China with war.” A man who had never heard a shot fired in anger in his miserable life was threatening a war to be waged at the expense of the British people “and with the blood of your sons and daughters.”
Continue reading British Defence Secretary threatens war with China
US Congressman claims young people’s rejection of Israeli war crimes is a Chinese plot
We are pleased to republish the following article by Alex Lo, which addresses one of the latest anti-China smears emanating from US political circles.
Democrat Congressman Jared Moskowitz says that China is following the ‘Nazi playbook’ by using TikTok to ‘brainwash’ American youth. Alex Lo writes:
“China has been accused of doing many nefarious things in the United States, but deliberately spreading anti-semitism?
“That’s the claim made by Democrat Congressman Jared Moskowitz in an official hearing. You have to admit facts-free China criticism in the US gets more inventive by the day.”
Moskowitz said: “This is not going well for Jews right now, and it isn’t getting better. We have not yet peaked… We are losing the youth of this country. We are losing them on TikTok, which is owned by a foreign country… The Chinese plan is to get us angry and divisive. And the Chinese plan is to start with the easiest plan possible, and that is us.”
Alex’s retort is clear and to the point: “There is a simple reason why many American youth are becoming critical of Israel – they read the news.”
Writing on July 6, he cites a number of reports published since the start of June including:
- “Israeli air strike kills Gaza hospital director along with his family – Israeli attacks have killed 70 healthcare workers over the past 50 days.”
- “Israeli forces kill 112 Palestinians in Gaza over 24 hours – At least 16 were reported killed while seeking aid.”
- “Israel has demolished 1,000 Palestinian homes in West Bank camps since January”.
Others he cites were reported by Associated Press, the Financial Times and the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. He concludes:
“Anti-semitism has been a scourge responsible for some of the worst horrors in history and remains a problem today. But by committing genocide, Israel is making itself a pariah state.”
Alex Lo is a regular columnist for Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post since 2012. A journalist for 25 years, he has worked for various publications in Hong Kong and Toronto, Canada, as a news reporter and editor. He has also lectured in journalism at the University of Hong Kong.
The article was originally published in the South China Morning Post and is reproduced with the kind permission of the author.
China has been accused of doing many nefarious things in the United States, but deliberately spreading antisemitism?
That’s the claim made by Democrat Congressman Jared Moskowitz in an official hearing. You have to admit facts-free China criticism in the US gets more inventive by the day.
Beijing has been criticised for allowing antisemitic content without online censorship within China, and TikTok has been accused – the big reason it faces being banned – of platforming antisemitic criticism of Israel in the US. But equating the two explicitly is pretty new.
“This is not going well for Jews right now, and it isn’t getting better. We have not yet peaked,” Moskowitz said.
“We are losing the youth of this country. We are losing them on TikTok, which is owned by a foreign country that the president has now extended beyond what the law has allowed.”
He was referring to Donald Trump’s repeated extension of the deadline for a total ban or a forced sale of TikTok required by US law.
Moskowitz continues: “I don’t want TikTok to go away but I want it to get out of the hands of the Chinese. They are doing the Nazi playbook. They are dividing us. They are funding. They don’t need to do it with B2 bombers.
“That’s not what the Chinese plan is. The Chinese plan is to get us fighting among ourselves. The Chinese plan is to get us angry and divisive. And the Chinese plan is to start with the easiest plan possible, and that is us. Until we stop this ‘who did what to who’ stuff, we are not going to solve this.
“Jews are losing their usual allies. Those allies that we’ve had for decades and decades, groups that Jews have stood up for, we are losing them by the moment, especially among young people.
“This [congressional] hearing ain’t gonna fix s***. This is a virus that is spreading; until we are serious about what’s going on online and the brainwashing of our kids, this is going to get worse and more people are going to die in this country.”
There is a simple reason why many American youth are becoming critical of Israel – they read the news. Here are some reports since the start of June:
“Israeli air strike kills Gaza hospital director along with his family – Israeli attacks have killed 70 healthcare workers over the past 50 days.”
“Israeli forces kill 112 Palestinians in Gaza over 24 hours – At least 16 were reported killed while seeking aid.”
“Israel has demolished 1,000 Palestinian homes in West Bank camps since January”.
“UN report accuses global corporations of profiting from Gaza genocide.”
“Gazans survive among unexploded bombs – ‘Uninhabitable’ according to the US government, the Gaza Strip is strewn with undetonated explosives.”
“Hundreds of Palestinian families flee West Bank camp ahead of Israeli demolition orders.”
“West Bank town becomes ‘big prison’ as Israel fences it in”.
This one is from Haaretz, a leading liberal Israeli newspaper, so it’s not fake news: “‘It’s a killing field’: IDF aoldiers ordered to shoot deliberately at unarmed Gazans waiting for humanitarian aid.”
This one is from the Associated Press, so it’s not fake news either: “US contractors say their colleagues are firing live ammo as Palestinians seek food in Gaza”.
This news summary is from +972, an Israeli online news magazine: “Near-daily Israeli massacres at food distribution sites have killed over 400 Palestinians in the past month alone. Survivors describe stepping over corpses to get their hands on a bag of flour: ‘What choice do we have?’”
This is an investigative report by the Financial Times about a leading global firm, Boston Consulting Group: “BCG modelled plan to ‘relocate’ Palestinians from Gaza – Consulting firm had multimillion-dollar role in contentious new aid scheme for shattered enclave”.
Antisemitism has been a scourge responsible for some of the worst horrors in history and remains a problem today. But by committing genocide, Israel is making itself a pariah state.
Interview: Lessons from China
The video below features a discussion between KJ Noh and Carlos Martinez, originally aired on BreakThrough News on 9 July 2025, about China’s development and its role in the world.
KJ and Carlos discuss the recent Friends of Socialist China delegation to China; the US and China’s contrasting visions for the world (‘clash of civilisations’ vs the Global Civilisation Initiative); living standards in China and the West; increasing poverty, repression, racism and xenophobia in Britain and the US; the reasons for US hostility towards China; China’s world-historic successes in tackling extreme poverty and building renewable energy and advanced infrastructure; the relationship between capital and political power in China and the West; and the relationship between the US-Israeli criminal war on Iran and the ongoing campaign to encircle and contain the People’s Republic of China.
NATO backs the anti-China war drive – Diane Abbott
In the following article, which was originally published by the Morning Star, Diane Abbott sounds a warning that, “Europe is acquiescing in Trump’s manoeuvrings – where Europe takes over the US forever war in Ukraine while Washington gets ready for a future fight with China. And it’s working people who will be left paying the price.”
Noting that the recent NATO Summit saw members commit to spending five percent of GDP on “defence”, Diane explains: “This is more than we were spending during the Gulf war and much more than when this country was waging war on Iraq and Afghanistan. We have not seen such a rapid expansion of military spending in this country since the beginning of the second world war.”
Explaining what lies behind this, she writes: “The US president described the outcome of the Nato summit as ‘a great victory.’ For once, he was telling the truth. It was a great personal victory for him and for the US war machine.
“Trump’s plan, as he said himself, is to ‘un-unite’ Russia and China, so that he can pursue a confrontation with the latter. All of his recent manoeuvrings in imposing tariffs on the world have clearly had that as a central objective, including trying to dictate that other countries are not allowed to trade with China, under threat of even more tariffs.
“Europe’s role in all this is to replace the US resources (under the Nato banner) in Europe that are being used to fight Russia. Those US resources can then be freed up and redeployed to south-east Asia and the coming fight with China.”
She notes that one exception to this policy is the Socialist government in Spain led by Pedro Sánchez. “He is no left-wing firebrand and verbally he makes all the warmongers’ noises about the threats we face and the need for a military upgrade and reform. The essential difference is that he refuses to fund Trump’s war machine and argues that the current level of 2.1 per cent of GDP in the military is quite sufficient. Actions are more important than rhetoric.”
She exposes NATO’s warmongering record: “Despite widespread claims to the contrary, it is not as if the NATO members have a record of demonstrating peaceful intent. NATO was part of the aggression against Serbia, Afghanistan and Libya. Currently, its members have been helping the Israeli genocide, bombing Yemen, installing terrorists in Syria and fighting a nuclear-armed Russia. The latest illegal act is the bombing of Iran. As much-discussed scenarios for the start of World War III go, that is almost the complete set.”
Finally, she clearly draws the link between imperialist war abroad and attacks on the working class at home:
“From the government’s perspective, very large welfare and other cuts are necessary to deliver on the promises to increase the military budget. The war drive and the austerity drive go hand-in-hand. But the sheer scale of the planned rise in the MoD [Ministry of Defence] budget means that austerity, in a number of forms, will go much wider and deeper than it has already. We must be prepared to fight them both.”
Diane Abbott is the Labour MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington in East London. In 1987, she became the first ever black woman to be elected to the British parliament. She is now the ‘Mother of the House’, the longest continuously serving female member of the House of Commons. Consistently on the left of the party, she served as Shadow Home Secretary during Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership and subsequently defeated a vicious campaign spearheaded by Keir Starmer to drive her out of the Labour Party.
At the recent Nato summit most member countries committed themselves to a target of spending 5 per cent of GDP on the military budget. This is more than we were spending during the Gulf war and much more than when this country was waging war on Iraq and Afghanistan. We have not seen such a rapid expansion of military spending in this country since the beginning of the second world war.
The consequences for the safety and security of this country will be very grave and there will be very significant, negative consequences for most other areas of government spending as a result. The government plans to shift us to a wartime economy, with all the serious consequences that implies.
The US president described the outcome of the Nato summit as “a great victory.” For once, he was telling the truth. It was a great personal victory for him and for the US war machine.
Continue reading NATO backs the anti-China war drive – Diane Abbott
Iran and the new cold war
The following article by Carlos Martinez, originally published in the Morning Star, argues that the criminal Israeli-US strikes on Iran are not credibly rooted in concerns over the latter’s alleged nuclear weapons program, but rather in its consistent anti-imperialist stance and its far-reaching material support for the cause of Palestinian freedom.
The article also links the attacks to broader geopolitical dynamics, especially Iran’s deepening alliance with China. Since signing a 25-year cooperation agreement with China in 2021, Iran has become integral to the Belt and Road Initiative, in addition to joining BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, and emerging as China’s primary trading partner in West Asia.
This growing partnership makes Iran a strategic obstacle to US-led imperialism, especially in the context of the New Cold War against China. Carlos draws parallels with the 1953 coup against Iran’s Prime Minister Mossadegh, orchestrated by the CIA and MI6 to protect Western oil interests in the context of the original Cold War.
Today, the New Cold War, centred on US efforts to encircle and contain the People’s Republic of China, is adding urgency to the US’s bid for regime change in Iran. Iran’s deepening integration into the Belt and Road Initiative, and its close coordination with China and Russia, mark it as a frontline state in the struggle between the Project for a New American Century and the Global Community of Shared Future…
The installation of a US proxy regime in Tehran would be a major blow to the Belt and Road Initiative, and it would potentially compromise China’s energy security, giving the US de facto control over the flow of oil and other resources through the Persian Gulf.
The article concludes by urging Western anti-war movements to oppose this escalating campaign to preserve and expand imperialist hegemony.
There has been a great deal of speculation as to the reasons for the criminal Israeli-US attack on Iran.
The reason proffered by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump is that Iran is on the cusp of acquiring a nuclear weapon, and that therefore the forcible dismantling of its nuclear infrastructure is a matter of great urgency.
Obviously, no reasonable person believes this; certainly nobody who remembers Tony Blair’s cynical 2003 claim that Iraq could deploy weapons of mass destruction within 45 minutes.
After all, Netanyahu first publicly accused Iran of developing nuclear weapons back in 1992 – 33 years ago – when, in a speech to the Knesset as Deputy Foreign Minister, he declared that Iran was three to five years away from acquiring a nuclear weapon and argued for preemptive action.
Netanyahu was later subjected to widespread mockery in September 2012 when, holding up a cartoonish drawing of a bomb during his speech at the UN, he claimed that Iran was 90 percent of the way to the level of uranium enrichment needed for weaponisation.
Meanwhile, Iran continues to deny seeking nuclear weapons and is a longstanding signatory to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). The country’s government maintains a strict edict against the development, production, stockpiling and use of nuclear weapons or indeed any weapons of mass destruction – contrasting rather starkly with Israel, an undeclared nuclear weapons state and non-signatory to the NPT. Furthermore, there has been no credible intelligence validating Netanyahu and Trump’s claims about Iran’s weapons program.
Continue reading Iran and the new cold war
