Solidarity Archives - Friends of Socialist China

Global Times interview with Carlos Martinez

What follows below is the full text of a written interview of Friends of Socialist China co-editor Carlos Martinez, conducted by the Global Times.

The interview deals with a wide range of issues, including the New Cold War on China, the nature of Chinese socialism, the Belt and Road Initiative, capitalist versus socialist democracy, and anti-China propaganda in the Western media.

An abridged version was published in the Global Times on 31 August 2023.

Could you please briefly introduce yourself to us? When did you start to study China? And what made you start to be interested in the country?

I’m an author and campaigner from London, Britain, with a longstanding interest in the socialist countries and global anti-imperialism. My first book, released in 2019, was about the reasons for the collapse of the Soviet Union. I was involved in setting up the No Cold War campaign in 2020, and the Friends of Socialist China platform in 2021.

There were two main motivations for me to start studying China. The first comes from being a Marxist and wanting to understand how socialism is constructed in the real world. The second comes from being anti-imperialist and anti-war, and wanting to understand China’s role in the development of a peaceful and multipolar world.

The more I study China, the more I realise how poorly it’s understood in the West. In recent years, the anti-China propaganda in the media has been increasingly intense, corresponding to the rise of the US-led New Cold War. Many people have this absurd idea of China as some sort of authoritarian dystopia that’s intent on taking over the world. Many people believe the media’s disgraceful slanders about the suppression of human rights in Xinjiang, and so on.

China is misunderstood even on the left: lots of people believe that, because China uses market mechanisms, or because there are some very rich people in China, that it can’t be socialist any more. But then how do we explain China’s achievements? China has raised living standards beyond recognition; it’s become the world leader in renewable energy; it’s gone from being a poor and backward country to being a science and technology powerhouse; it’s leading the global shift to multipolarity; its life expectancy now exceeds that of the US. All this is historic and unprecedented progress, on a scale which has never been achieved by any capitalist country. Why on earth would the left want to attribute these successes to capitalism rather than socialism?

Isabel Crook: An extraordinary life dedicated to the cause of the Chinese people

Following the death of Isabel Crook, veteran communist and staunch friend of China, in Beijing, on August 20, we received the following message from Michael Sheringham.

Michael’s family founded the famous Arthur Probsthain bookshop, which has stood as a family owned and run business specialising in books on Asia, the Middle East and Africa, on London’s Great Russell Street, directly opposite the British Museum, since 1903. He and all his family have been constant and good friends of China.

Michael wrote in part:

“I have seen the obituary for Isabel Crook which you wrote for Friends of Socialist China, which I thought is very good and comprehensive. She did indeed have a remarkably long and full life dedicated to the cause and love of China, where she spent most of her life, with David and her three sons.

“While sad to learn of her passing away, I am gratified to have known her and David and the ‘boys’ since I started living in Beijing in 1972 – or rather since Isabel and David were freed from captivity in early 1973. I, with all the other foreign residents, attended the speech by Premier Zhou Enlai in the Great Hall of the People on March 8th, 1973, when he announced that those foreign friends who had been imprisoned during the Cultural Revolution were all (except Sidney Rittenberg at that time) exonerated and rehabilitated.

“I cherish the times we were able to see Isabel (and David), both in Beijing and London, and we met on many occasions during these years. Isabel came to visit my mother a couple of times in their later years. Isabel and David made great contributions to socialism in China, through their writing, teaching and dedicated work for the revolution.”

Additionally, the Society for Anglo-Chinese Understanding (SACU) wrote on social media:

“SACU is saddened to hear of the passing of Isabel Crook. She died in Beijing in the early hours of Sunday morning, aged 107.

“Hers was an extraordinary life dedicated to the cause of the Chinese people, moved most especially by her compassion for the rural folk. Her experiences and studies spanned from the Chiang Kaishek era to Mao’s revolution and on to ‘reform and opening up’ – she paved the way for many of us from the West to understand the zigs and zags of China’s path. She was a good friend to SACU – as we mourn, we celebrate her life, aspiring to carry on her legacy.”

Many obituaries of Isabel have been published in mainstream newspapers, including in the British newspapers, the Guardian (written by veteran China specialist John Gittings), the Financial Times and the Times; the New York Times; and Canada’s Globe and Mail.

Love China all my life: Isabel Crook’s stories

In this very touching and poignant article, originally published by China Daily on June 1, 2022, Fang Aiqing and Huang Zhiling, assisted by Shen Zaiwang, introduce a biography of Canadian communist Isabel Crook, ‘Love China All My Life: Isabel Crook’s Stories’, published by author Tan Kai that year.

Isabel passed away in Beiing on August 20, 2023, aged 107.

In the book, which took him three years to write, Tan recalls many stories, in particular, of the friendships Isabel maintained over many decades with rural people in Sichuan province, including from the Tibetan, Qiang and Yi nationalities.

China Daily recounts:

“Crook also learned skills from the villagers, but when she saw women spinning wool into yarn by hand, she decided to return to Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province, to buy them a wooden spinning wheel, which they had never seen or heard of before.

“It took Crook at least seven days to travel to Bashinao from her base in Chengdu. Most of the time, she either walked or rode a horse. The route was full of hardships and danger. At one point, Crook and her companions had to traverse a cliff face for several kilometers as the Minjiang River flowed tempestuously below.

“They also relied on a zipline to cross the river. In one photograph in the book, Crook is captured clinging to the line, laughing with great excitement as she carries the spinning wheel.”

It was also in Chengdu that she first met the man who was to become her husband and lifelong companion, David Crook (1910-2000), described as a committed communist from Britain, as well as a friend of the famous Canadian communist and surgeon Norman Bethune.

“David proposed to her on the Luding Bridge, which spans the Dadu River－a revolutionary site he had always wanted to visit after reading about in Edgar Snow’s book Red Star Over China.”

On October 1, 1949, the Crooks were on the viewing stand in Tian’anmen Square for the founding ceremony of the People’s Republic of China, but Isabel had to return home for a short period to feed their eldest son, who was less than two months old.

Symbolising the couple’s deep attachment to China, China Daily writes:

“Even though David Crook was wrongly imprisoned for more than five years and his wife’s freedom of movement was restricted for three years during the ‘cultural revolution’ (1966-76), the couple didn’t leave China and continued their efforts to support the nation’s development.”

Tibetan woman Yangzom, 94, who comes from a rural area of Sichuan province, remembers learning the nursery rhyme Row, Row, Row Your Boat in English more than 80 years ago.

She mastered the words when Canadian expatriate Isabel Crook carried out an anthropological field study of Tibetan households in Yangzom’s home village of Bashinao, Aba Tibet and Qiang autonomous prefecture, Sichuan province, in 1939.

Details of Crook, who was born in 1915, visiting Tibetan and Qiang villages are recorded in Love China All My Life: Isabel Crook’s Stories, a biography recently published by author Tan Kai.

Arise, Africa! Roar, China!: Black and Chinese citizens of the world in the twentieth century

We republish below a review by Joel Wendland-Liu of the important and fascinating 2021 book Arise, Africa! Roar, China! Black and Chinese Citizens of the World in the Twentieth Century, which explores aspects of the historic linkages between progressive African Americans and the Chinese revolution.

As noted in the review, the book “documents the experiences of five individuals – W.E.B. Du Bois, Paul Robeson, Liu Liangmo, Si-lan Chen Leyda, and Langston Hughes – through the lens of their relations to China, with African America, racism, U.S. government persecution, and anti-imperialist working-class struggles for freedom.”

Joel’s review, originally published in People’s World, summarizes some of the key themes in the book, including the extensive work carried out by Liu Liangmo to promote understanding of China in the US; Paul Robeson’s longstanding and consistent support for the Chinese Revolution; the extraordinary life of Afro-Chinese dancer Sylvia Si-lan Chen Leyda; and W.E.B Du Bois and Shirley Graham Du Bois’s eight-week trip around China in 1959, of which W.E.B. Du Bois wrote: “We saw the planning of a nation and a system of work rising over the entrails of a dead empire.”

Also discussed is Langston Hughes’ famous trip to Shanghai in 1933:

Hughes differed from most Western visitors by refusing to stay within the racist cocoon that comprised the international concession zone in the city. He ate street food, enjoyed Chinese theater, and interacted with working-class Chinese people like humans. While these activities may seem normal today, at the time they set him apart from Euro-Americans who spread racist stereotypes about Chinese people, enforced Jim Crow rules, and typically viewed Chinese people as diseased, dangerous, and untrustworthy. Hughes’s experience in China, along with his political support for the revolutionary struggle, impacted his poetry, novels, and short stories over the next decade or so.

Joel observes that the book “gives new insights into the interactions and political relationships of revolutionary Chinese and African-American intellectuals, pointing frequently to new connections across cultures and languages that deserve even more scholarly scrutiny.”

We have previously carried an interview with the author, Gao Yunxiang.

When the slender, affable Chinese man took the podium in Harlem’s posh Golden Gate ballroom on a late autumn afternoon to denounce three recent lynchings in Mississippi, the audience’s FBI informant perked up. Liu Liangmo, a public speaker employed by United China Relief, a non-partisan charity that raised funds to aid China during a brutal Japanese invasion, proceeded to denounce racism as a system: lynchings, poll taxes, and Jim Crow apartheid. He highlighted white supremacy’s links to fascism and imperialism and called for equality and self-determination for all peoples. The bespectacled Liu took his seat to the applause of several hundred at an event sponsored by the Negro Labor Victory Committee, the Negro Quarterly, and the actor Orson Welles. As a professional public speaker, Liu’s task was to promote a deeper understanding of China to American audiences. In the age before television, public speaking events were among the most important ways an organization that couldn’t afford to make a movie or publish a newspaper could share its ideas. In his nine years in the U.S., Liu believed he had traveled 100,000 miles across most of the country.

Historian Gao Yunxiang is a Professor of History at Ryerson University in Toronto. In this original and well-researched book, Arise Africa! Roar, China!: Black and Chinese Citizens of the World in the Twentieth Century, she documents the experiences of five individuals—W.E.B. Du Bois, Paul Robeson, Liu Liangmo, Si-lan Chen Leyda, and Langston Hughes—through the lens of their relations to China, with African America, racism, U.S. government persecution, and anti-imperialist working-class struggles for freedom. Liu, persecuted by the FBI and the immigration regime, left the U.S. in 1949 to serve as a leader of the Chinese Democratic League, one of the several non-communist parties that continues to serve in the country’s National People’s Political Consultative Conference. He also helped to mobilize the Chinese Christian community in support of resistance to Japanese occupation and the ultimate revolutionary transformation of the country.

Delegation report: On the path of China’s modernisation

We are pleased to republish below a detailed report by Rob Griffiths, general secretary of the Communist Party of Britain, of a recent delegation to China organised by the CPC’s International Department. Rob was the leader of the delegation, which included three delegates from Friends of Socialist China.

Originally published in four parts in the Morning Star, the report is republished here in full. It adds some valuable detail to our report, elaborating in particular on the themes of common prosperity and China’s path to socialist modernisation.

Rob mentions the delegation’s field trips to KingMed Diagnostics and Guangzhou Automobile Company (GAC) in Guangzhou, and reflects on what the delegates learned in relation to people-centred development and the relationship between the private and state sectors of the economy. He notes that KingMed, although a private company, works symbiotically with the state; this was evident in the struggle against Covid-19, with KingMed establishing 670 testing facilities in remote countryside areas. GAC is focusing increasingly on the design and production of electric cars, in line with the country’s overall orientation towards sustainable development. “Its operations in China illustrate how industry is pursuing the course of socialist modernisation set by President Xi Jinping and the CPC, based on consumer-driven, high-quality and eco-friendly development.”

Rob also recalls the delegation’s visit to the National Big Data Exchange and Experience Centre in Guiyang, Guizhou – “just one of several ultra-modern, hi-tech projects that demonstrate the CPC’s commitment to balanced development across China.” Guizhou has long been one of the poorest provinces of China, but it is experiencing rapid advances since being selected to take the lead on big data and artificial intelligence. Rob writes that the centre “indicates how cutting-edge technology can be used to improve traffic flows, protect the environment, enhance the distribution of medicines and even make tax collection more efficient.”

Writing about the delegation’s exchange with the All-China Federation of Trades Unions (ACFTU), Rob describes the role played by the ACFTU in organising 300 million workers across various sectors: “its roles include collective bargaining, workers’ rights protection, lobbying, and offering financial and skill-training support to members.” He mentions that the union has successfully lobbied for a number of important policy changes, including improving rights of migrant workers and supporting those workers negatively affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The author recalls that, at the CPC Central Committee Party School in Beijing, he asked Professor Guo Qiang a question about the absence of women in the top leadership of the CPC – “only 10 of 205 central committee members elected at the 20th party congress last October are women, although they comprise almost one-third of the CPC membership.” Professor Guo responded that this deficit is a topic of discussion inside the party. “Many in the CPC leadership are over 60 and attended university 40 years ago when there were very few female students — itself the result of bad and reactionary elements in traditional Chinese culture, he explained. Huge changes are under way in education, with women filling more than half of all university and college places.”

The delegation was hugely valuable and memorable, and served to significantly deepen delegates’ understanding of the progress of Chinese socialism in the 21st century.

On the path of China’s modernisation

Morning Star, 5 August 2023

FROM June 24 until July 4, the international department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) hosted a delegation representing 11 communist parties and a friendship society from Britain, Ireland, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway, the US, Canada and Australia.

I had the honour of leading the delegation at the invitation of the CPC as we visited the provinces of Guangdong and Guizhou as well as the capital city, Beijing.

Our hosts’ intention was to explain China’s path of “socialist modernisation” and demonstrate the achievements of their country’s system of “socialism with Chinese characteristics.”

Guangdong borders Hong Kong and is China’s most populous province with more than 127 million inhabitants.

Situated at the delta of the Pearl River, the provincial capital Guangzhou was the starting point of the famous maritime “Silk Road.”

Its working class and intelligentsia played a major part in the national democratic revolution of 1911, led by Sun Yat Sen, who remains a revered figure for the Chinese people and the CPC.

Today, this city of 16 million people is a major international port and trading centre, having pioneered China’s “reform and opening up” strategy initiated by former CPC leader Deng Xiaoping in 1978.

Friendship Medal awardee Isabel Crook dies in Beijing at 108

Our dear friend, comrade and mentor Isabel Crook passed away peacefully in Beijing on August 20 at the age of 107 (108 according to the Chinese method of calculation).

Isabel was born on December 15, 1915 in Chengdu, the daughter of Canadian missionaries. From her early years she identified with the Chinese people, especially the rural poor, in their struggle for dignity and liberation. Following studies in Canada, she made her way to Britain, where she met and married David Crook, a member of the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB), who had been a member of the International Brigades in Spain. Isabel, too, joined the CPGB in 1943 and devoted the rest of her life wholeheartedly to the cause of communism.

She and David traveled to the liberated areas of China in 1948 and the country became their home for the rest of their lives. They shared the destiny of the Chinese people and the Chinese revolution, whether in good times or bad, but never lost their faith in the Communist Party of China and the bright future of China’s revolution, nor their passionate commitment to the liberation of working and oppressed people everywhere, but particularly in those countries groaning under the iron heel of imperialism, colonialism and hegemonism. In 2019, President Xi Jinping personally presented Isabel with the Friendship Award, China’s highest honour for foreigners.

Isabel was, and will remain, an inspiration to us and to everyone else who was privileged to know her. We extend our deepest condolences and sympathies to her sons, Michael, Carl and Paul, and to her whole extended family, and many comrades and friends.

The following article, which was originally published in the Chinese newspaper, Global Times, gives a small but poignant flavour of her extraordinary life and of the love rightly cherished for her by the people of China.

On Sunday, Isabel Crook, recipient of the Friendship Medal of China, pioneer in English teaching in China, and International Communist fighter and advisor of Beijing Bailie University, China’s earliest private university, died in Beijing at the age of 108, Beijing Bailie University reported.

Isabel Crook, a Canadian, was born in Chengdu, Southwest China’s Sichuan Province on December 15, 1915. During the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression (1931-45), she plunged into China’s rural development. Later, she went to Britain and married David Crook (1910-2000), who was a member of the Communist Part of Great Britain, and took part in the international anti-Fascist war. She joined in the Communist Party of Great Britain in 1943, and came to China to observe and study the land reform in the Liberated Area of Shanxi, Hebei, Shandong and Henan provinces.

We're extremely sad to learn that Isabel Crook passed away this morning, at the age of 107.

Born in Sichuan in 1915, Isabel's extraordinary life paralleled successive phases of the Chinese revolution, to which she has made an indelible contribution. Her powerful legacy lives on. pic.twitter.com/NEOsiIaipW
— Friends of Socialist China (@socialist_china) August 20, 2023

In 1948, Isabel (as her Chinese friends always call her) was invited to teach at the Central Foreign Affairs School (the forerunner Beijing Foreign Studies University, BFSU) in Nanhaishan village, North China’s Hebei Province in 1948 at the invitation of the Communist Party of China. After the People’s Republic of China was founded in 1949, Isabel had taught in BFSU for more than 70 years, and trained a great number of scholars and diplomats for China.

As a scholar in anthropology and sociology, she wrote several books, including Revolution in a Chinese Village: Ten Mile Inn, and Xinglong Chang：Field Notes of a Village Called Prosperity 1940-1942, in which she observed and recorded the Chinese revolution and development through her own eyes and in her own way to the West and the whole world at large, making an outstanding contribution to China’s foreign friendly exchanges with other countries.

In 2007, she was awarded the title of “Tenured professor emeritus” by Beijing Foreign Studies University, and honorary doctoral degree by Toronto University. She also received other honors such as “One of the Top Ten Meritorious Foreign Teachers” by the Chinese government and the “the Most Influential Foreign Experts at the 40th Anniversary of China’s Reform and Opening-up” in 2016 and 2018 respectively. In September 2019, she won the Friendship Award of the People’s Republic of China, the highest medal of honor in China for foreigners.

Isabel had shown great concern to China’s rural development and dedicated herself to English teaching with numerous students. She died peacefully with her faith for the international Communist cause, and the love for the Communist Party of China and the Chinese people. According to her own will, no funeral will be conducted and her body will be donated for medical research. Our beloved Isabel is immortal!

Report back from a delegation to China

The following is a report by Carlos Martinez on a delegation to China, organised by the CPC’s International Department, that Friends of Socialist China was invited to join. Carlos’s report describes the intensive program of activities that the delegation participated in, as well as detailing some of the discussions and observations on China’s path to modernisation, common prosperity, whole process people’s democracy, rights of migrant workers, and the nature and trajectory of Chinese socialism.

The Third Communist Party Leaders Delegation of North American, Oceanian and Nordic Countries visited China from 24 June to 4 July, at the invitation of the International Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (IDCPC).

Friends of Socialist China were invited to join this delegation, along with the Communist Party of Australia, the Communist Party of Britain, the Communist Party of Ireland, the Communist Party of Finland, the Communist Party (Sweden), the Communist Party of Norway, the Communist Party USA, the Communist Party of Canada (including Le Parti communiste du Québec), the Communist Party of Denmark, the New Communist Party of Britain, and the Communist Party of Great Britain (Marxist-Leninist). We were represented by co-editors Keith Bennett and Carlos Martinez and advisory group member Francisco Domínguez.

The intensive and incredibly well-organised program included meetings with academics, ‘red tourism’, visits to communities and enterprises, cultural activities, and discussions with the IDCPC, the Communist Youth League of China, the All-China Federation of Trade Unions and the Party School of the CPC Central Committee.

The first destination was Guangzhou (capital city of Guangdong Province in southern China), and the first activity was a presentation and Q&A session at the Guangdong Academy of Social Sciences, introduced by its President, Wang Tinghui, and led by Professor Deng Zhiping.

Deng Zhiping gave an overview of China’s approach to modernisation – characterised by common prosperity for all, harmony between humanity and nature, material and cultural-ethical advancement, and peaceful development – and described the leading role played by Guangdong in this process. Historically Guangdong has always been an area associated with trade; indeed it was the starting point of the Maritime Silk Road, connecting China, South and Southeast Asia, Arabia, East Africa and Europe. In the recent era, Reform and opening up started with the establishment of four Special Economic Zones (SEZs), three of which were in Guangdong Province. Today Guangdong’s GDP ranks alongside Italy and Türkiye, and surpassed South Korea in 2021. Its per capita GDP now exceeds 15,000 USD, indicating that it has been able to jump out of the ‘middle-income trap’.

Guangdong’s average life expectancy is now 79.3, and all the province’s social and economic indicators are steadily improving. Enrolment rate in higher education is 58 percent, up from 28 percent in 2010. More than 158 million residents are covered by social security, and inequality is trending downwards. With the focus on rural regeneration, the urban-rural income ratio has narrowed from 2.7 a decade ago to 2.4 today.

Guangzhou has long been a trailblazer in green development, and in recent years there has been a strong emphasis on building a “green and beautiful Guangdong” – pursuing high-quality development which is green and open, based on innovation and sharing. Professor Deng emphasised that “the colour of our further modernisation is green”. Economic activity in the province is increasingly oriented towards renewable energy and electric vehicles, and major efforts are underway to improve public transport and protect biodiversity.

Guo Yezhou meets with Communist Party leaders delegation

The Third Communist Party Leaders Delegation of North American, Oceanian and Nordic Countries visited China from June 24-July 4 at the invitation of the International Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (IDCPC).

Friends of Socialist China were invited to join this delegation, and our delegates were co-editors Keith Bennett and Carlos Martinez and advisory group member Francisco Domínguez. The delegation was led by Robert Griffiths, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Britain (CPB). The other parties represented were:

Communist Party of Australia
Communist Party of Ireland
Communist Party of Finland
Communist Party (Sweden)
Communist Party of Norway
Communist Party USA
Communist Party of Canada (including Le Parti communiste du Québec)
Communist Party of Denmark
New Communist Party of Britain
Communist Party of Great Britain (Marxist-Leninist)

The delegation enjoyed a rich and varied programme in Guangzhou, Guiyang, Zunyi and Beijing. On June 30, it met with IDCPC Vice Minister Guo Yezhou in Beijng, who expressed the CPC’s willingness to deepen exchanges and cooperation and jointly open up a better future for humanity, together with all the parties represented. The below report of the meeting with Comrade Guo was originally published on the IDCPC website.

Friends of Socialist China once again expresses its warmest thanks and appreciation to our comrades in the IDCPC for their kind invitation and wonderful arrangements. We will be carrying further reports on the visit.

Guo Yezhou, Vice-minister of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee (IDCPC), met here today with the 3rd Communist Party Leaders Delegation of North American, Oceanian and Nordic Countries led by Robert Griffiths, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Britain.

Guo said, at present, the central task of the CPC is uniting and leading the people of all ethnic groups of China to build a modern socialist country in an all-round way, achieve the second centenary goal, and advance rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts through a Chinese path to modernization. On the new journey, we are willing to, together with Marxist political parties in North American, Oceanian and Nordic Countries, deepen exchanges and cooperation, and jointly open up a better future for mankind.

Griffiths said he was very happy to visit China at the invitation of the IDCPC. During the visit, he further deepened understanding of the CPC, and witnessed China’s new development and progress. He said, the CPC made outstanding contributions to world peace, security, development, and prosperity. The Marxist political parties in North American, Oceanian and Nordic Countries are willing to strengthen exchanges with the CPC to jointly safeguard world peace and stability.

CPC deepens ties with Central and Eastern European Marxist parties

On June 2, the delegation met with Liu Jianchao, Minister of the Communist Party of China’s International Department (IDCPC). Liu told the visitors that the CPC and the communist parties and left-wing parties from Central and Eastern European countries visiting China this time are all Marxist parties. Both sides should strengthen theoretical discussions and jointly tell the stories of Marxism in the 21st century and the communist parties in our respective countries. And both sides should deepen exchanges and mutual learning in the concept and experiences of party building and state governance, better assist each other in advancing the adaptation of Marxism to the local context and the needs of our times, and explore development paths for socialism. Both sides should also strengthen solidarity and cooperation on multilateral platforms, safeguard common interests, and push relations between China and Central and Eastern European countries as well as China-Europe relations more generally.

Leaders of the various parties said that their visit to China had allowed them to witness the tremendous achievements China has made in the economic, social, and cultural fields, fully demonstrating the superiority of the socialist system and indicating that socialism is not only viable but also represents the future of the world. China’s achievements have provided confidence and inspiration for other countries around the world, and more and more countries hope to strengthen cooperation with China, while more and more political parties hope to enhance exchanges and mutual learning with the CPC on state governance and administration.

The following article was originally carried on the website of the IDCPC.

Liu Jianchao, Minister of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, met here today with a delegation of political parties from Central and Eastern European countries led by Katerina Konecna, Chairwoman of the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia and Member of the European Parliament from the Czech Republic.

Liu said, China and Central and Eastern European countries have a long-standing traditional friendship, and bilateral cooperation has maintained good development momentum in recent years. Inter-party exchanges are an important support for the development of state-to-state relations. The CPC and the communist parties and left-wing parties from Central and Eastern European countries visiting China this time are all Marxist parties. Both sides should strengthen theoretical discussions and jointly tell the stories of Marxism in the 21st century and the communist parties in our respective countries. Both sides should deepen exchanges and mutual learning in the concept and experiences on party building and state governance, better assist each other in advancing the adaption of Marxism to the local context and the needs of our times, and explore development paths for socialism. Both sides should also strengthen solidarity and cooperation on multilateral platforms, safeguard common interests, and push relations between China and Central and Eastern European countries as well as China-Europe relations for further development.

Friendly foreign leaders congratulate Xi Jinping on his 70th birthday

Although not publicly observed in China, President Xi Jinping marked his 70th birthday on June 15. A number of friendly foreign leaders greeted their Chinese counterpart on this occasion.

In his message, top leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) Kim Jong Un recalled that Xi Jinping, with a high sense of responsibility for the party, the state and the people, has devoted himself to the socialist cause with Chinese characteristics for a long time and now enjoys the respect and trust of all the members of the Communist Party of China and the Chinese people.

Thanks to his energetic leadership, Kim continued, the prestige of the Communist Party of China has been further enhanced, the goal of building a comprehensively well-off society successfully attained, and China’s overall national power and international position remarkably strengthened. The message expressed belief that the struggle for the prosperity of China will surely emerge victorious as there are the leadership of Xi Jinping and the Chinese party and people rallied around the Party Central Committee with him as its core.

Russian President Vladimir Putin wrote that: “The importance of your years-long efforts to strengthen the relations of comprehensive partnership and strategic interaction between our countries cannot be overstated. The state visit you made to Russia in March gave a powerful impetus to the further development of our mutually beneficial cooperation in key areas.”

Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko wrote: “As a truly people’s leader of a great country, you have made a significant contribution to maintaining world peace and promoting global progress. The impressive successes of the People’s Republic of China in building a modernized socialist state and reviving the Chinese nation have been made possible thanks to your strategic leadership, which is based on the absolute trust in the Party and genuine service to your people.”

The following articles were originally carried by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), the website of the President of Russia, and the Belta Belarus News Agency.

Additionally, we embed below a short but moving documentary released by CGTN on June 17, depicting President Xi’s devoted and untiring service to the people of China, especially farmers, workers, and those in disadvantaged circumstances, from his teenage years to the present.

Respected Comrade Kim Jong Un Sends Birthday Greetings to General Secretary Xi Jinping

KCNA, 15 June 2023

Kim Jong Un, general secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea and president of the State Affairs of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, sent a congratulatory message to Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and president of the People’s Republic of China, on Thursday.

The respected Comrade Kim Jong Un in the message extended the warmest congratulations to General Secretary Xi Jinping on his 70th birthday.

The message recalled that Xi Jinping, with a high sense of responsibility for the Party, the state and the people, has devoted himself to the socialist cause with Chinese characteristics for a long time and now enjoys the respect and trust of all the members of the Communist Party of China and its people.

Thanks to his energetic leadership, the prestige of the Communist Party of China has been further enhanced, the goal of building a comprehensively well-off society successfully attained and China’s overall national power and international position remarkably strengthened, the message said.

Kim Jong Un in the message said that he is sincerely pleased to see Xi Jinping achieving great successes in the new course of comprehensively building a modern socialist state by leading the Chinese party and people.

The message expressed belief that the struggle for the prosperity of China will surely emerge victorious as there are the leadership of Xi Jinping and the Chinese party and people rallied around the Party Central Committee with him as its core.

The message wished Xi Jinping greater success in his important and responsible work for leading the Communist Party of China, the People’s Republic of China and the Chinese nation.

It sincerely wished him good health and his family happiness.

Birthday greetings to President of China Xi Jinping

President of Russia, 15 June 2023

Vladimir Putin sent greetings to President of the People’s Republic of China Xi Jinping on his 70th birthday.

The message reads, in part:

“The People’s Republic of China has achieved impressive results under your guidance. Its economy is growing steadily, the well-being of the people is improving, and Beijing’s position on the international stage is growing stronger.

Your re-election as General Secretary of the Communist Party of China and President of the People’s Republic of China has reaffirmed your high political prestige and broad public support for your policy.

The importance of your years-long efforts to strengthen the relations of comprehensive partnership and strategic interaction between our countries cannot be overstated. The state visit you made to Russia in March gave a powerful impetus to the further development of our mutually beneficial cooperation in key areas.

I hope to continue our constructive dialogue and close joint efforts on the main issues of the bilateral, regional and international agenda to the benefit of the peoples of Russia and China.

Dear friend, I wholeheartedly wish you health, happiness, prosperity and success in your public activities.”

Lukashenko confident in Minsk-Beijing future fruitful contacts

Belta, 15 June 2023

Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko has sent birthday greetings to Chinese President Xi Jinping, BelTA learned from the press service of the Belarusian leader.

“As a truly people’s leader of a great country, you have made a significant contribution to maintaining world peace and promoting global progress,” the head of state said. “The impressive successes of the People’s Republic of China in building a modernized socialist state and reviving the Chinese nation have been made possible thanks to your strategic leadership, which is based on the absolute trust in the Party and genuine service to your people.”

Aleksandr Lukashenko stressed: “I highly appreciate our friendly and trusting relations. I am sincerely glad that for many years we have been united by a common aspiration to build a fair multipolar world order and to create conditions for comprehensive development of both countries.”

The Belarusian president has said that he warmly recalls the meeting in March 2023 and expressed strong confidence in the continuation of fruitful contacts between Minsk and Beijing to strengthen the all-weather and all-round strategic partnership.

“I have no doubt that China will hold the next Belt and Road international cooperation forum at the highest level. The Republic of Belarus, as the first country in Eastern Europe to join this project, is ready to take an active part in the event this year, to bring new ideas aimed at ensuring harmonious and sustainable development in the Eurasian space, and to provide all possible assistance in the quality implementation of China’s Belt and Road initiative,” the head of state said.

Aleksandr Lukashenko wished Xi Jinping good health, many more years of creative activities and important achievements for the benefit of friendly China.

US anti-imperialist delegation meets with Taiwan Democratic Self-Government League

Delegates from the US Workers’ World Party and the International Action Center visited China in May as part of a program organised by the China-US Solidarity Network.

In this first report on their trip, which was originally published in the Workers World newspaper, Arjae Red reports on the delegates’ Beijing meeting with the Taiwan Democratic Self-Government League. The League is one of eight democratic political parties in China that accept the leadership of the communist party and work alongside it in the governance of the country.

The visitors were briefed on the League’s origins in the Taiwanese Communist Party, which was formed when the Chinese island was under Japanese colonial rule. When the people in Taiwan rose in struggle against brutal repression by the Kuomintang, resulting in the deaths of tens of thousands, the communists were in the forefront of organising and waging the armed resistance. The League was formed in 1947 by survivors, who had been forced to flee to Hong Kong. Today it works for the reunification of China and the well-being of the people in Taiwan.

Workers World Party and International Action Center delegates traveled to the People’s Republic of China in May as part of an educational and political exchange organized by the China-U.S. Solidarity Network. The purpose of the delegation was multifold: to conduct research that brings truth to expose the lies of the U.S. empire, as well as to strengthen international friendships and forge a more resilient global anti-imperialist movement. Among the many stops on this tour was a meeting in Beijing with representatives of the Taiwan Democratic Self-Government League (Taimeng).

One of eight parties in the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, a united front under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, Taimeng works alongside the CPC to formulate the government’s policy in regard to relations between the mainland and Taiwan.

Taimeng holds 13 seats in the National People’s Congress and three seats in the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress. The League consists of members of Taiwanese descent and with connections to Taiwan residents. It supports the reunification of Taiwan with the People’s Republic of China mainland.

The meeting between the Taiwan Democratic Self-Government League and Workers World Party May 14 took place at a time when U.S.-China tensions are at an all-time high. Both parties exchanged friendly messages expressing a common interest in de-escalating the U.S.-led war drive against China, in which Taiwan is used as a pawn by U.S. imperialism.

The U.S. empire promotes Taiwan separatism, despite its stated agreement to the “One China” policy that supposedly forms the bedrock of U.S.-China relations. It simultaneously uses sanctions and other methods of economic warfare, in tandem with military encirclement and weapons imports, to turn the region into a powder keg.

Members of Taimeng brought the delegates from Workers World Party through a tour of their three-story exhibit, showcasing the history of their organization from its inception in 1947, with roots in the Taiwanese Communist Party, to the present day.

Beginning on Feb. 28, 1947, the Kuomintang-led government of Taiwan began massacring people who had become fed up with the brutal administration of the island. Taiwanese communists organized resistance to this KMT violence. Xie Xuehong, a key leader in the Taiwanese women’s movement and founding member of the Taiwanese Communist Party, created a force in Taichung dubbed the 27 Brigade, a communist-led guerilla unit comprising some thousands of fighters.

The violence of the KMT resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of people. In the end, many left forces were violently suppressed and forced off the island. Surviving members of the Taiwanese Communist Party relocated to Hong Kong and formed the Taiwan Democratic Self-Government League. Two years later in 1949, Taimeng witnessed the victory of the communist forces on the mainland and participated in the birth of the People’s Republic of China.

As an ally in the United Front with the CPC, Taimeng works resolutely toward a united China and promotes policies that mutually benefit people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. Su Hui, chairperson of the Taiwan Democratic Self-Government League’s Central Committee, said at a press conference in March: “With the word ‘Taiwan’ in our party’s name, one of our missions is to carry on Taiwan compatriots’ noble tradition of loving our nation and homeland, and try our best to realize the motherland’s reunification.”

Friendly ties between the communists of China and Cyprus reaffirmed

Ties of friendship and solidarity between the communists of China and Cyprus were reaffirmed in a June 1st meeting between Zhu Rui, Assistant Minister of the International Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee (IDCPC), and Nicos Ioannou, Political Bureau member of the Progressive Party of the Working People of Cyprus (AKEL).

Originally founded as the Communist Party of Cyprus, the party assumed its present name due to British colonial repression. AKEL is a major force in Cypriot politics and society. It presently holds 15 out of 56 seats in the Cypriot parliament and two of the country’s six seats in the European Parliament. A former General Secretary of the party, Dimitris Christofias, served as President of Cyprus, 2008-2013.

The below short article originally appeared on the website of the IDCPC.

Zhu Rui, Assistant-minister of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, met here today on the morning with Nicos Ioannou, the member of the Political Bureau of the Progressive Party of the Working People of Cyprus.

Zhu spoke positively of the relations between the two Parties and the two countries, saying that the CPC attaches great importance to the friendly inter-party relations with the Progressive Party of the Working People of Cyprus, and is willing to further strengthen exchanges and mutual learning between the two Parties on policies and concepts, thus jointly promoting the healthy and stable development of the relations between China and the European Union (EU).

Ioannou said that the Progressive Party of the Working People of Cyprus cherishes the traditional friendship with the CPC and stands ready to promote pragmatic cooperation in economy and trade with China, so as to actively contribute to the development of Cyprus-China and EU-China relations.

Carry forward the spirit of Dr Kotnis to strengthen China-India friendship

As part of a tour of South Asian countries in the first week of May, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang visited India to attend the Foreign Ministers Meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), which was held in Goa. Whilst there, on May 4, Qin Gang met with the family members of Dr. Dwarkanath Kotnis (known in China as Ke Dihua), along with representatives of friendship organizations with China and young people from both countries.

Dr. Kotnis was one of a team of five Indian doctors, one of whom had previously served with the International Brigades in Spain, who were sent to help the Chinese people in their war of resistance against Japan by India’s Congress party, then led by Jawaharlal Nehru and Subhas Chandra Bose, after China’s Red Army leader Zhu De had written a request to Nehru on the suggestion of Agnes Smedley, the American internationalist who maintained deep ties with the freedom movements in both countries.

In the spirit of the great Canadian communist, Dr. Norman Bethune, who the team had gone to replace following his death from sepsis incurred while operating behind enemy lines, Dr. Kotnis worked tirelessly, sometimes for 72 hours without sleep. He refused any special treatment, taught himself fluent Chinese, and passed on his knowledge by writing two textbooks on surgery (one uncompleted, he was actually struck by a fatal seizure as he was writing), and becoming a teacher and then the head of the Bethune Medical School.

It was while teaching at the school that he met, fell in love with and married Guo Qinglan, a nurse and nursing teacher. Their son, Yinhua, whose name means India-China, was born just four months before Dr. Kotnis’s death. In July 1942, Dr. Kotnis was admitted to membership of the Communist Party of China.

After Dr. Kotnis passed away on December 9, 1942, from epileptic seizures exacerbated by prolonged overwork, Mao Zedong wrote the following calligraphy in his memory:

“Dr. Kotnis, our Indian friend, came to China from afar to assist us in our war of resistance. He worked for five years in Yan’an and north China, giving medical treatment to our wounded soldiers and died of illness owing to constant overwork. The army has lost a helping hand, and the nation has lost a friend. Let’s always bear in mind his internationalist spirit.”

In meeting with Dr. Kotnis’s relatives, Qin Gang carried on a tradition of senior Chinese leaders visiting India, beginning with Premier Zhou Enlai in the 1950s through to President Xi Jinping in recent times.

Qin Gang said that Dr. Kotnis was a great friend of the Chinese people and an outstanding fighter in the anti-fascist war, who devoted his precious youth and life to the Chinese people’s war of resistance against Japanese aggression. His spirit, Qin continued, is a humanitarian one of saving lives, a heroic one of daring to struggle and not being afraid of sacrifice, and an internationalist one of advocating peace, friendship, and a shared future.

One distinct feature of Qin’s meeting, consistent with the change of generations, as well as the fact that May 4 is celebrated as Youth Day in China, in honour of the anti-imperialist May 4 Movement of youth and students in 1919 that contributed significantly to the founding of the Communist Party of China two years later, was the emphasis placed on the need for young people to inherit and carry forward the spirit of Dr. Kotnis so as to firmly safeguard peace and friendship between China and India.

Noting that the young people of both China and India are full of vitality and are the main force for development in their respective countries, Qin Gang called on them to promote people-to-people exchanges and to explore a path for the two major neighbors to coexist in peace, get along in amity and seek rejuvenation together.

He also urged the youths to promote bilateral cooperation for mutual benefit and to boost mutual trust, so as to jointly safeguard the common interests of developing countries and uphold international fairness and justice.

The following articles were originally published by the Chinese Foreign Ministry and the Xinhua News Agency.

Qin Gang Meets with Relatives of Dr. Dwarkanath Kotnis and Representatives of Chinese and Indian Young People

On May 4, 2023 local time, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang met with relatives of Dr. Dwarkanath Kotnis and representatives of China-India friendship organizations and Chinese and Indian young people in Goa, India.

Qin Gang and relatives of Dr. Kotnis visited the photo exhibition of Dr. Kotnis’ life. Qin Gang said that Dr. Kotnis, a great friend of the Chinese people and an outstanding fighter in the anti-fascist war, devoted his precious youth and life to the Chinese people’s war of resistance against Japanese aggression. The spirit of Dr. Kotnis is a humanitarian one of saving lives, a heroic one of daring to struggle and not being afraid of sacrifice, and an internationalist one of advocating peace, friendship and a shared future.

Xi Jinping sends greetings on International Workers’ Day

While facing a range of serious challenges – most notably the Covid-19 pandemic and the rapid escalation in the US’s campaign to encircle, contain and suppress China – the working people of China have continued to enjoy sustained improvement in their living standards. Income, life expectancy, average years of education, access to healthcare, pension coverage, dignified housing, access to culture – life is improving in all of these measures, thanks to China’s socialist democracy, the hard work of the Chinese people, and the dedicated leadership of the Communist Party of China.

The article below, originally published in Xinhua, reports President Xi Jinping’s May Day greetings to China’s working people.

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday extended festive greetings and best wishes to the country’s working people ahead of International Workers’ Day, which falls on May 1.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, sent the greetings and wishes on behalf of the CPC Central Committee.

Xi called on the working people to foster an ethos of work, foster respect for model workers, and promote quality workmanship.

He asked them to work diligently and boldly engage in innovation to make solid progress in advancing Chinese modernization, encouraging them to play a leading role on the new journey to build China into a stronger country and realize national rejuvenation.

Xi urged Party committees and governments at all levels to protect workers’ legitimate rights and interests, earnestly help them solve their problems and difficulties, and promote a social atmosphere in which work and working people are treated with reverence and great respect.

Happy May Day!

"Long live the great unity of the workers of the world."

1957 May Day poster by Ha Qiongwen. pic.twitter.com/o74PTDD00K
— Friends of Socialist China (@socialist_china) May 1, 2023

Daniel Ortega: Nicaragua stands in full solidarity with China against imperialism

We are pleased to publish our English translation of the speech by Daniel Ortega, President of Nicaragua, at the CPC in Dialogue with World Political Parties High-level Meeting held on 15 March.

Ortega passionately denounces the prevailing Western model of neoliberal, imperialist capitalism, which never ceases attempting to impose subjugation, oppression, injustice and insecurity on the peoples of the Global South. What the world needs, he says, is an international order based on “peace, understanding, solidarity, cooperation and coexistence as a human community.”

He warmly commends China for its initiatives towards developing such an international order, and states Nicaragua’s whole-hearted commitment to the multipolar project.

Brother President of the People’s Republic of China and General Secretary of the Communist Party of China
Comrade and companion Xi Jinping
Presidents and General Secretaries and delegates of the political parties of Our America-Caribbean
Brothers, sisters and comrades all:

The neoliberal model of attempted domination and submission of the peoples of the world has run its course.

So say our people, and so says the intelligence that mobilises our political parties and social movements: that we struggle, everywhere, demanding a world free of absurd attempts of subjugation, oppression, injustice and discord, with which they sow terror, insecurity and chaos, to prolong division and the consequent fragility in the face of their obsessions of power and its terrible and inhuman consequences.

In the face of the abominable panorama of insecurity that generates wars, and of imperialist, colonialist and neocolonial stubbornness, the unstoppable rebellion and heroism of our peoples – who struggle to assert our rights, freedoms, sovereignties, cultures, and social and political models – continues to emerge.

The world we want to create must be for peace, understanding, solidarity, cooperation and coexistence as a human community, which shares the advances of science and technology and is on the road to delivering justice and equitable development, that is to say, the good of all.

The commitment and responsibility of the People’s Republic of China and the Communist Party of China, of you, Comrade Xi Jinping – who approaches our countries and peoples with respect, seeking the indispensable communication and constructive coordination to continue building cooperation for the work, wellbing, prosperity and security of all – has been admirable.

The Sandinista National Liberation Front, after decades of guerrilla struggle with implacable struggles against the imperialist enemy that intervened, occupied and assassinated thousands in Nicaragua, we achieved the triumph of the Popular Sandinista Revolution on July 19, 1979.

Our Revolution represents the courage and dignity of so many brothers and sisters who, with heroism and determination, have learnt how to expel imperialist and colonialist invaders, and today, confronted with the same interventionist policies, with forms both different and similar, we continue to fight all the necessary battles to defend peace and the right to live as we deserve, with respectful, fraternal, sincere and solidary relations, with all the peoples of the world and in particular with the countries and governments with whom we share ideals and values in relation to our independences, sovereignties and the right to security and peace.

In that sense, our Nicaragua, which continues to fight against imperial domination, is in full solidarity with all the efforts of the People’s Republic of China, the Communist Party of China, the heroic Chinese people, in every initiative that promotes civilisational growth and joint learning to continue to assume our rights and full freedoms, participating in all just causes and in everything that defines us as what we are: hardworking, courageous, noble peoples, and firm and consistent defenders of peace, justice and development, in a multipolar, respectful world of recognised and considered cultures, in the advances towards an ever greater integration of thoughts and ways of life that strengthen our commitment to unity, civilisation and prosperity.

The Sandinista National Liberation Front proudly participates in this important event and is grateful for the initiative and the announcement by Brother President and Secretary General Xi Jinping, of a permanent project to promote forms of communication and efforts like this, to oppose domination, unipolarity, injustice, and to continue sharing languages and actions that affirm these paths of encounter, fraternity and unity for the common good.

We support and endorse the proposals that you’ve presented, and with full conviction of continuing to work together for life, justice and peace, we congratulate ourselves on our relations, on the harmony and identification of our parties and peoples in all the international forums and meetings where we prioritise light, life and truth.

To conclude, comrade and friend Xi Jinping, allow us to congratulate you – with admiration and affection – on your re-election as President of the People’s Republic of China.

China and progressive Latin America share a project of solidarity

Friends of Socialist China co-editor Carlos Martinez was invited by the World Anti-imperialist Platform to speak on 4 March 2023 at Bolívar Hall, London, alongside the ambassadors of Nicaragua, Cuba and Venezuela, at an event marking the 10th anniversary of the death of comrade Hugo Chávez.

Carlos addressed the accusations so often levelled at China that it is a new imperialist power in Latin America. He gave a brief history of US imperialism in Latin America in the postwar era, and compared that with China’s engagement with the region. He notes for example that, in stark contrast with the US, “China has precisely zero military bases in Latin America and the Caribbean. It has sponsored no coups, waged no wars, imposed no sanctions, and engaged in no destabilisation, economic coercion or propaganda.”

He further noted that Chinese loans and investment are carried out on the basis of equality, consensus and mutual benefit, and bear no relation to the notoriously predatory behaviour of the IMF and the major Western lending institutions. What’s more, China has excellent relations with the major progressive forces in the region, including Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Bolivia.

He concluded by opining that the rationale for these accusations of Chinese imperialism are to “break the inexorable trajectory towards a multipolar world”, and called on the audience to rebuke this slander and join hands with the peoples of the planet in the struggle against imperialism.

We reproduce the text of the speech below.

Since the themes for today are Latin America and the global anti-imperialist struggle, and since I’m here representing Friends of Socialist China, I’d like to talk about the relationship between China and Latin America, and in particular the accusations levelled by certain Western politicians – echoed in the media, and unfortunately also in some parts of the left – that China is a neo-colonial or imperialist force in Latin America.

These accusations have been repeated to such a degree that they’ve acquired the force of accepted truth.

Every US government over the last 20 years and more has sought to sabotage the rising economic and political ties between Beijing and the countries of the region – the US’s “back yard”, or as upgraded by Biden, “front yard”.

And the line they use is, approximately: be careful of those Chinese, they’re imperialist! The US Secretary of State under Trump, Rex Tillerson, directly accused China of being a “new imperial power” in Latin America. Hillary Clinton and Antony Blinken have levelled similar accusations.

Clearly we need a frame of reference. What does modern imperialism look like in Latin America? What examples do we have of a foreign power imposing political and economic domination on the countries of the region?

There are a few well-known examples.

The US-sponsored coup in Guatemala in 1954, which overthrew the popular and democratic government led by Jacobo Arbenz.

The Bay of Pigs invasion of 1961, in which the US trained, supplied, and transported Cuban exiles to overthrow the revolutionary government in Havana.

The long-standing friendship between the Chinese PLA and the South African liberation forces

We are pleased to republish the following article that provides rare detail of the long-standing and sincere support provided by the People’s Republic of China to the armed struggle waged by South Africa’s national liberation movements to overthrow the racist apartheid regime.

It was originally published on IOL (Independent Online), a major South African news website, on August 1 2022, marking the 95th anniversary of the founding of China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and was co-authored by Mbuelo Musi and Cedric Masters, who were respectively members of uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK), the armed wing of the African National Congress of South Africa (ANC), and the Azanian People’s Liberation Army (APLA, formerly known as Poqo), the armed wing of the Pan-Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC). Such collaboration is not only noteworthy in itself – it also enables a more comprehensive account of the totality of China’s long-term commitment to South African liberation.

The authors note that China’s support for the armed struggle dates back more than six decades, to October 1961, following the Sharpeville Massacre, when the apartheid regime killed 65 peaceful protestors, injured many more, and banned the organisations of the liberation movement.

The first group of MK trainees stayed in China from November 1961 to December 1962, in which time they met Chairman Mao Zedong on two occasions. The article notes the significance of the links between the Chinese and South African communist parties in facilitating this relationship. China’s support for MK from its inception was first discussed by Chairman Mao and visiting SACP leaders Yusuf Dadoo and Vella Pillay.

The article also highlights the training received by APLA cadres in the 1970s, which was notable for the evident degree of attention given by the Chinese instructors to the actual conditions and circumstances of South Africa. It also notes that the training provided in China itself, “constituted only a small portion of the PLA’s support”, it being complemented, for example, by training in African countries, including Ghana and Congo (Brazzaville).

In conclusion the authors note that the training provided by China to comrades of both organisations has also benefited the state and non-state institutions they have served since the end of apartheid.

Reading this article one can better understand why President Xi Jinping describes the ties between South Africa and China as a “special bond of comrades plus brothers.”

The occasion of the 95th Anniversary of the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) provides us, former members of the South African Liberation Movement, with a perfect opportunity to reflect on our experience, growth and military careers in the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) since those far-off days of our training by PLA instructors.

The training also benefited those who pursued civilian careers in democratic South Africa and elsewhere. Mbulelo Musi, National Political Commissar of MK Liberation War Veterans (MKLWV) and Major-General (Retired) Cedric Masters a former APLA operative recount the long-standing relations between the PLA and South African freedom fighters.

The politico-military relations between the People’s Republic of China and the ANC-led MK would be over 60 years today, dating back to October 1961. Historically, it was in October 1961 in China that these military relations began. This was after the then apartheid cruel minority system had unleashed brutal repression and banned all forms of protests.

It had just committed a massacre in Sharpeville, which led to the killing of over 65 people, and the injury and arrests of many. Organisations of the people such as the ANC and the PAC were banned and were thus forced to declare the armed Struggle against the racist regime. The apartheid colonial system had declared war against the majority of the people of SA.

Telling the truth about China, and learning from China’s example

We are pleased to publish the text of a speech by Eben Williams, a Glasgow-based member of the International Committee of the Young Communist League (Britain), given on 17 December at the second of two online seminars on the theme ‘The 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and its World Significance’, organised jointly by Friends of Socialist China and IDCPC.

Eben discusses the significance of the 20th Congress, in particular its relevance to young communists in Britain, contrasting Xi Jinping’s work report with the political pronouncements of Britain’s political leaders. The work of the CPC Congress reflects a profound orientation towards, and dedication to, meeting the needs of the masses of the people. The CPC’s adherence to the mass line couldn’t be more different to British parliamentary politics under the dictatorship of capital.

Eben calls on the progressive movement in Britain to learn from China’s experiences, to tell the truth about China, to take inspiration from the achievements of the Chinese people, to unite with Chinese people in the global struggle against imperialism, and to “redouble our efforts to strengthen the anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist resistance here at home.”

First of all, a warm hello to our comrades from the International Department of the Communist Party of China and a big thank you to Carlos and Keith and all of our comrades at Friends of Socialist China for the invitation to join this important discussion on the 20^th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and its world significance. I hope to give a few of my own thoughts from watching the congress, the perspective of young communists in Britain that have grown up watching the rise of China, and a small call to practical action.

As communists, our work is obviously very broad, and we do all kinds of different things to help build power for the working class where we live, but one of the areas of our work that I’m most interested in is our work building relationships with other working class and communist organisations around the world through our membership of the World Federation of Democratic Youth and through our International Department. This includes both the Communist Party of China and its youth wing, the Communist Youth League.

Recently, comrades from the CYL invited us to watch the opening ceremony of the 20^th National Congress online, together with them and other comrades from around the world. Many of our members are inspired by the Chinese socialist project and this was an exciting opportunity to say the least, like staying up until 3am to watch some kind of communist Superbowl of historic importance.

I was astounded by the scale of it, with more than 2,200 party delegates, representing over 96 million party members, representing over 1.4 billion Chinese citizens, all gathering together at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing to chart out the country’s future in one of the most advanced democratic exercises in the world.

I was moved by the Party’s commitment to ceremony and to its history, honouring the fallen martyrs of the revolution in a minute’s silence, including comrades Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, Liu Shaoqi, Deng Xiaoping, Zhu De, and Chen Yun.

Miguel Díaz-Canel signs the book of condolence for Jiang Zemin

The following report was published in Spanish on 9 December 2022, on the website of the Communist Party of Cuba. It has been translated into English by Friends of Socialist China.

At midday on Friday, during a break in the work session of the Fifth Plenary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba, First Secretary and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, arrived at the embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Cuba to sign the book of condolence opened there following the death of Jiang Zemin on 30 November.

“In the name of the Cuban people, Party and Government, we express our heart-felt condolences on the death of former General Secretary and former President Jiang Zemin,” wrote the Cuban dignitary, who on December 1 had decreed an official mourning in the country on the occasion of the death of the Chinese party leader.

He added: “We deeply lament the physical departure of a dear friend of Cuba, a prominent statesman, an outstanding communist and defender of the socialist cause in China and worldwide, whose exceptional political and humanist principles we will never forget.”

“With all respect and admiration,” President Díaz-Canel closed his message; that same respect and admiration manifested for years towards the leader of that friendly nation and which is recognized by generations of Cubans.

People’s diplomacy: extending solidarity and addressing the common tasks facing humanity

On November 15, the China NGO Network for International Exchanges (CNIE), which works under the guidance of the International Department of the Communist Party of China (IDCPC), organised an online and offline international seminar on the theme, ‘Enhancing International Civil Society Solidarity and Cooperation to Build a Better World for All’.

The seminar aimed to enable international civil society to have a better understanding of the CPC’s 20th National Congress and to contribute to the building of a community with a shared future for humanity.

FoSC Co-Editor Keith Bennett was invited to deliver a speech. In his contribution, Keith stressed that a key theme of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s report to the party congress was the need for a people-centred approach. He linked this to the concept of people-to-people diplomacy put forward by late Premier Zhou Enlai and how this related to our tasks today.

We publish Keith’s speech below. The other speakers were:

Chen Zhou, Vice-Minister of the IDCPC
Hassan Ghafourifard, Former Vice President of Iran and Chairman of the Foundation for Islamic Development
Ek Sam Ol, Member of the Standing Committee of the Cambodian People’s Party and President of the Cambodia-China Friendship Association
Zuo Peng, Dean of the Marxist Theory Research Institute, Central Institute of Socialism
Ms. Zuliyati Simayi, Delegate to the 20th CPC National Congress, Deputy Secretary of the CPC Kashi University Committee, and Vice President of Kashi University
Yu Ruofei, Delegate to the 20th CPC National Congress, Leader of the Gansu Blue Sky Rescue Team
Dr. Ezzat Saad, Director of the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs
Zivadin Jovanovic, President of the Belgrade Forum for a World of Equals
Kassem Tofaili, President of the Arab Chinese Cooperation & Development Association
Russell Chia, President of the Malaysia Organization for International Exchange

Comrades and Friends

I would like to begin by congratulating the China NGO Network for International Exchanges (CNIE) for their initiative in organizing this timely meeting and thank them for inviting me to join all today’s excellent speakers in saying a few words.

It is very appropriate that we hold this event in the immediate aftermath of the Twentieth National Congress of the Communist Party of China. In an article I wrote on the eve of the Congress, I noted that, “considering China’s weight and role in the world, whether in economy, geopolitics or climate change, its decisions will impact in some way on every human being on Earth.”

I would like to highlight three quotations from the Report to the Congress presented by General Secretary Xi Jinping, which I believe set the context for our deliberations today:

“We have promoted the development of a human community with a shared future and stood firm in protecting international fairness and justice.”

“This country is its people; the people are the country.”

And: “Today, our world, our times, and history are changing in ways like never before. The historical trends of peace, development, cooperation, and mutual benefit are unstoppable. The will of the people and the general trends of our day will eventually lead to a bright future for humanity. And yet, the hegemonic, high-handed, and bullying acts of using strength to intimidate the weak, taking from others by force and subterfuge, and playing zero-sum games are exerting grave harm. The deficit in peace, development, security, and governance is growing. All of this is posing unprecedented challenges for human society. The world has once again reached a crossroads in history, and its future course will be decided by all the world’s peoples.”

There is one clear conception at the heart of all this, namely the people. And as Comrade Mao Zedong enjoined us: “The people, and the people alone, are the motive force in the making of world history.”