Category: Solidarity

Defense of China is solidarity with Palestine

The following is the text of the talk given by Larry Holmes, First Secretary of the Workers World Party (WWP), at the September 29 meeting held in New York City to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, which was initiated by Friends of Socialist China, together with WWP.

Larry begins by extending fraternal greetings to the Communist Party of China. on behalf of the WWP Central Committee, on the 75th anniversary.

After briefly reviewing the current situation in Palestine and Lebanon, he notes that this is part of a wider war against anti-imperialist forces around the world, including China, and explains:

“It’s against China… Why is this? Is it because China supports the Palestinians? That’s part of it. But that’s a small reason. China has, on a number of occasions, brought the Palestinian people together to try to help them forge unity… But the bigger reason… is because China is so powerful now. It’s so powerful and so developed as people are rising up and this has changed the balance of forces in the world. But we need to be very clear about something. China does not want war. China wants peace. It wants to continue its development in peace. It wants to help the world develop in peace, especially the people of the Global South who have been the big victims of imperialism and colonialism. It wants to help them, but US imperialism does not want peace. It doesn’t want China to develop in peace. It doesn’t want the world that it does not control to develop, and this is the problem.”

The text of Larry’s talk was originally published by Workers World.

First, on behalf of the Central Committee of Workers World Party, we would like to extend our fraternal greetings to the Communist Party of China on this historic occasion.

I think it’s relevant, even though our event is about China, to ask ourselves what we should make out of the assassination of the leader of Hezbollah two days ago.

This was so important to them — I’m not forgetting the genocide of Gaza — but this event, coming at this time — they dropped eight bombs on a neighborhood in Beirut. 2,000-pound bombs. One of these military analysts said the only thing bigger they could have dropped would have been a tactical nuclear weapon. These 2,000-pound bombs were given to Israel by who? The U.S. gave them thousands of them. I forget the exact number, but thousands of them.

I do not buy for a second this idea that, well we didn’t know about this, and they didn’t tell the secretary of war here. That’s BS. If they weren’t down with it, they could have stopped it. The message was just not from Netanyahu. It was from Washington, D.C. It was from the Pentagon.

And I’ll tell you why it’s relevant to China and the whole world. Everything in the world’s struggle is connected. Everything is dots all together. They wanted to let the world know that you don’t have to speculate about a wider war. You don’t have to lie to us about “why we don’t want one, and we have all this diplomacy trying to stop it.” That’s not what’s really going on.

The wider war is already here, and it’s not just against the Palestinians, although they are the main target, just as are the Lebanese, you know, the resistance forces of West Asia and, of course, Iran. It’s against People’s Korea, Cuba, Venezuela, the struggling people of West Africa, who, as you might notice recently, have been throwing the colonialists and the imperialists out.

And it’s against Russia through Ukraine, and ultimately, it’s against China.

It’s against China. Wow. Why is this? Is it because China supports the Palestinians? That’s part of it. But that’s a small reason. China has, on a number of occasions, brought the Palestinian people together to try to help them forge unity. Very, very important.

But the bigger reason, the bigger reason, is because China is so powerful now. It’s so powerful and so developed as people are rising up, and this has changed the balance of forces in the world. But we need to be very clear about something.

China does not want war. China wants peace. It wants to continue its development in peace. It wants to help the world develop in peace, especially the people of the Global South who have been the big victims of imperialism and colonialism. It wants to help them, but U.S. imperialism does not want peace. It doesn’t want China to develop in peace. It doesn’t want the world that it does not control to develop, and this is the problem.

And what this murder in Beirut tells us – and there have been almost 1,000 people who have been murdered in Lebanon over the past couple of weeks – and the genocide in Gaza, what it tells us is that U.S. imperialism is willing to go to almost any length, unimaginable lengths of violence and terror to maintain its empire, which is crumbling.

They are willing to flirt with World War Three, which could mean the end of all life on the planet Earth. And you know, when an empire is crumbling, that’s when it’s most desperate and dangerous. That’s when it’s most likely to resort to violence. And this is what we are witnessing, comrades.

There are some in the ruling class here who are afraid of war, a wider war, a world war. They don’t think the U.S. will win. As a matter of fact they think it would hasten the demise of U.S. imperialism. And we think that they are right about that, and they’d like to maintain U.S. hegemony by other means. But whatever that is for the ruling class, they are losing. They’re not in the driver’s seat.

It’s the warmongers who are in the driver’s seat. So we see the people rising up all over the world against the empire. We see the people demonstrating in the streets over the murder of the leader of Hezbollah. Actually, as I was leaving home, I saw on social media that there was a demonstration of thousands of people in Baghdad. They had entered the Green Zone and were trying to get into the U.S. Embassy.

There are people demonstrating everywhere, around the world and particularly in West Asia. It shows you that — this is a hunch — they’re not going to take it by lying down. As a matter of fact, it’s going to wave off the mere resistance and, of course, the countries that are under attack, in particular China, that are in the crosshairs of U.S. imperialism, are going to fight back to defend themselves. They can defend themselves.

But we have to ask ourselves this. Are we going to just leave it up to people in other places, to China, they’re willing to do it, they’ll do what they have to do, but are we just going to leave it up to them? Especially those of us who happen to be at the center of world imperialism, particularly here in the U.S. which they used to call the belly of the beast. We can’t do that. That’s not right.

We have to seriously consider what our responsibilities as anti-imperialist revolutionaries are, and we have to show them those responsibilities, and then we gotta, we gotta do whatever it takes. You see, the people of the world, they’re demanding this of us. History is demanding us. Save this planet if it could talk, is demanding this of us, that we do whatever is necessary, however we need to do it. However long it takes, and it doesn’t have to take too long for the anti-war and anti-imperialist forces to get so big and so strong that we can shut the world down to stop war. What real choice do we have?

We’ve got to get away from complacency if that’s an issue. I know that there are those of us who do whatever we are doing on a day-to-day basis, whenever we can. We’ve got to get away from our routine — what they call routinism. It’s almost like a semi-conscious feeling that, yes, that needs to be done, but somebody else can do it.

Sometimes, I think we have a partial kind of disconnect, a partial, you know, denial of what’s happening. Perhaps we can feel somewhat powerless, but all things we’ve got to push aside now, we got to push them aside, and we got to figure out what we are going to do.

I think, I’m not sure, that comrade Maduro in Venezuela, a couple of months ago, called for an international united front against imperialism. Not sure if it’s just something that he floated, or whether it’s real and how he’s following up on that. But I’ll tell you comrades, if there was ever a time for that, and I’m not talking about just a name — he seems to have a name — I’m talking about something flesh and blood and strength and power that’s real. If there was ever a time for that, it’s now.

I’m thinking about our own plan. The BRICS countries are meeting in Russia in the last week of October. And that’s good. People have talked about … and we can talk about that. But again we can’t just leave it up to the BRICS to push imperialism back, to marginalize it, to diminish its hegemony. We’ve got to do something! The masses have to do something. The working class has to do something decisive. And a lot of us are convinced that they can. And those who are not convinced, better get with it.

Long live the People’s Republic of China!
Long live the struggle for socialism! Defend China!

Margaret Kimberley: The importance of China for Africa and its diaspora

We are pleased to publish below the text of the speech given by Margaret Kimberley to the meeting, ‘China at 75: Changes Unseen in a Century’, initiated by Friends of Socialist China and held in New York City on September 29.

Margaret, who is the Executive Editor of Black Agenda Report, began her remarks with a strong condemnation of recent and ongoing Israeli war crimes against the peoples of Palestine, Lebanon and the entire region, and continued:

“But this is connected. We understand that this effort, imperialist effort to wage war on the entire region of Western Asia, makes this commemoration all the more important. We’re not just commemorating a successful revolution, but also the beginnings of changes in power relationships around the world, which coincided with the post war stirrings for independence across the Global South.”

Contextualising her remarks, Margaret said:

“This year, I had an amazing opportunity to visit China as part of a Friends of Socialist China delegation, as guests of the China NGO Network for International Exchanges, visiting Beijing, Zhejiang and Jilin. I saw for myself why China has leapfrogged over the rest of the world in its economic development, the dedication to the principles of socialism and a commitment to worldwide cooperation that has made relations with China attractive to the entire continent of Africa.”

Margaret reviewed the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) that had been held in the Chinese capital Beijing earlier in the month, including drawing attention to some of the contradictions inherent in such a diverse gathering. She made special mention of Eritrea as “the one [African] country that has maintained its commitment to socialism, which is why it’s always under attack.” She mentioned that Chinese companies have agreed to invest up to $7 billion in infrastructure projects as part of their mining agreements in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

She concluded:

“I think it’s important to mention not just the nations of the African continent, but the relations of the African diaspora. Dr. [Gerald] Horne referred to Shirley Graham DuBois, and there has been constant, on the part of revolutionaries, this urge to connect with China, to see China as this example. Which is why, in general, anti-Chinese propaganda is so dangerous. It’s an effort to indoctrinate. It’s an effort to stop revolutionary activity. And so, WEB DuBois visited China, and Paul Robeson reached out to China, and Huey Newton visited China. It’s all connected, and tells you how important it is that African people maintain these relationships, see China for ourselves and judge for ourselves, and the fact that that is something that is condemned so strongly, tells us quite a lot.”

Thank you all again for being here as we’re just two days away from the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. And I would be remiss if I did not speak of what’s happening in Lebanon with the continuation of Israeli and US war crimes, the assassination of Hassan Nasrallah, the deaths of, as I said, nearly 200,000 people. But this is connected. We understand that this effort, imperialist effort to wage war on the entire region of Western Asia, makes this commemoration all the more important. We’re not just commemorating a successful revolution, but also the beginnings of changes in power relationships around the world, which coincided with the post war stirrings for independence across the Global South. 

I’m going to talk about Africa and its relationships with the People’s Republic of China, which began first as China was an example of the possibility of freedom from the capitalist, imperialist world. This year, I had an amazing opportunity to visit China as part of a Friends of Socialist China delegation, as guests of the China NGO Network for International Exchanges, visiting Beijing, Zhejiang and Jilin. 

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Top DPRK leader sends wreath to China-DPRK Friendship Tower

On October 25, the top leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), Kim Jong Un, General Secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) and President of the State Affairs of the DPRK, sent a wreath to the Friendship Tower in Pyongyang marking the 74th anniversary of the Chinese People’s Volunteers (CPV) entering the DPRK to fight in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported. The words, “We will remember the martyrs of the Chinese People’s Volunteers forever” were written on the wreath’s ribbon.

KCNA further reported that wreaths were also presented in the name of leading state and government bodies both at the Friendship Tower as well as at the cemeteries and graves of CPV martyrs in various parts of the country.

Wreaths were also laid by the Chinese Ambassador and members of his staff. 

The Friendship Tower was built to remember the Chinese People’s Volunteers who fell in the war of 1950-53. It is situated in the heart of the DPRK capital Pyongyang, on a hill overlooking the Chinese Embassy.

DPRK diplomats paid similar tributes at martyrs’ cemeteries in Shenyang and Dandong, in China’s Liaoning province.

The following articles were originally published by the Xinhua News Agency and KCNA.

Top DPRK leader sends wreath to China-DPRK Friendship Tower

The top leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Friday sent a wreath to the China-DPRK Friendship Tower in Pyongyang on the occasion of the 74th anniversary of the Chinese People’s Volunteers entering the DPRK to fight in the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea, the DPRK’s official Korean Central News Agency reported on Saturday.

The words “We will remember the martyrs of the Chinese People’s Volunteers forever” were written on the ribbon of the wreath sent by Kim Jong Un, general secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) and president of the State Affairs of the DPRK.

Upon authorization, Ri Il Hwan, member of the Political Bureau and secretary of the WPK Central Committee, laid the wreath before the tower, the report said.

Wreaths Laid at Friendship Tower

Wreaths were laid at the Friendship Tower on October 25 to mark the 74th anniversary of the entry of the Chinese People’s Volunteers (CPV) into the Korean Front.

Seen standing before the tower was a wreath bearing the august name of the respected Comrade Kim Jong Un.

The guard of honor of the Korean People’s Army lined up there.

Present at the wreath-laying ceremony were Kang Yun Sok, vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People’s Assembly (SPA) of the DPRK, Mun Song Hyok, vice department director of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea, Pak Myong Ho, vice-minister of Foreign Affairs, and officials concerned.

The national anthems of the People’s Republic of China and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea were played.

Amid the playing of wreath-laying music, wreaths in the names of the SPA Standing Committee and the Cabinet of the DPRK were placed before the tower.

Also laid were wreaths in the names of the Foreign Ministry and the Ministry of Urban Management and a wreath in the joint name of the Pyongyang Municipal Committee of the WPK and the Pyongyang Municipal People’s Committee.

The participants paid silent tribute to the memory of the CPV martyrs before going round the tower.

On the same day, wreaths were placed at the cemeteries and graves of CPV fallen fighters in Hyongjesan District of Pyongyang Municipality, Anju City and Hoechang County of South Phyongan Province, Onsong County of North Hamgyong Province and Kaesong Municipality.

China and Cuba: Advancing the socialist cause and building a shared future

The close fraternal friendship between China and Cuba was reaffirmed in a recent visit of a delegation of the Communist Party of China (CPC) to the socialist Caribbean island, led Li Shulei, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and head of the Central Committee’s Publicity Department.  The delegation was in Cuba to attend the sixth joint theoretical seminar between the CPC and the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC), which was held on October 23, with the theme, “Advancing the Socialist Cause and Building a Shared Future.”

The previous day, Li had met with Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the PCC and President of the Republic of Cuba.

Li said China is ready to work with Cuba to implement the important consensus reached by the two top leaders, deepen traditional ties, expand friendly cooperation, and support each other on issues concerning each other’s core interests, while collaborating closely on international and regional issues and jointly building a China-Cuba community with a shared future.

Having received the greetings of his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, Díaz-Canel asked Li to convey his best wishes to Xi and spoke highly of the special friendship between the two parties and countries.

Li also met with Esteban Lazo Hernández, a member of the Political Bureau of the PCC Central Committee, President of Cuba’s National Assembly of People’s Power and President of Cuba’s Council of State, held talks with Roberto Morales Ojeda, member of the Political Bureau and Secretary of Organisation of the PCC Central Committee, and visited General Raúl Castro, leader of the Cuban Revolution.

Granma, the official organ of the PCC, quoted Díaz-Canel as telling Li, with unmistakable reference to the severe economic crisis currently being faced by Cuba, characterised not least by repeated nationwide power outages: “This visit, at the moment Cuba is living, is one more proof of the indestructible bonds of friendship that exist between our peoples, parties and governments.”

He added that he was looking forward to meeting again with Xi Jinping at the upcoming BRICS Summit in the Russian city of Kazan. However, Díaz-Canel later cancelled his visit due to the domestic economic situation.

Similar sentiments to those expressed by Díaz-Canel were echoed by Esteban Lazo Hernández, who told the Chinese comrades:

“A visit, in the midst of this situation, is one more expression of the deep ties of unbreakable friendship that exist between the Communist Party of China and that of Cuba and, likewise, between our peoples.”

He further underlined the relevance of the seminar held in Havana, saying: “I want to reiterate the importance and usefulness of the theoretical seminars to exchange experiences on the construction of socialism on the tenth anniversary of the beginning of this inter-party practice.”

The following articles were originally published by the Xinhua News Agency and Granma.

Cuba’s top leader meets senior Chinese official

HAVANA, Oct. 25 (Xinhua) — Miguel Diaz-Canel, first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) and Cuban president, met on Tuesday with Li Shulei, member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, who led a CPC delegation to Cuba and attended the sixth theoretical seminar of the two parties.

Li conveyed warm greetings from Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, to Diaz-Canel, noting that Xi and Diaz-Canel have reached important consensuses on the development of party-to-party and state-to-state relations, charting a clear course for the longstanding friendship between China and Cuba.

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Alex Gordon: PRC’s 75th anniversary a moment of hope and inspiration for peoples around the world

The following is the text of the speech delivered by Alex Gordon to the opening session of our conference held on September 28 to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, “a moment of pride and achievement for the people of China, but also a moment of hope and inspiration for peoples around the world.”

Alex refers to President Xi Jinping’s May Day message this year to the Chinese working class as well as his letter to Serbian steel workers and contrasts this to the looming job cuts at the at the Port Talbot steel plant in South Wales.

He goes on to compare the fiasco of Britain’s HS2 high-speed rail project with the relevant experience in China:

“In the decade it took to turn HS2 from a rail infrastructure project into luxury homes opportunities for billionaires, China developed a 40,000 km publicly owned, high-speed rail network, the largest in world history.”

He also outlines the work of the Chinese trade union movement, noting that Xi Jinping had emphasised that the unions should earnestly safeguard the rights of workers and strive to solve practical problems concerning their vital interests, in particular for workers in new forms of employment.

Alex Gordon is the President of the rail workers and seafarers’ trade union RMT, the Chair of the Marx Memorial Library and Workers’ School and a member of the Political and Executive Committees of the Communist Party of Britain (CPB).

Chair, Minister, Your Excellencies, Comrades and Friends,

On behalf of the Executive Committee of the Communist Party of Britain (CPB), please allow me first to pay tribute to the great work and militant life of our late comrade Sitaram Yechury, General Secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI[M]). CPB General Secretary, Robert Griffiths has paid tribute to Comrade Sitaram in a eulogy published in the Morning Star. Comrade Sitaram was a friend of China, but also a friend of the CPB and did so much to strengthen and deepen the links between our two parties. We mourn his loss and send our condolences to all his comrades. Vale comrade.

The 75th anniversary of the founding of People’s China is a moment of pride and achievement for the people of China, but also a moment of hope and inspiration for peoples around the world.

On behalf of the CPB, I want to recognise also the significance of this achievement for the working class in our country. But my remarks apply to workers more widely across the developed G7 economies and beyond.

In his May Day greeting to China’s working people this year, President Xi Jinping called on them to “actively participate in advancing Chinese modernisation with high-quality development and work tirelessly to promote the building of a strong country and the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts.” He asked party committees and government bodies at all levels to “realise, safeguard and develop the legitimate rights and interests of workers.”

President Xi also replied to a letter from Serbian workers at the HBIS Smederevo Steel Plant who he met on a state visit to Serbia in 2016.

Continue reading Alex Gordon: PRC’s 75th anniversary a moment of hope and inspiration for peoples around the world

British communist solidarity with China from the revolution to today

In this, the second of two articles outlining the history of relations between the communists of Britain and China, Robert Griffiths, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Britain (CPB), having briefly recapped some highlights from the 1920s, 30s and 40s, takes up the story from the proclamation of the People’s Republic of China on October 1, 1949.

Very soon after liberation, the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was instrumental in the formation of the Britain-China Friendship Association (BCFA), which brought together left and progressive trade unionists, co-operators, scientists, academics, artists, writers, musicians and businesspeople, among others. However, in the face of the intensified cold war, and particularly Britain’s participation in the Korean War, the Labour Party placed the BCFA on its list of proscribed organisations. A number of Labour members were expelled from the party as a result, although, in the first half of the 1980s, one of them, Jim Mortimer, was to eventually become the party’s General Secretary.

Against a background of decades of uninterrupted solidarity, CPGB General Secretary Harry Pollitt paid the first of his three visits to China in 1955. The next year, along with Willie Gallacher and George Caborn, he was a fraternal delegate to the eighth national congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC).  And in 1959 he was present for the tenth anniversary celebrations of the People’s Republic.

The close friendship between the CPGB and the CPC did not survive the split between the Soviet and Chinese parties, which burst into the open in the early 1960s and divided communists throughout the world. Relations were not restored until the 1980s.

The collapse of the Soviet Union and the socialist countries of eastern Europe in 1989-91 created a new situation, with the first CPB delegation visiting China in 1995.

Comrade Griffiths concludes his article on a note of optimism, with the CPB, together with Friends of Socialist China, jointly celebrating the 75th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China and beginning to plan for further successful initiatives in 2025.

The article was originally published in the Morning Star. The preceding article, reviewing the earlier years, may be read here and the PDF of the full Morning Star supplement, in which it originally appeared can be downloaded here.

Continue reading British communist solidarity with China from the revolution to today

China at 75: A journey of revolution, resilience and redistributive development

In the following contributed article, Bhabani Shankar Nayak salutes the Chinese people on the 75th anniversary of their revolution, noting that the founding of the People’s Republic constituted a triumph over imperialism, colonialism and feudalism. However, imperialist aggression against China continues in the midst of the country’s stellar progress in all fields, which stands in stark contrast to the crises enveloping the capitalist world.

Bhabani Shankar Nayak is a Professor of Business Management at London Metropolitan University. He is the author or editor of numerous books and articles on China and other issues related to development in the Global South.

On October 1, 1949, the revolutionary people of China established the People’s Republic of China (PRC) under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC), this being the culmination of a protracted struggle that saw the defeat of Western imperialism, Japanese colonialism, and Chinese feudal warlords, all of whom had unleashed a ‘white terror’ on communists, revolutionaries and the Chinese people generally. Even after the defeat of Japanese militarism, American imperialists supported the so-called nationalist government of Chiang Kai-shek in an attempt to defeat the communists and undermine the victory of the Chinese revolution.

Imperialist aggression against China continues to this day, as the Chinese people celebrate seventy-five years of their revolutionary republic, while progressing along the path of revolution, reform, and redistributive development centreed on the people. The peace, progress, and prosperity in China define its development path, shaped by the resilient and revolutionary spirit of its people under the leadership of the CPC, whose motto is ‘Serve the People’. The journey from the semi-colonial period of shame and humiliation from the mid-19th century onwards to China’s rise to the position of the second-largest economy is a testament to the resilience and dignity of the Chinese people. It is celebration of the abilities of Chinese people and their indomitable spirit.

What have China and its people achieved over the last seventy-five years?

In 1949, China was economically backward, feudalism was endemic, and the people suffered from poverty, hunger, and homelessness. Over the past seven and a half decades, the Chinese people have transformed their agrarian society into an industrial powerhouse, producing quality goods and efficient services for the world. Unprecedented economic growth, coupled with redistributive development policies, has led to the complete eradication of extreme poverty and hunger. Universal access to food, education, and healthcare has contributed to the development of a scientifically advanced society in China, with a rising standard of living, while capitalist countries are facing economic and social crises. The Chinese people have built technologically advanced infrastructure, new cities, ports, airports, and high-speed rail networks that are more efficient than their capitalist counterparts in America and Europe. China’s lunar and Mars missions exemplify the significant progress the country has made in space exploration and scientific innovation. Despite this rapid modernisation, the Chinese people have not forgotten to reclaim their cultural heritage, celebrating their diversity through art, film, music, literature, language, and fashion.

The Chinese policy of peaceful coexistence and a collaborative approach to building a global community with a shared and sustainable future, aimed at addressing global challenges, offers an alternative to a divided world plagued by imperialist wars.  The Global Development Initiative (GDI), Global Civilisation Initiative (GCI) and Global Security Initiative (GSI) are examples of the Chinese approach to global peace and development based on solidarity and cooperation. Such an alternative is not acceptable to American and European hegemons, as it fundamentally opposes their capitalist interests under the guise of democracy dominated by markets, where the majority of people are marginalised. The Chinese vision for global peace and solidarity stands in stark contrast to the confrontational, dominating, competitive, and rent-seeking capitalist approach, which prioritises large corporations while people suffer from never-ending crises.

Therefore, there is relentless propaganda against China and its hardworking people. Phrases like “Chinese goods are cheap”, “Chinese low-quality products”, “Chinese cheap labour”, “Chinese virus”, “Chinese human rights violations”, “expansionist China”, and “Chinese domination and dictatorship” are part of a propaganda campaign designed to undermine the achievements of the Chinese people and their revolution. The Chinese alternative is an anathema to the racial capitalism  where the budget for war is prioritised over those for education and health. In China, the state works for the people and their welfare, whereas in capitalist countries, governments serve corporate interests for profits. It is time to expose the hypocrisies of the West and celebrate the achievements of the Chinese people over the last seventy-five years. These achievements offer hope for working people around the world. Thus, celebrating the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China is a global event for working people. It is a milestone in the revolutionary history of working-class achievements.

75th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China marked in Ireland

The 75th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, on October 1, was marked in Ireland with a reception hosted by the Chinese Embassy in Dublin as well as with a statement issued by the Communist Party of Ireland (CPI).

Ambassador He Xiangdong, together with his wife Xia Lining, hosted a reception for more than 300 people on the evening of September 26.

Early in his speech, Ambassador He underlined the importance of people-to-people diplomacy by recalling a special moment in China-Ireland relations:

“Here, I would like to pay special tribute to a few special guests. Mr. Kevin Carey, Mr. Patrick Dwyer, Mr. John McGrath, Mr. Norman Plunkett, Mr. Brian Purcell and Mr. Martin Moran. They are among the earliest Irish ‘envoys’ to the new China. In 1976, three years before the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Ireland, these five gentlemen and their teammates of the UCD [University College Dublin] football team paid a three-week visit to China. They visited Beijing, Shanghai, Changsha, Nanchang, Hangzhou and Guangzhou, and shared their experiences in Irish newspapers, opening a window for the Irish people at that time to know something about China. The spirit of curiosity, exploration and inclusiveness of these young people is still the source of power for the continuing development of China-Ireland relations.”

The Ambassador summarised 75 years of achievements in socialist nation building as follows:

“The past 75 years have witnessed the tremendous development and progress that China has made under the leadership of the Communist Party of China and by the hard-working Chinese people.

–We have historically solved the problem of absolute poverty, and more than 1.4 billion Chinese people have entered a well-off society.

–We have continuously developed the whole-process people’s democracy, and the people’s right to be masters of their own lives and their own country has been more fully realised.

–We have deepened the reform of the judicial system, strengthened the construction of a safe and law-abiding China, and made China one of the safest and most peaceful countries in the world.

–We have built the world’s largest education system, social security system, and medical and health system, and continuously enhanced the people’s sense of gain, happiness, and security.

–We have contributed 25% of the world’s new green area since the beginning of this century, built the world’s largest clean power generation network, with the largest installed capacity of hydropower, wind and solar power in the world. With an average annual energy consumption growth rate of 3%, we have supported an average annual economic growth of more than 6% and contributed to the global response to climate change and green transformation.

–We are committed to promoting the building of a community with a shared future for mankind. While achieving our own development, we provide assistance to more than 160 countries and international organisations to the best of our ability to help many other countries improve their people’s livelihood and move towards the goal of common development.”

He added: “We live in a world of interdependence where the destinies of nations are intertwined. China’s growth and development have been closely linked to its engagement with the global community, including Ireland. Looking into the past, China has proven itself as a partner to Europe and Ireland, not a rival, not a challenger, let alone a threat.

“For China, Ireland is a friend worthy of respect and trust, a bridge for China-EU cooperation and a partner in promoting globalisation. China’s further comprehensive deepening of reform and promotion of Chinese-style modernisation will bring new opportunities for China-Ireland practical cooperation and play a constructive role in maintaining the competitiveness of Irish companies. Let us join hands to promote the sustained and stable development of bilateral relations and build a bright future for Ireland and China.”

Former Taoiseach (Prime Minister) and Co-Chair of the Inter Action Council Bertie Ahern responded, speaking highly of China’s development achievements and praising the country for always being a builder of world peace, a contributor to global development, and a defender of international order. Ireland looks forward to the new high of Ireland-China relations and better benefits for the two countries and two peoples.

Meanwhile, in a statement published on social media, the Communist Party of Ireland sent, “revolutionary greetings to the Communist Party of China and to the Chinese people on the 75th anniversary of the establishment of the People’s Republic of China.”

The CPI noted that: “The victory of the Chinese Revolution shook the foundations of the system of colonial exploitation and sounded the death knell for the old European colonial empires. China’s example inspired other subject peoples in their struggles against colonialism and imperialism… In the 75 years since its foundation, the People’s Republic serves as an example to millions suffering under capitalist and imperialist exploitation.”

The following articles were originally published on the website of the Chinese Embassy in Dublin and on Instagram by the CPI.

The Chinese Embassy in Ireland held a Reception to Celebrate the 75th Anniversary of the Founding of the People’s Republic of China

Sep 27 (Chinese Embassy in Ireland) — On September 26, Ambassador He Xiangdong and Madame Xia Lining held a reception to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. Ambassador He,  former Taoiseach and Co-Chair of Inter Action Council Bertie Ahern delivered speeches at the reception.

Ambassador He briefed the great achievements China has made in politics, economy, social security, green development, and international cooperation since the founding of the People’s Republic of China, and emphasized that the Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee made systematic arrangements for further deepening reform and promoting Chinese-style modernization, which will bring new opportunities for China-Ireland practical cooperation.

Mr. Bertie Ahern spoke highly of China’s development achievements and praised China for always being a builder of world peace, a contributor to global development, and a defender of international order. Ireland look forward to the new high of Ireland-China relations and better benefits for the two countries and two peoples.

More than 300 guests from the Irish Government, Houses of the Oireachtas, Defense Forces, County and City councils, Diplomatic Corps, and various local communities attended the reception.

Continue reading 75th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China marked in Ireland

Message of greeting from the DFLP on the 75th Anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China

We reprint below the message of greetings that was sent from the Department of Foreign Affairs of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), which was read to the events held by Friends of Socialist China in London and New York marking the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China.

In their message, the Palestinian comrades note that China is known for defending the cause of the Palestinian people and that it sponsored dialogue between the Palestinian factions to achieve internal unity and consensus on a Palestinian government, with the aim of stopping projects related to the future of the Gaza Strip that do not reflect the ambitions of the Palestinian people.

We were honoured to receive this message sent from the embattled and heroic city of Beirut.

It has been lightly edited by us for style.

Dear Comrades

The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) sends its greetings to the participants, and hopes for the success of the conference on the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, known for defending the cause of the Palestinian people who face an Israeli colonial and apartheid regime, which commits massacres and crimes against the Palestinian people; and which sponsored dialogue between the Palestinian factions to achieve internal unity and consensus on a Palestinian government, with the aim of stopping projects related to the future of the Gaza Strip that do not reflect the ambitions of the Palestinian people.

The DFLP appreciates your struggle in defending the rights of the Palestinian people stipulated in international legitimacy resolutions, specifically their right to self-determination and ending the Israeli occupation of their lands based on the decision of the International Court of Justice, and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital and the return of refugees to their homes in accordance with UN Resolution 194.

The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) points out the necessity of sustaining the relationship between us in order to defend the interests of the people and confront global imperialism that contributes to the destruction of societies and countries, as well as with all leftist parties that are struggling to reach this goal.

The DFLP hopes you continue to provide your permanent political support to the Palestinian people and the just Palestinian cause.

The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine

Department of Foreign Affairs

September 2024

Britain’s communists and China

In the following article, Robert Griffiths, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Britain (CPB), surveys the proud history of solidarity between the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB, founded in 1920) and the Communist Party of China (CPC, founded in 1921), up to the founding of the People’s Republic in 1949 and the outbreak of war in Korea the following year.

Noting the British colonial presence in China since the seizure of Hong Kong in 1841, he writes that the CPGB was well aware of its responsibility in the “belly of the beast” to oppose British imperialism’s machinations.

After British colonial police shot down striking workers in Shanghai in May 1923, the CPGB launched a militant ‘Hands off China’ campaign. In 1927, Tom Mann, a leading CPGB trade unionist, embarked on a five-month mission to China on behalf of the Red International of Labour Unions.  Speaking on arrival, he accused the “British imperialist pirates” of filling history with numerous bloody pages.

In his maiden speech to parliament, having been elected as the Communist MP for West Fife in 1935, Willie Gallacher spoke out against the British government’s acquiescence in Japan’s aggression against China.

The Labour government of Clement Attlee announced its recognition of the newly founded People’s Republic on January 6, 1950, but less than a year later Chinese and British troops were confronting each other as the cold war turned hot on the Korean peninsula. The CPGB responded with a courageous ‘Hands off Korea’ campaign.

This article was originally carried in the special supplement marking the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, which was compiled and edited by Friends of Socialist China and published together with the Morning Star on Saturday, September 28, to coincide with our conference the same day.

The PDF of the full Morning Star supplement may be downloaded here.

Inspired by Russia’s Bolshevik Revolution, the Communist Party of China (CPC) held its founding congress in July 1921.

With the inability of the nationalist Kuomintang (KMT) to consolidate its authority and therefore its failure to lift the country out of its semi-colonial and semi-feudal state, intellectuals and workers had begun studying the ideas of Marxism.

Since Britain’s seizure of Hong Kong in 1841, other imperialist powers had carved up Chinese territory from Manchuria in the north to the island of Taiwan in the southeast, also taking control of bustling port cities from Shanghai down to Canton (now Guangzhou).

The British, Japanese and French ruling classes had waged wars, imposed treaties and suppressed popular rebellions in order to enforce their commercial interests, often in collaboration with the Qing dynasty or local warlords.

In 1919, student protests erupted in Beijing against the decision of the Great War allies to maintain their “international settlements” in China and specifically to transfer control of Shandong province from Germany to Japan. The May 4th Movement raised the banner of national sovereignty and democracy against this fresh humiliation.

Continue reading Britain’s communists and China

75 years of progress!

Writing in his regular blog, on September 29, Chris Nash, the Chair of the Society for Anglo-Chinese Understanding (SACU), who has lived in China, working in the education sector, for the last 10 years, provided a snapshot of various aspects of China’s progress since the founding of the People’s Republic 75 years ago.

In economics, he notes that in 1949 China accounted for just 4% of Global GDP, whereas today it accounts for 19% and moreover is actively fuelling global growth, especially in other developing countries and emerging markets. 

He goes on to explain that “economic growth must be balanced with environmental sustainability. Drawing on deeply embedded cultural ideas of ‘harmony’, China has energetically followed policies that are healing and sustaining eco-systems across the whole country. In my travels all over the country in the last ten years I have seen none of the environmental pollution that used to be presented as the image of rural China. Instead, I have seen landscapes of profound beauty, which are loved and cared for by local populations engaged in their care and preservation.”

With concrete and vivid examples, Chris highlights some of China’s achievements in biodiversity sustainability as well as in the protection of eco-systems and vulnerable species.

On education, he recalls that, in 1949, there was 80% illiteracy in China, but now, a financial aid system covering students from pre-school to postgraduate level has been established, ensuring that no student from a disadvantaged background is forced to drop out because of financial difficulties.

He emphasises: “These are only snapshots from the remarkable journey of the last 75 years in China. What is important to note is that these 75 years of progress have made, and continue to make, international contributions, not just narrow national ones… think of the likely future benefits as China enters the next phase of its modernisation, led by a mission to ‘build a community of shared future for humankind and to achieve shared and win-win development.’”

We reprint the full text of Chris’s article below. It was originally published on the SACU website.

Starting this weekend the people of Beijing and visitors to the city will be able to experience a spectacular light show. Over 2,800 sites across the capital will be bathed in glorious illumination bringing their nocturnal beauty to full expression. This weekend also sees the opening of the National Day holiday all across China. This holiday takes place from October 1st to October 7th every year. It is often called ‘Golden Week’ and it is an annual celebration of the inauguration of New China on October 1st 1949. Those of you who are good at Maths will have worked out that 2024 is then the 75th anniversary celebration. Therefore in this article I want to talk to you about some of the progress China has made over this period, because it not only remarkable but of global importance to us all.

Let’s start with the economics. Up until the middle of the nineteenth century China had the largest and most successful economy in the world. The problems of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries had a devastating effect on the lives of the Chinese people. In 1949 China only produced 4% of global GDP. Over 80% of the population worked in agriculture but the country was not self-sufficient in food. In 1949 China produced only 7.9 kwh of electricity per head of capita compared to 1144.6 kwh per capita in America, 141 times greater. In 1949, the average life expectancy in China was only 35 years. It is against baseline figures like these that the remarkable progress of China over the last 75 years can be measured.

China today accounts for almost 19 percent of the global GDP. China’s progress has brought benefits across the developing world. Until the 1990s, the developing world was dependent on the West for many things. But by 2007, large emerging economies, spearheaded by China, were driving global growth, while the advanced Western economies’ growth had slowed down. As a result, the impact of the Chinese economy on low and middle-income economies soared, with development projects such as the Belt and Road Initiative and multilateral financial institutions supported by countries including China such as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and New Development Bank helping boost growth in many emerging and developing economies. In this way, China has been fuelling global growth.

One of the key lessons of the modern era is that economic growth must be balanced with environmental sustainability. Drawing on deeply embedded cultural ideas of ‘harmony’, China has energetically followed policies that are healing and sustaining eco-systems across the whole country. In my travels all over the country in the last ten years I have seen none of the environmental pollution that used to be presented as the image of rural China. Instead I have seen landscapes of profound beauty, which are loved and cared for by local populations engaged in their care and preservation. In Dali, Yunnan Province, a community leader, took me to the exact spot next to Lake Erhai where President Xi had stood and told local hotel owners who had started to make greater and greater profits from the growth of tourism, that they had to take down their lucrative hotels on the shoreline because they were damaging the water quality in the lake.

Over the last 75 years Chinese scientists have made significant contributions to the world in the realm of conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity. For example, China has increased the population of giant pandas by establishing nature reserves and succeeding in artificially breeding them. Yuan Longping, a famous rice breeding expert in China who made outstanding contributions to the world’s food security, developed the first strain of hybrid rice in 1970 by crossing the sterile plants of wild rice found in Hainan with cultivars. Tu Youyou, a Chinese female pharmacist, won the Nobel Prize for her discovery of artemisinin, a drug that that helped save millions of lives from the threat of malaria globally, especially in developing countries.

China has established a system of national parks that are making enormous contributions to protecting eco-systems and vulnerable species. The Tibetan antelope, the flagship species at the Three-River-Source National Park, has increased to over 70,000. The snow leopard population has recovered to over 1,200, and the populations of Northeast tigers and leopards in the national park have grown from the initial 27 and 42 at the pilot stage, respectively, to around 70 and 80. The wild population of the Hainan gibbon, the flagship species at the Hainan Tropical Rainforest National Park, has increased from fewer than 10 in two groups 40 years ago to 42 in seven groups. And in a remarkable story of international co-operation, the World Wild Life Fund, the Chinese Government and local people in the Yangtze River area have worked together to rescue the Yangtze Finless Porpoise that had been declared extinct. A survey in 2023 found a 23% increase in the population. It is hoped that lessons learned from preserving this river species can now be applied globally to rescue five other river Dolphins vulnerable to extinction.

Finally, in our quick tour through 75 years of achievements in China, let’s focus on education. In 1949 astonishingly, there was an 80% illiteracy rate in China. Education became an immediate priority for the new government. In 1952, 1956 and 1958, the Chinese government repeatedly launched free literacy-education campaigns, which were responded to enthusiastically by 150 million participants. As late as 1978, only 60 per cent of primary school pupils went on to study in junior high schools. Now school completion rates are in the high 90% range. There are 9,752 secondary vocational education schools, with a total of 17.847 million students enrolled. A financial aid system covering students from pre-school to postgraduate level has been established, ensuring that no student from a disadvantaged background is forced to drop out because of financial difficulties. This national focus on education has also benefited university education. China’s universities have been edging up the world university rankings, with more making it to the top 100, and some 100 disciplines making it to the world’s top 1,000.  There are now 7 Chinese universities in the World top 100 ranking. For the first time this year, as my Chinese students are studying to gain entrance to western universities, our campus is now hosting international students studying to gain entrance to elite universities in Beijing.

These are only snapshots from the remarkable journey of the last 75 years in China. What is important to note is that these 75 years of progress have made, and continue to make, international contributions, not just narrow national ones. For example, figures from the United Nations show that China’s sustained commitment to poverty reduction over this period has resulted in an over 70% global reduction in poverty rates. It is China’s expertise in manufacturing, supplying and installing highly efficient photo-voltaic solar power technology that is enabling the world to transition to cleaner alternative energy. In the first four months of 2024 alone, 43% of China’s photo voltaic cell production was exported to Europe. History shows us long eras of peaceful co-operation between China and the world, dwarfing any periods of rivalry and competition. The next time you use something as ordinary as a wheelbarrow, remind yourself this was a Chinese invention of an earlier time, which spread to the world across ancient trade routes. And think of the likely future benefits as China enters the next phase of its modernisation, led by a mission to ‘build a community of shared futures for humankind and to achieve shared and win-win development.’

Historic event in the US celebrates China at 75

Below is a brief report by Betsey Piette, originally published in Workers World, about the conference held in New York City on Sunday 29 September to mark the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. This event, held at the historic Malcolm X & Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial and Education Center in Harlem, was initiated by Friends of Socialist China and put together by a range of progressive groups and individuals.

Speakers included:

  • Gerald Horne – Author and Historian
  • Zhang Weiwei – Director, China Institute, Fudan University
  • Henry Hakamaki -Iskra Books, Hosts Guerrilla History podcast
  • Danny Haiphong – Journalist and Co-Founder of Friends of Socialist China
  • Margaret Kimberley – Executive Editor, Black Agenda Report
  • Larry Holmes – First Secretary, Workers World Party
  • Mick Kelly – Political Secretary, Freedom Road Socialist Organization
  • Lee Siu Hin – Director, China/US Solidarity Network
  • Omowale Clay – International Secretariat, December 12th Movement
  • Ken Hammond – Party for Socialism and Liberation, Author of multiple books on China
  • Radhika Desai – Convenor, International Manifesto Group
  • Charles Xu – Qiao Collective
  • Mushahid Hussain – Senator and Chair, Pakistan – China Institute
  • Michael Wong – Veterans for Peace Nat’l Board, VFP China Working Group
  • KJ Noh – Journalist and Analyst of the geopolitics of the Asia Pacific region
  • Sara Flounders – International Action Center, Friends of Socialist China
  • Dee Knight – DSA International Committee’s China/Asia Subcommittee
  • Sharon Black – East Coast Co-Coordinator of Struggle/La Lucha
  • Bahman Azad – President, US Peace Council
  • Creighton Ward – Qiao Collective
  • Julie Tang – “Comfort Women” Justice Coalition, Co-Founder of Pivot to Peace
  • Ju-Hyun Park – Nodutdol for Korean Community Development
  • Arjae Red – Union Organizer – Visit to Xinjiang
  • Arnold August – Journalist and Author, Visitor to Xizang (Tibet)
  • Monica Moorehead, Managing Editor, Workers World newspaper

The video stream of the event is embedded below the report.

October 1, 2024, marks the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, when Mao Zedong declared that “the Chinese people have stood up.” The Friends of Socialist China organized events in London on Sept. 28 –  and, along with Workers World Party, in New York City, on Sept. 29, to celebrate the enormous role China plays in the world today and its contributions to the global struggle.

Speakers addressed the growing danger from U.S. threats, military encirclement and hostile anti-China propaganda that are escalating daily and the need for progressive forces to join together to explain and defend China. Other remarks emphasized China’s important role in providing support for developing countries in Africa and the Global South, including the significance of the recent Africa Summit held in Beijing in early September. 

Other speakers addressed China’s contribution with the Beijing Declaration, jointly issued by the Palestinian resistance organizations, on ending divisions and strengthening solidarity to fight against the U.S./Israeli genocidal wars in West Asia.

The program, held at the Malcolm X & Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial and Education Center in New York City, opened with the reading of solidarity messages to the people of Palestine and Lebanon in recognition of the horrific escalation of the genocidal bombing, causing the deaths of tens of thousands of people and the murder of Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah. 

Two representatives from the Chinese Consulate in New York were welcomed. Program Chairperson Sara Flounders introduced a new book to check out: “People’s China at 75,” by Keith Bennett and Carlos Martinez.

The program included the opening session and four panels in a Mass Assembly for Peace and Solidarity. The panels’ themes included: “Exposing Imperialist Propaganda”; the “Impact of the New Cold War”; “China and the Global South”; and the “Hybrid War on China,” with speakers either addressing the event from the podium or via pre-recorded messages.    

Organizers of the New York City event include Friends of Socialist China and Workers World Party in coordination with sponsors Black Agenda Report, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, Qiao Collective and the International Manifesto Group.

Over 100 people packed the hall. Around 300 more, including 80 from 25 countries outside the U.S., viewed the program by Zoom.

People’s China at 75

1 October 2024 marks the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, when Mao Zedong declared that “the Chinese people have stood up”.

Friends of Socialist China celebrated the extraordinary achievements of the past 75 years with two conferences, in London and New York City. Attendees at the London conference each received a copy of the Morning Star – the only English-language socialist daily newspaper in the world – with a special Friends of Socialist China supplement featuring articles from Zhang Zeguang (China’s ambassador to the UK), Keith Bennett, Rob Griffiths, Andrew Murray, Jenny Clegg, Carlos Martinez, Roger McKenzie, Micaela Tracey-Ramos and Kenny Coyle.

We republish below the contribution by Friends of Socialist China co-editor Keith Bennett. This article presents a broad overview of China’s socialist development, contextualising it in the overall history of the exercise of state power by the working class and its allies and the original road taken by the Chinese communists led by Mao Zedong, which represents a major contribution to the theory and practice of revolution.

The article highlights China’s transformation from poverty to moderate prosperity, examining three major phases of its development: the early period of socialist construction; the era of reform and opening up from 1978; and the new era, starting with the commencement of Xi Jinping’s leadership, characterised by the rapid development of new, high quality productive forces; a strong focus on environmental protection; a merciless campaign against corruption; much improved healthcare and pensions; and a program of common prosperity, ensuring that all sectors of the economy work in the overall interests of the people and of the pursuit of socialism.

Keith concludes: “Whilst China remains, in its own words, in the primary stage of socialism, the overall goal is now to build a modern socialist country in all respects by 2049, when the People’s Republic will celebrate its 100th anniversary. This is truly something that will change the world.”

The PDF of the full Morning Star supplement can be downloaded here.

Although China was the world’s biggest economy for most of the last two millennia, since Britain launched the first Opium War in 1839, the country was reduced to a semi-colonial, semi-feudal society. Not for nothing is the ensuing period known by the Chinese as the “century of humiliation,” marked by unequal treaties, foreign aggression, civil wars and ultimately a victorious revolution.

When the People’s Republic of China was founded in 1949, China was one of the poorest societies on Earth. Illiteracy was as high as life expectancy was low.

The subsequent political trajectory of the People’s Republic essentially falls into two distinct phases, the second commencing with the launch of the policy known as “reform and opening up” from the end of 1978.

The first period is often described as one of following the Soviet model.

There is some truth to this, just as contemporary China still draws on it to some extent, but it is far from the whole story.

For example, even in its most radical phases, the Chinese revolution never completely rejected a role for the national bourgeoisie.

This in turn meant that rather than a single party system, as in the Soviet Union, China retained, and retains, a multi-party, consultative system, based on acknowledging and upholding the leading role of the Communist Party.

Significantly, the peasantry (with some deviation during the period known as the Great Leap Forward, 1958-62), was not taken as a source of what might be termed “socialist primitive accumulation” to benefit the cities and the promotion of heavy industry.

Rather, policies tended to reflect the fact that the peasantry constituted the majority of the population and, even more that, they were the bedrock of the revolution.

The achievements of the Mao era should not be underestimated or denigrated. They were among the most stupendous in human history.

Despite the terrible years of 1958-62, and the chaos of the Cultural Revolution, life expectancy in China grew by one year for every year that Mao was in power.

From being practically the poorest country on Earth, Mao’s China solved the basic problems of feeding, clothing, housing and educating almost a quarter of the world’s population, provided basic medical care to the whole population, brought literacy to the overwhelming majority, massively improved the social position and role of women, and so on.

Why then was it necessary to make such a radical turn in 1978?

For all its progress, China remained at the time of Mao’s death in 1976 a very poor country, although the basic necessities of life were more or less guaranteed.

Whilst famine had been eliminated, food was still strictly rationed. Xi Jinping, when recalling his young days working with farmers in an old revolutionary base area, has often said that his dream was that one day the villagers would be able to eat meat and eat it often.

Although disparities and inequalities remained, China under Mao may be considered to have been one of the most equal societies on Earth, but to a considerable extent, it was a “socialism of shared poverty.”

Continue reading People’s China at 75

Solidarity with China is necessary for the collective future of humanity

The following article by Sara Flounders, originally posted on Workers World, takes up the question of China’s social system: is it socialist, as it claims? Or is it just another capitalist-imperialist country?

Sara lists a number of ways in which China’s emergence is helping the countries of the Global South – from the Belt and Road Initiative to the provision of financial and technical assistance for infrastructure construction. “China is a lifeline for the Global South. The Africa Summit just held in Beijing confirmed this a thousand times over.”

Meanwhile, as a result of sustained efforts over decades, China has eliminated extreme poverty and “achieved the fastest growth in living standards of any country in the world”. Furthermore: “China has gone green and solar and put a half-million electric city buses on their streets. US city buses are still belching out pollution coming from fossil fuels.”

One outcome of this progress is that “US imperialist strategists see China’s gains as an ominous threat to their domination of the world, and have moved to counter China with a whole new level of aggressive militarism”.

Sara notes that mass opposition to a rising US-led New Cold War against China is essential, but that the left is sometimes reticent to defend China because of a misunderstanding of its social system. “Many in the West said that the enthusiasm engendered by Western corporations’ heavy investments in China had already succeeded in bringing China back into the capitalist orbit.”

The article points out that, while China today has vast wealth disparity, along with private capital, its market is “built on socialist pillars”, and “central planning remains decisive”.

The key economic role is assigned to the state, a state controlled by the working class. Every major industry, especially banking, remains under state control — a state controlled by a massive communist party. The central banks play a crucial role in subsidizing and developing key industries.

Meanwhile the Communist Party of China, with its close to 100 million members, exercises overall control of the country’s economic development.

Sara concludes that “stepping up the defense of China, its revolution and its accomplishments is necessary for the collective future of humanity.”

An ideological assault on China is taking place that cannot be fought piecemeal, answering each lie. Of course, it is crucial to refute the lies and propaganda, but it is not persuasive if the reason behind the U.S. ruling class’s extraordinary and pervasive hostility to China is not exposed. We must expose the class differences between People’s China and U.S. imperialism.

China’s emergence is a game-changer on a world scale today, with its Belt and Road Initiative, the Shanghai Cooperation agreement and the BRICS+ meeting this September at the United Nations. China has become a resource, an alternative to the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, with their brutal structural adjustment, deregulation and privatization programs (SAPs). China is a lifeline for the Global South. The Africa Summit just held in Beijing confirmed this a thousand times over.

China was able to end poverty for 800 million people — something neither the U.S. nor any other capitalist country has been able to do. Life expectancy is higher today in China than in the United States. China has achieved the fastest growth in living standards of any country in the world.

So U.S. imperialism is doubling down. Candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump agree. The Pentagon agrees. NATO agrees. New sanctions, new tariffs, new rounds of propaganda directed at China are aimed at preparing for war by 2025.

In the Pacific Ocean and South China Sea, U.S. strategists are rushing to construct a military alliance similar to NATO. It will include Japan, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and the Philippines and is directed against China.

Every arm of the imperialist colossus is predicting and planning for this war. The vicious and relentless propaganda, the expanding military budget, the relentless war “games” and military maneuvers and the total agreement of both Democratic and Republican parties testify to the danger.

Which side are you on?

“Which side are you on?” is the oldest formulation in the class struggle.

The group Friends of Socialist China provides a valuable framework to explain the country’s most important contribution. Political movements, parties and organizations of the working class that take sides in the global class struggle are the most valuable anchor to withstand the crisis confronting the working class and all oppressed peoples. Without this anchor, this basic understanding, workers and activists are cast adrift in the onslaught of each imperialist flood.

An important part of understanding the changing world situation can be found in Workers World Party’s evaluation of China’s rapid development. U.S. imperialist strategists see China’s gains as an ominous threat to their domination of the world, and have moved to counter China with a whole new level of aggressive militarism. We say China’s gains hold a liberating potential for humanity.

If we can explain the reason for U.S. imperialism’s hostility and why Washington calls Beijing “the greatest threat,” it can strengthen popular resistance to the U.S. war drive.

Continue reading Solidarity with China is necessary for the collective future of humanity

Rest in power, comrade Sitaram Yechury

Sitaram Yechury, General Secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), tragically passed away on 12 September 2024. Sitaram was a lifelong communist, intellectual, activist and leader, who had been a politburo member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) since 1992.

A brief biographical sketch by the Student Federation of India (SFI) UK branch reads as follows:

Comrade Sitaram first got involved in the student movement while studying at Jawaharlal Nehru University in 1974, where he became a leader of the Students Federation of India and was elected president of the JNU Students Union. He became a full-time member of the CPI(M) in 1975 and like hundreds of other activists in India, he was arrested during the emergency. His photograph reading out charges against the Indira Gandhi government has gained iconic status where he demanded the resignation of the Chancellor and then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

His clarity on uniting India’s working class and overcoming deep divisions of caste, gender, religion, and geography, made him one of India’s most important political voices. For the general elections held this year, Yechury was central to forging broad unity and building the secular and democratic opposition alliance INDIA. Comrade Sitaram carried forward the left’s legacy of anti-imperialism and internationalism with his constant solidarity with popular movements across the globe, such as the Palestinian movement for liberation and popular movements in Latin America.

On 23 September, the SFI held an event at Marx Memorial Library in London to honour and remember comrade Sitaram’s life. The meeting was addressed by SFI General Secretary Mayukh Biswas, Indian Workers’ Association (GB) Vice President Harsev Bains, National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers President Alex Gordon, Economic Counsellor from the Cuban Embassy Marta Castillo, SFI UK Secretary Nikhil Mathew, Young Communist League London Secretary Ben Woodward, Communist Party of Britain London Secretary Robin Talbot, and Friends of Socialist China co-editor Carlos Martinez.

Carlos highlighted the urgently-needed clarity that Sitaram Yechury and other key leaders of the CPI(M) had brought to the world communist movement in the confusing period of the late 1980s and early 90s – the ‘end of history’, when European socialism had all but collapsed and the Washington Consensus reigned supreme. Many at that time assumed that China was following, or had already followed, a path of capitalist restoration. However, as Deng Xiaoping commented to Julius Nyerere in 1989: “so long as socialism does not collapse in China, it will always hold its ground in the world.” Comrade Sitaram was a trailblazer in understanding Socialism with Chinese Characteristics, building solidarity with China and the other remaining socialist countries, and helping to explain to the global movement the evolving reality of China’s Marxist project.

Harsev Bains noted that Sitaram had rearranged his busy schedule in order to be able to address in person the conference in London on 28 September celebrating the 75th anniversary of the founding of People’s China. Comrade Yechury will be very sadly missed at that event.

We republish below an article from People’s Democracy, the English weekly newspaper of the Communist Party of India, containing a number of tributes to Sitaram from around the world.

Communist and Workers’ Parties from around the world have expressed their condolences on the passing away of Comrade Sitaram Yechury, general secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist).

President of Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega, sent a condolence message to the Party: “With great sadness, we have learned today, in the spirit of affection and solidarity that characterizes us, of the passing of Comrade General Secretary, brother Sitaram Yechury, an outstanding champion for the rights of the peoples.” He expressed his ‘sincere and profound sentiments for the departure of this brother for all of us, a comrade in struggles,’ who has ‘contributed to fighting the battles of justice, truth, and fraternity among the human community.’

The Communist Party of China (CPC) lauded Comrade Sitaram Yechury in its condolence message, praising him as an outstanding leader and Marxist theorist. “He contributed significantly to promoting Left forces and the socialist movement, as well as national development and social progress in India,” they stated. They also highlighted his ‘significant contribution to China-India friendship’ and extended their condolences to the Party and his family.

In a message from the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC), Emilio Lozada Garcia, head of the International Department, expressed his deepest condolences to the leadership of the CPI(M), all Party members, and the family of Comrade Sitaram Yechury. He recalled Yechury’s immense contribution to building the Cuba solidarity movement in India.

The Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) paid tribute, noting that Comrade Sitaram Yechury was an influential leader of the CPI(M) and the Left movement in India. They remembered his contributions to the international movement for peace, solidarity, and the comprehensive friendship and strategic partnership between India and Vietnam.

The Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) extended their condolences, recalling Comrade Sitaram Yechury’s numerous visits to the DPRK and his contributions to strengthening fraternal relations between both the parties.

Gennady Zyuganov, chairman of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF), sent his condolences, remembering Comrade Sitaram Yechury as a fighter for the socialist future of India, a respected leader of the international communist movement, and a friend of Russia.

The Communist Party of Greece (KKE), in its condolence message, expressed great sadness over the death of Comrade Sitaram Yechury. “Comrade Sitaram made a significant contribution to the international communist movement and the International Meetings of the Communist and Workers’ Parties (IMCWP), remaining faithful to the principles of proletarian internationalism,” they stated. They also recalled Comrade Sitaram’s visit to Greece and his role in strengthening relations between the two parties.

Continue reading Rest in power, comrade Sitaram Yechury

Those that stand for socialism and peace should build solidarity with China

At the invitation of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), Friends of Socialist China co-editor Carlos Martinez attended the 14th World Socialism Forum, held in Beijing from 9-10 September 2024.

The theme of this year’s forum was Current changes in the world and our times, and addressed the possibilities for furthering the cause of socialism around the world. There were over 200 delegates from China, Australia, Bangladesh, Brazil, Britain, Cameroon, Cuba, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Hungary, Iraq, Italy, Japan, Laos, Lebanon, Nepal, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, Syria, Uruguay, Vietnam and Zambia. Keynote speakers included Zhen Zhanmin (Vice President of CASS), Cheng Enfu (Former President of the Academy of Marxism) and Zhang Weiwei (Dean of the China Institute at Fudan University).

Carlos spoke in one of the parallel sessions, introducing the book The East is Still Red – Chinese Socialism in the 21st Century and explaining the rationale for writing it. We reproduce his contribution below.

A write-up of the forum can be found on China Daily.

The East is Still Red: Chinese Socialism in the 21st Century was published in English by Praxis Press last year and will soon be available in Chinese through Jiuzhou Press, having been translated by comrade Zhuo Mingliang from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Many books have been written by Westerners about China. Did the world really need another one?

Looking at the US and UK best-selling book lists, you can find titles such as:

  • How China Derailed Its Peaceful Rise
  • China’s New Tyranny
  • How China Took Over While America’s Elite Slept
  • How the Chinese Communist Party is Reshaping the World

And so on.

There are dozens, even hundreds, of books describing China as authoritarian, dystopian, aggressive, repressive and reactionary.

These are not serious works of politics, economics and history; they are part of an increasingly wide-ranging propaganda campaign aimed at building public support for an anti-China New Cold War.

One of the key reasons for the book to help build a movement against that New Cold War.

In the West, the most disgraceful slanders are being hurled at China: that it’s committing human rights abuses against Uyghur people in Xinjiang Province; that it’s suppressing religious freedoms; that it’s preventing the use of minority languages; that it’s engaged in predatory policies in its trade and investment relations with the countries of Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, the Middle East and the Pacific; that it’s an aggressive, expansionist power seeking to violate the sovereignty of other countries in the region; that it’s cracking down on basic democratic rights; and so on.

This is ultimately propaganda in favour of the West’s anti-China foreign policy, and in support of the US’s mission to maintain its hegemony, to hold on to its global economic and strategic advantages, and to pursue a Project for a New American Century.

Continue reading Those that stand for socialism and peace should build solidarity with China

Tunnel Warfare – From China and Vietnam to the Gaza Strip

A specific military art of tunnel warfare, as a distinct component of people’s war, was developed by the Chinese communists in the 1930s during the war to resist Japanese aggression. It was subsequently utilised by the Korean and Vietnamese peoples in their wars against US imperialist aggression and is now playing an important part in the Arab resistance to Zionism and imperialism in Palestine, Lebanon and Yemen.

In a recent article written for The Palestine Chronicle, Enrico Di Gregorio, a Brazilian journalist who currently writes for A Nova Democracia, explains:

“More than 80 years after the Chinese communists began building tunnels to resist the Japanese invasion of their country, this tactic of the people’s war, derived from a broader military theory, is still current and developing.

“On July 16, the Lebanese resistance group Hezbollah released a video about an underground military base with impressive capabilities: in the footage, fighters circulate on foot, on motorcycles and in trucks fuelled with rockets, through carefully dug tunnels… Elsewhere on the same base, soldiers work and are treated in a field hospital and provided with supplies that will allow them to survive for a year underground, according to the Al-Mayadeen news outlet.”

The 1965 Chinese film, ‘Tunnel Warfare’, “portrays the different tricks invented by the masses in the tunnels, such as a system that captured the water sent by the Japanese in flood attempts and redirected it to the villages, to reuse it for basic day-to-day operations.

“Experts point out that there is a relationship of influence between the tactics used in Asia and those employed by the Arab peoples. ‘Tunnels have been used for thousands of years, but the Vietnamese and Chinese have used them particularly successfully. There are several direct references to these experiences in Fatah and PFLP [Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine] materials,’ argues researcher Alberto García Molinero, from the University of Granada.”

Referring to the developments in the Palestinian revolution in the 1960s, Molinero adds: “The success of the guerrilla struggle strategy was very much inspired by China and Vietnam. Both Asian countries were a major global inspiration for the world’s revolutionaries, much more so than the Soviet Union. This was due to various factors, including the essence of Maoism. Both Mao, with his concept of people’s war, and the Vietnamese demonstrated that it was possible to defeat an infinitely superior enemy, such as imperialism, as long as you mobilise the people for the cause.”

Tunnels began to be built in Gaza in the 1980s and later by Hezbollah in Lebanon and by the Ansarallah movement (more commonly known as the Houthis) in Yemen.

“Today, there is no denying that tunnels play a fundamental role in the anti-imperialist war waged by the various Arab organisations. The scale that these structures have reached is impressive: in 2016, the former head of Hamas’ Political Bureau, Ismail Haniyeh (assassinated by Israel in July 2024), said that the tunnel network in Gaza is twice the size of the Cu Chi tunnels [which had around 250 kilometres of interconnected passages interspersed with small chambers used as classrooms and outpatient clinics and entrances and exits scattered throughout the rainforest.]”

Di Gregiorio concludes: “The anti-imperialist struggle in the Middle East has shown, more than any other revolutionary experience in the 21st century to date, the incredible relevance of the armed struggle and military doctrine developed in China and applied, even partially, by the Arab peoples.”

We reprint the article below.

More than 80 years after the Chinese communists began building tunnels to resist the Japanese invasion of their country, this tactic of the people’s war, derived from a broader military theory, is still current and developing.

On July 16, the Lebanese resistance group Hezbollah released a video about an underground military base with impressive capabilities: in the footage, fighters circulate on foot, on motorcycles and in trucks fueled with rockets, through carefully dug tunnels.

In large chambers, combatants plan day-to-day military operations, while others drive several trucks to gates that, when opened, allow missiles to be fired directly at Israeli territory.

Elsewhere on the same base, soldiers work and are treated in a field hospital and provided with supplies that will allow them to survive for a year underground, according to the Al-Mayadeen news outlet.

Everything takes place in secret. High-tech equipment guarantees absolute encryption of the information, which is transmitted in a combination of speed and clandestinity.

The video shows the remarkable development of tunnel warfare by oppressed peoples, particularly the Arabs, some 50 years after experiences such as the Vietnam War (1955-1975) – one of those conflicts responsible for making this guerrilla tactic famous throughout the world.

Continue reading Tunnel Warfare – From China and Vietnam to the Gaza Strip

Xi extends congratulations on DPRK’s 76th founding anniversary

September 9 marked the 76th founding anniversary of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). 

Marking the occasion, Chinese leader Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory message to his DPRK counterpart Kim Jong Un, in which he expressed his belief that under the leadership of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) headed by Comrade General Secretary Kim, the people of the DPRK will surely win new and greater victories in advancing the cause of Korean-style socialism.

Xi stressed that China and the DPRK are linked by mountains and rivers, and friendship between the two countries grows stronger over time. He added that this year marks the 75th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral diplomatic relations and the “China-DPRK Friendship Year.”

He also called on the two sides to jointly advance the socialist cause, so as to bring more benefits to the two peoples and make greater contributions to peace, stability, development and prosperity of the region and the world.

The following article was originally published by the Xinhua News Agency. The report of the message published by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) can be read here.

BEIJING, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) — Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday sent a congratulatory message to Kim Jong Un, general secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) and president of the State Affairs of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), on the DPRK’s 76th founding anniversary.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said in the message that over the past 76 years, under the leadership of the WPK, the people of the DPRK have united as one and promoted the vigorous development of various national causes.

In recent years, Comrade General Secretary Kim has led the party and people of the DPRK in thoroughly implementing the guiding principles of the WPK’s 8th Congress and all its plenary sessions, and made a series of achievements in national construction and development, he added.

Xi expressed his belief that under the leadership of the WPK headed by Comrade General Secretary, the people in the DPRK will surely win new and greater victories in advancing the cause of DPRK-style socialism.

Xi stressed that China and the DPRK are linked by mountains and rivers, and friendship between the two countries grows stronger over time. He added that this year marks the 75th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral diplomatic relations and the “China-DPRK Friendship Year.”

Under the new circumstances in the new era, Xi said that China will continue to view bilateral relations from a strategic and long-term perspective, and is willing to deepen strategic communication, strengthen coordination and cooperation with the DPRK, and jointly maintain, consolidate and develop traditional friendly and cooperative relations between the two countries.

He also called on the two sides to jointly advance the socialism cause, so as to bring more benefits to the two peoples and make greater contribution to peace, stability, development and prosperity of the region and the world. 

Stand in solidarity with CPK National Vice Chairperson, Booker Ngesa Omole

The Communist Party of Kenya (CPK) has strongly denounced what it describes as “the illegal and politically motivated arrest of our National Vice Chairperson, Booker Ngesa Omole”, on September 7, 2024.

Posting on X (formerly Twitter), the CPK explains that: “Booker was on an official assignment for the Communist Party of Kenya, en route to China, a country with which Kenya has ongoing diplomatic relations. In a shocking display of abuse of power, Booker was arrested aboard a Qatar Airways flight bound for Beijing via Doha. The immigration police at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) acted on a stop order with no basis in law.”

This action by the Kenyan authorities in forcibly preventing one of its citizens from travelling to China on an official invitation is particularly outrageous and provocative as it occurs in the immediate aftermath of President William Ruto’s own visit to China to attend the summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) and serves to expose the venal and duplicitous nature of the Kenyan comprador bourgeoisie.

The CPK note that: “The arresting officer even mocked him of competing with the president by thinking he can travel to Beijing when the head of state has just concluded his visit to China. We must ask ourselves: Why is this government so afraid of Booker’s trip to China? What truths does he carry that they fear?”

The CPK has been in the forefront of the recent upsurge in the militant struggle of the Kenyan youth, workers, poor and other sections of the people against poverty, attacks on living standards, repression and subordination to imperialism and Booker himself is a courageous and inspirational leader who has clearly struck fear into the hearts of the regime.

Booker and his party are also good friends and close comrades of Friends of Socialist China. He was the main speaker at our meeting on ‘Africa, China and the rise of the Global South’, held at London’s Marx Memorial Library on March 16 this year.

We join with the CPK, the risen people of Kenya and communists, anti-imperialists and democrats around the world in demanding that the Kenyan authorities drop any charges against Comrade Booker, return his travel documents and other possessions, and cease their harassment and repression against the Kenyan progressive movement and people.

Statement from the Central Organizing Committee of the Communist Party of Kenya (CPK)

Comrade Booker’s Illegal Arrest: A Cowardly Attack by a Regime in Fear

Fellow Kenyans, comrades, and the international community, we come to you in a state of fury and defiance after the illegal and politically motivated arrest of our National Vice Chairperson, Booker Ngesa Omole, on the 7th of September, 2024.

This regime has once again shown its true colours—an administration of fear, repression, and state-sponsored harassment against those who dare challenge its authority. Booker was on an official assignment for the Communist Party of Kenya, en route to China, a country with which Kenya has ongoing diplomatic relations. In a shocking display of abuse of power, Booker was arrested aboard a Qatar Airways flight bound for Beijing via Doha. The immigration police at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) acted on a stop order with no basis in law, detaining him for six hours before handing him over to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI). The state is desperately trying to silence the leaders of the revolutionary movement. What was the basis of Booker’s arrest? Incitement to violence—an outrageous and baseless charge meant to humiliate and intimidate. The arresting officer even mocked him of competing with the president by thinking he can travel to Beijing when the head of state has just concluded his visit to China. The absurdity of this explanation exposes the fragile paranoia gripping this regime. The Kenyan government is willing to expend more resources chasing after revolutionaries than addressing the real criminals plundering our country. We must ask ourselves: why is this government so afraid of Booker’s trip to China?

What truths does he carry that they fear? Let it be known: there is nothing illegal about Booker’s travel! The same President who continues runs from the truth in Kenya only visits China to peddle lies and more lies. The hypocrisy is staggering.

Booker was taken from JKIA to Central Police Station under the cover of night, where he was locked up for two hours. It was only due to public pressure and multiple calls to the Inspector General that he was released at 11 p.m. But the damage had been done.

His travel documents—passport, yellow fever card, and boarding pass—were confiscated, and to this moment, the state has yet to return them. Let this be clear: the charges of incitement and the use of Section 56 of the Police Act are relics of colonial rule, unconstitutional and out of place in post-2010 Kenya. These laws must be quashed from our penal co de, and we demand their immediate abolition. This harassment will not deter us. The Kenya Kwanza regime, led by the dictator William Ruto, must return Booker’s travel documents immediately and cease this state-sponsored witch hunt. They can try to harass us, intimidate us, and fabricate charges, but the truth is on our side. The only criminals here are the ones sitting in power, auctioning off our country to imperialists and multinational corporations.

Ruto shall not change. He is beyond reform. Every act of repression only cements what we have long known: the only solution for this nation is to remove him from power once and for all. The Kenyan people deserve leadership that fights for them, not against them.

The Communist Party of Kenya, alongside all revolutionaries and patriots, will continue the struggle for justice, freedom, and dignity. To the Kenyan people, rise up! Let this illegal arrest serve as a reminder of the lengths this regime will go to maintain its grip on power.

We shall not be silenced. Ruto and his cronies have no future in a free and just Kenya. The people shall prevail. The revolution will triumph. Return Booker’s documents! Stop the witch hunt! Ruto must go!

Signed, The Central Organizing Committee of the Communist Party of Kenya In solidarity with the oppressed masses of Kenya

Daniel Ortega: China is bringing progress and benefit to the peoples of the world

On July 15, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega and Vice President Rosario Murillo attended a special ceremony in the capital Managua to hand over a fleet of Chinese buses produced by the Yutong company to the city’s transport cooperatives.

“Today,” Ortega declared, “we are delivering these buses so that they contribute to the transportation of families, of children going to school, of young people going to school, going to university; of workers, women, doctors, teachers, of all sectors of Nicaraguan society, who use collective transport.”

A special day had been chosen: “Today, July 15th, is the day our Brother Julio Buitrago, a young man, fell in combat. Julio was in college but went on to combat with the Sandinista Front, and the feat, the heroism, of Julio, who fell in combat 55 years ago today, on July 15th 1969, is well known. He was alone! He was surrounded by 300 National Guard, trained by the Yankees, they brought small tanks, they brought airplanes, and he resisted until his last cartridge… And in tribute to Julio we make this handover on this day, in tribute to Julio who represents Nicaragua’s youth, giving their lives for Nicaragua, fighting for Nicaragua.”

Ortega took the occasion to outline in some detail the long history of solidarity between the Nicaraguan and Chinese revolutions. Referring to a speech just delivered by China’s Ambassador to Nicaragua, he continued: “Our relations with China are historic. Ambassador Chen Xi recalled the years of the triumph of China’s revolution, and they will be commemorating now 75 and us 45. What does this mean? That it took 30 years for the triumph of the Sandinista revolution to follow on, and before the triumph of the Nicaraguan revolution was the triumph of the Cuban revolution, which was immediately intertwined with the People’s Republic of China, when the great Chairman Mao Zedong was at the head of the People’s Republic of China.

“When we were fighting, from the 1960s onwards, against the tyranny of Somoza, we maintained links with the leaders of the Chinese party; compañeras and compañeros of the Sandinista Front traveled there, to China, in those years. And naturally we were inspired by the Chinese revolution, a revolution that had an impact on the world, with such an immense territory and with a division in the country, and the ability that the Chinese leadership, headed by Mao, displayed in uniting that great nation, where there were a great many differences between the provinces. They had to be united, and he united them.

“Then the Chinese revolution came to grow, it came to advance, facing counter-revolutions, and later the Chinese people’s revolution managed to take a great leap forward, such that now, with President Xi Jinping, much wider doors are opening for humanity.”

China, Ortega said, “has been fulfilling its principles, which are revolutionary principles, they are the principles of the Chinese Communist Party, with which we have always maintained relations. Tomás [Tomás Borge, a co-founder and central leader of the Sandinista National Liberation Front, FSLN] was there, in China, in various seminars held there in China in which leaders of the revolutionary parties of Central America took part. Victor Tirado [another historic Sandinista Commandante] had also been there before.

“And China today, is really serving as a compass, pointing the way which other nations share as well, that Planet Earth cannot continue to live under the boot of empires which accumulate wealth at the expense of developing peoples, crushing them, invading them, murdering them. This has to change, and it will surely have to change, because every day we find more countries defending these positions.”

Having praised the cultural performances at the celebration from indigenous and Afro-descendant peoples on his country’s Caribbean coast, Ortega referred to the next tranche of 1,000 buses that will be delivered from China, saying that, “we guarantee some buses for the Caribbean coast, so that they reach Bluefields and reach Bilwi, so that they reach the Mines Region; that is, that the embrace of solidarity from the Chinese people reaches the Miskito peoples, the Ramas, the Afro-descendant population, the Mayagna, the Garifuna. May this embrace of solidarity from the Chinese people reach all these communities, because now the highways are there, and the highways are still advancing. So, there should be no problem now for these buses to circulate on the Caribbean coast.”

He went on to recall his own state visit to China in 1986, where, “we managed to meet as the brothers and sisters that we are.” However, “in the 1990s the neoliberal politicians imposed by the Gringos came along, and the first thing they did was break off relations with the People’s Republic of China.”

After the struggle against three consecutive neoliberal governments, “we returned to government, always in communication with the People’s Republic of China, looking for the moment when we could normalise relations again. We have been united in our struggles, in the battles that the Chinese people have been waging to improve their conditions, to strengthen themselves in all fields, to stand in solidarity with the peoples of Asia, Africa, Latin America, with the peoples of the world.”

Four days after this speech, on July 19, Nicaragua celebrated the 45th anniversary of the victory of the Sandinista people’s revolution. Tens of thousands of Nicaraguans were joined by government delegations from numerous countries, including Algeria, Angola, Belarus, Burkina Faso, China, Cote d’Ivoire, Cuba, Ghana, Honduras, Iran, Kuwait, South Ossetia, Palestine, Qatar, Russia, South Africa, United Arab Emirates, Venezuela, Vietnam and Zimbabwe, along with solidarity delegations from numerous other countries, to hear President Ortega make another important speech. A special guest was the legendary Palestinian revolutionary Leila Khaled.

Having referred to the historic and decisive support rendered by the Soviet Union in the first period of building a new society in Nicaragua, and to Russia’s current struggle against the revival of Nazism in Ukraine, Ortega continued:

“And there is another nation with which we have also had historical relations, the People’s Republic of China, which has been bringing progress, benefits and development to the world’s peoples who were colonised and who became independent, but who were then subjugated under the boot of the interests of the powers that had colonised them, leaving those peoples in poverty, with people in misery, people going hungry, people in illiteracy, with infant mortality, in Africa, in Asia. And the People’s Republic of China has been developing a policy bringing benefits to developing countries, without setting any conditions.

“So now the great powers grouped in NATO already have an incipient war which is in the phase of them preparing their own peoples for what they call a threat; that Russia and China are a threat, but then, too, there are the BRICS, where there is India, and they say they too are a threat. That is to say, everything that is a coming together of nations, of countries, where sovereignty is respected, where they reach agreements to achieve better conditions for their peoples, they see as a threat, because the imperialists are used to occupying by force, and then dominating and murdering; and then pointing accusing fingers at us.”

The following articles were originally published by Tortilla con Sal.

Continue reading Daniel Ortega: China is bringing progress and benefit to the peoples of the world