Category: Solidarity

Salute on the Communist Party of China’s 100th Anniversary

We are republishing this useful article from Workers World outlining the history of the Communist Party of China and calling on progressives and anti-war activists in the West to oppose the US-led New Cold War.

Workers World Party, founded in 1959, is a Marxist-Leninist party in the U.S. From its beginning, Workers World has been a staunch supporter of the 1949 Chinese Revolution, with great appreciation for the guiding role of the Communist Party of China in that revolution. As a revolutionary working-class party in the center of world imperialism, we are determined to defend all the gains of our class on a world scale. We intend to make the following essay saluting the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China available to readers in the United States, so we have included some history not widely known in the U.S. that shows the differences between the U.S. and China. 

For 5,000 years, China was one of the world’s most advanced societies in culture, art and technology. It came under attack in the 18th and 19th centuries from powers whose rapid capitalist development gave them a temporary advantage in military and industrial power. This advantage led to several hundred years of the colonial looting of China and much of East and South Asia. Unequal treaties and military occupation reduced China to a country of staggering poverty, famines, social chaos, enforced underdevelopment and wars.

Most people brought up in the United States know little of the past intervention by the U.S. and other imperialist countries into China. They are unaware that, in the 19th century, armed units from the U.S., Britain, France, Germany and Japan imposed their will on Chinese cities. The U.S. Navy had fleets of armored ships patrolling Chinese rivers and coastal waters. This most brutal gunboat diplomacy imposed unequal treaties to reinforce their military occupations, while making China pay these imperialist countries huge indemnities. With U.S. participation, Britain unleashed two Opium Wars on China to enforce its “right” to sell opium. They called it “free trade.” 

When students mobilized against Chinese rulers who were compliant to the imperialists, they were repressed. A nationalist movement grew. Until 1921, despite the courage of its young participants, they were unable to coalesce into a movement that could mobilize the masses of people — one-quarter of the world at that time — and liberate China. 

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Tribute to Dennis Etler (1947-2021)

This tribute to Dennis Etler was written by Rebecca Chan, Kassem Tofailli, Swan Oneswan, Michael Trinh, Luciana Bohne, and first appeared on the Xi Jinping – China’s Exceptional President Facebook page, of which he was the founder.

With what words to mourn Dennis Etler, who died so suddenly and unexpectedly on 3 June 2021?

As his moderators on the page, Xi Jinping–China’s Exceptional President, we are at a loss to express our sadness at the passing of the founder.

We, therefore, seek solace in remembering and honoring his thought, life, and work.

The sheer scope of Dennis’ interest in China, past and present, and his exceptional command of what he knew, continues to humble us–as do his knowledge of historic detail and his extraordinary powers of synthesis in his essays and articles.

Dennis was an academic. He held a doctorate in anthropology from the University of California, Berkley, and conducted archaeological and anthropological research in China throughout the 1980s and 1990s.He taught at the college and university level for over 35 years.

But, he was the sort of teacher committed not only to his profession but also to the social good. This drew him to China, where he saw great strides in human progress.

In his retirement, he founded the discussion page Xi Jinping–China’s Exceptional President.. He worked tirelessly until it grew to number 35,000 members–and he valued and took pride in the membership’s active contributions.

On the page, he showed what true leadership entails: modesty, integrity, respect, and caring. As many of you know, he was solicitous to questions, queries, and suggestions. He had the personal style of the compassionate comrade.

For that is what Dennis was before anything else–a comrade. He carried a colossal amount of work on his back, and yet he always found time for the personal.

He founded the page originally to provide a forum for discussing the Marxist-Leninist philosophy of Xi Jinping, at a time when the socialist character of China’s government was an object of derision among many Western leftists. In fact, Xi Jinping was steering the Communist Party of China back to ideological origins and founding principles.

As under Xi’s leadership, the party rid itself of corrupt and ideologically dodgy officials and grew more compact and unified, China grew stronger, more self-determined, more decisive.

Xi’s visionary Belt and Road initiative, launched in 2013, finally alerted the Western powers that China was not likely to be destabilized by internal forces, guided from abroad. At this point, the Western powers began their false propaganda war on China.

Dennis’ original focus for the Xi discussion page necessarily shifted from ideology to combating disinformation, as the most immediately imperative defensive front.

This necessary shift, conditioned by facts on the ground, is an example of Dennis’ own Marxist practice and, too, the reflection of his learning from China’s theoretical “socialism with Chinese characteristics.” Original intentions are fine, but changing reality necessitate adaptations.

Dennis, in recent months, was invited to become a correspondent for CGTN. The articles he wrote for CGTN revealed to readers the dark side of American history, a necessary counter-narrative to Washington’s relentless assaults of painting China as abuser of human rights.

In addition, Dennis conducted interviews for Iran’s PressTV, looked forward to projects that would extend the reach of the Xi page to embrace and affect more and more people in their quest for consciousness of the turn that history was taking humankind.

For Dennis, If China was the center of change, humanity was the horizon.

Dennis was an internationalist. That is why the Xi page is so rich, so appreciative of the global diversity of its members.

It remains for us to conclude that we, the moderators, are determined to continue his legacy; to keep the page going, to serve the members what they need and want to know.

Above all to be sharers in common work.

To Dennis: you are not gone, dear comrade. People like you never die. They live in the consciousness of people whose minds they have changed and caused to be alive with thirst for truth and justice.

To Dennis’ family: our deepest sympathy and condolences.

To the members: the long march continues. Dennis is with us and leads us still.

Rest in power, Kenneth Kaunda (28 April 1924 – 17 June 2021)

Kaunda was a key leader of the North Rhodesian struggle for liberation from British colonialism, first president of Zambia, lifelong friend of socialist China, and personal friend of Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai and Deng Xiaoping.

China helped us to struggle for our independence. China helped many other countries in Africa to get their independence. Now they are working with us to help us develop our economies. That’s what China is doing, helping us, as friends, genuine friends.

Kaunda affirms China’s contribution to Africa

Dennis Etler, rest in power

We deeply regret the sudden loss of Dennis Etler, a committed Marxist-Leninist and friend of China for half a century.

In addition to his academic research in the field of anthropology (including some fascinating projects in China), Dennis has written extensively for CGTN, China Daily, PressTV, and other media outlets. He is well-known online for launching the Facebook group Xi Jinping – China’s Exceptional President, the largest pro-PRC social media community outside China.

He will be sorely missed, but his work lives on.