Speeches Archives - Friends of Socialist China

Xi Jinping at SCO summit: “The trend toward a multipolar world is irreversible”

From August 30 to September 3, Chinese President Xi Jinping attended the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit 2026 in Bishkek, capital of Kyrgyzstan and paid a state visit to the country followed by one to Egypt.

On the morning of September 1, President Xi attended the 26th meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the SCO.

The meeting was chaired by President Sadyr Zhaparov of Kyrgyzstan, the current holder of the rotating presidency of the SCO, and attended by leaders of SCO member states, including President Aleksandr Lukashenko of Belarus, Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India, President Masoud Pezeshkian of Iran, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev of Kazakhstan, Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif of Pakistan, President Vladimir Putin of Russia, President Emomali Rahmon of Tajikistan, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev of Uzbekistan, and Secretary General Nurlan Yermekbayev of the SCO.

Xi Jinping delivered a speech on the theme, “Toward Higher Quality Development of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.”

He pointed out that this year is the 25th anniversary of the SCO: “Twenty-five years ago, reckoning with the hard lessons of the Cold War, confronting the real threats from terrorist, separatist and extremist forces, and heeding the earnest aspirations of the world for peace and development, countries in our region came to a prevailing consensus on upholding sovereignty, security, and development interests. The SCO was founded in this context, and it has shown increasingly stronger vigour and vitality. Over the past 25 years, the SCO has travelled an extraordinary journey. Its biggest achievement is that it has steadily grown into a new type of regional cooperation organisation with the largest land area and population and enormous development potential. Its most valuable spiritual asset is that it pioneered, and has since followed invariably, the Shanghai Spirit of mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality, consultation, respect for diversity of civilisations, and pursuit of common development. Its most important experience for cooperation is that it has found the right way of coexistence featuring non-alliance, non-confrontation and not targeting any third party, enabling regional countries to build a common home together. Twenty-five years later today, transformation not seen in a century is accelerating across the globe. The rivalry is intensifying between dialogue and confrontation, win-win and zero-sum, and multilateralism and unilateralism. The shadow of war continues to haunt the world. At such a crossroads with humanity’s future at stake, the SCO should step forward to shoulder its historical responsibility and steer the course for the future.”

In this regard, President Xi put forward four points:

Staying committed to putting development first and opening up the prospects for shared prosperity.
Staying committed to taking security as a key goal and fostering an environment of common security.
Staying committed to a people-centred approach, and cementing the foundation for everlasting friendship.
Staying committed to dialogue and consultation, and striving for more equitable and orderly governance. “We should always advocate that all countries, regardless of their size, are equal, and that regional affairs should be discussed by all countries to bridge differences and build consensus, properly handle differences through dialogue and consultation, and meet common challenges through multilateral collaboration.”

Leaders of the SCO member states signed and issued the Bishkek Declaration on the 25th Anniversary of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and approved a large number of other agreements and documents.

In the afternoon of September 1, President Xi attended the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Plus Meeting and delivered an important statement entitled “Jointly Advocating an Equal and Orderly Multipolar World and Making Global Governance More Just and Equitable”.

He pointed out that the meeting focuses on strengthening the role of the United Nations and building a multipolar world, and it demonstrates SCO’s commitment to reforming and improving global governance as required by our times. “Currently, major changes unseen in a century are accelerating across the globe. Hegemonism, unilateralism and protectionism are resurging against historical trends. Nevertheless, the overwhelming majority of the world do not condone power politics, conflict and confrontation, or isolation and backwardness. What they want instead is to hold a place on the world stage through national development and international cooperation. In recent years, the rise of the Global South is driving a profound shift in the international balance of power. The trend toward a multipolar world is irreversible.”

Xi stressed that as a responsible major country, China advocates for an equal and orderly multipolar world. Sovereign equality and mutual respect are fundamental principles. “Mutual benefit, win-win, and inclusiveness are the way forward for development. We should ensure equal rights, equal opportunities and equal rules for all countries, regardless of their size, strength and wealth. As an important part of a multipolar world and a key driving force behind it, the Global South countries ought to have greater representation and voice in international affairs. We should promote the common values of humanity, reject double standards, exceptionalism, foreign interference, bullying and the law of the jungle, and advance the rule of law in international relations. Major countries in particular should take the lead in observing international norms and honouring the rule of law, and work together to tackle global challenges. We need to uphold the principle that world affairs should be discussed by all, and international norms should be set by all. The authority and vitality of the UN need to be restored.”

Xi pointed out that after a 25-year journey, the SCO has successfully set a stellar example in conducting relations among big countries, among neighbours, and among countries of different sizes. It has successfully brought together half of the world’s population and a quarter of the global economy, generating strong driving forces for development. A more united and vibrant SCO is fully capable of making greater contributions to a multipolar world.

To this end he put forward three points:

We should advance common prosperity in the vast continent straddling Asia and Europe with the SCO Strength.
We should promote the development and rise of the Global South through the SCO Wisdom.
We should guide the reform and improvement of global governance through the SCO Action.

He concluded: “Let us take the people-centred and action-oriented approach, jointly advocate an equal and orderly multipolar world, make global governance more just and equitable, and build a community with a shared future for humanity.”

The meeting was chaired by President Sadyr Zhaparov of Kyrgyzstan, the current holder of the rotating presidency of the SCO, and attended by leaders of SCO member states, along with leaders of other countries invited, including Mongolia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Egypt, Laos, Türkiye, Vietnam, and Togo, and heads of international and regional organisations including UN Secretary General António Guterres.

Xi Jinping’s speech at the gathering commemorating the 100th anniversary of the birth of Comrade Jiang Zemin

On the morning of August 17, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, the State Council, the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, and the Central Military Commission held a grand gathering at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the birth of the great Marxist, proletarian revolutionary, politician, military strategist, diplomat, and outstanding leader of the great cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics, Comrade Jiang Zemin. Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, President of the country, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission, attended the conference and delivered an important speech.

The following is the full text of the speech. It was published in Chinese by the Xinhua News Agency and has been machine translated and then sub-edited by us.

Comrades and friends,

Today, we gather solemnly to commemorate the centenary of Comrade Jiang Zemin’s birth, deeply commemorate his great achievements, deeply study his noble character, and inspire the entire Party and people of all ethnic groups across the country to continuously advance the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

Comrade Jiang Zemin is an outstanding leader recognised by the entire Party, the military, and people of all ethnic groups nationwide, enjoying high prestige and outstanding leadership, a great Marxist, a great proletarian revolutionary, politician, military strategist, diplomat, a long-tested communist fighter, an outstanding leader in the great cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics, the core of the Party’s third generation central leadership collective, and the main founder of the important thinking of the ‘Three Represents’.

A hundred years ago today, Comrade Jiang Zemin was born into a patriotic intellectual family in Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province. From his youth, he was determined to pursue truth and actively participated in patriotic and progressive student movements. In April 1946, he joined the Communist Party of China, dedicating his life to the cause of the Party and the people.

After the founding of New China, Comrade Jiang Zemin worked successively in enterprises, research institutes, and national ministries, fulfilling his duties and working diligently in every position, dedicating his passionate years to the cause of socialist revolution and construction. In the early days of reform and opening up, Comrade Jiang Zemin served as Deputy Director and Secretary-General of the State Administration of Import and Export and the State Foreign Investment Administration Commission, and later as First Vice Minister and Minister of the Ministry of Electronics Industry, making extensive pioneering work in reform and opening up. At the 12th National Congress of the Communist Party, he was elected as a member of the Central Committee.

In 1985, Comrade Jiang Zemin was appointed Deputy Secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee and Mayor. In 1987, at the First Plenary Session of the 13th Central Committee, he was elected as a member of the Central Political Bureau and served as Secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee. During this period, Comrade Jiang Zemin led the broad masses of cadres and people in Shanghai to boost morale and courageously explore, led the formulation of Shanghai’s economic development and urban construction plans, promoted Pudong’s development and opening up, and made outstanding contributions to advancing Shanghai’s reform, opening up, and socialist modernisation. At the turn of spring and summer in 1989, China experienced serious political turmoil. Comrade Jiang Zemin resolutely supported and implemented the correct decisions of the Party Central Committee, effectively maintaining stability in Shanghai.

In June 1989, at the Fourth Plenary Session of the 13th Central Committee, Jiang Zemin was elected as a member of the Politburo Standing Committee and General Secretary of the Central Committee. In November of the same year, the Fifth Plenary Session of the 13th Central Committee decided to make him Chairman of the Central Military Commission, forming the third generation of the Party’s central leadership with Jiang Zemin at its core.

DPRK’s solidarity with China and Cuba has socialism as the core

The following is the text of a speech given by Keith Bennett to a recent public meeting on the theme of ‘The Importance of Solidarity with the DPRK and its People in Today’s Global Situation’.

Keith concentrates his remarks on two aspects of this question. First, the recent developments in the comradely relations between the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and the People’s Republic of China, which Kim Jong Un stresses have socialism as their core, as illustrated by Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s state visit to the DPRK in June 2026 and subsequently by Kim Jong Un’s greetings on the 105th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China.

Second, Keith analyses a 1968 article written by DPRK founding leader Kim Il Sung marking the first anniversary of the death of Che Guevara, noting in particular its continuing relevance to understanding the vital need to defend the Cuban revolution and its relationship to the situation in Latin America as a whole.

Chinese Embassy in Canada marks the 105th anniversary of the CPC

On July 3, 2026, the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Ottawa, Canada, organised a Roundtable Discussion to celebrate the 105th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, under the theme, ‘Working Together to Build the China-Canada New Strategic Partnership’. In his opening remarks, Ambassador Wang Di highlighted that throughout its 105-year history, the CPC has been and remains the backbone of all advances in China. This includes the period of reform and opening up. As part of the development of modern China based on socialism with Chinese characteristics, the CPC, he continued, has changed the future and life of all Chinese people and has always stood on the right side of history. On the international stage, the Ambassador highlighted, among other points, the Chinese notion of a shared future for world peace. He stated that this gathering is taking place in the context of the new China-Canada Strategic Partnership, an important milestone since China and Canada first established diplomatic relations in 1970. The following guests participated in the roundtable:

Victor Oh: former Canadian Senator;
Warren Bethune: President of the Canada-China Friendship Association in Toronto and a relative of the legendary Canadian internationalist Dr. Norman Bethune;
Arnold August: author and journalist, who is a contributor to this website and active participant in the work of Friends of Socialist China in North America;
Dan Donovan: Publisher and Editor-in-Chief, Ottawa Life Magazine;
Julian Karagusian: Visiting Lecturer, McGill University, Montreal;
Claire Citeau: Senior Vice-President, Trade and Global Relations, Canadian Meat Council;
Miguel Figueroa: former President of the Canadian Peace Congress;
Maxime Proud: Co-Founder and President, China Canada Futures Foundation;
Alex MacDonald: Member of the Executive of the Ottawa Club of the Communist Party of Canada;
Lu Hongmin: Chairman, Board of Directors, Federation of Ottawa Chinese Canadian Community Organisations;
Deng Jun: President of the Canada China Chamber of Commerce;
Chen Chen: Chinese student representative, the University of Ottawa.

In his concluding remarks, Ambassador Wang mentioned the important role of Norman Bethune, about whom everyone in China knows. Other speakers also noted that Bethune was the most famous member of the Communist Party of Canada.

Chinese Embassy in London holds symposium on the CPC and the world

On the morning of July 6, 2026, the Chinese Embassy in the UK held a symposium entitled “The Communist Party of China and the World”, marking the CPC’s 105th founding anniversary.

The event was chaired by Minister Zhao Fei and Ambassador Zheng Zeguang delivered a keynote speech entitled ‘Reviewing the Glorious Journey, Creating New Historic Success, and Jointly Promoting the Building of a Community with a Shared Future for Humanity’.

In his presentation, Ambassador Zheng elaborated on General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important speech at the rally celebrating the 105th anniversary of the founding of the CPC, held in Beijing on July 1.

He described the speech as a political declaration for Chinese Communists to uphold and develop socialism with Chinese characteristics and continuously achieve new victories in Chinese modernisation on the new journey in the new era. It also serves as an important window through which friends from around the world can better understand the CPC.

He said that on the journey ahead, China will study and implement Xi Jinping Thought on Party Building, uphold a correct view of governance performance, persist in exercising full and rigorous self-governance of the Party, and carry forward the Party’s outstanding qualities, thus ensuring that the Party always maintains strong creativity, cohesion and combat effectiveness. Although the road ahead is full of risks and challenges, requiring constant readiness to withstand high winds, strong waves, and even turbulent storms, the CPC has strong confidence and firm resolve, and will remain steadfast and forge ahead with courage to create new historic successes.

Ambassador Zheng noted that while the CPC is committed to seeking happiness for the Chinese people and rejuvenation for the Chinese nation, it is also dedicated to advancing human progress and promoting harmony for the world.

He stressed the CPC’s readiness to engage in dialogue and exchanges and strengthen mutual learning with political parties and governments of all countries on the basis of mutual respect and equality and also briefed the participants on the development of China-UK relations since the beginning of this year.

Following the ambassador’s keynote report, contributions to the discussion were made by the following guests:

Alex Gordon, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Britain (CPB)
Andy Brooks, General Secretary of the New Communist Party of Britain (NCP)
Daniel O’Brien, Vice Chair of the Communist Party of Great Britain (Marxist-Leninist) (CPGBML)
Stephen Perry, Honorary President of the 48 Group
The Right Honourable Lord (Neil) Davidson KC, Baron of Glen Cova, Labour Member of the House of Lords
Sir Mark Hendrick, Labour Member of Parliament and Vice Chair of the China All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG)
Professor Kerry Brown, Director of the Lau China Institute, King’s College London
Keith Bennett, Co-editor of Friends of Socialist China
Kevan Nelson, International Secretary of the CPB
Dr Ali Al Assam, Committee member of Friends of Socialist China
Dr Francisco Dominguez, Committee member of Friends of Socialist China
George Korkovelos, Culture Secretary of the CPGBML

Xi Jinping delivers major speech marking 105 years of the Communist Party of China

On the occasion of the 105th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, a grand commemorative gathering was held in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People on July 1st, at which Comrade Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, President of the People’s Republic of China and Chairman of the Central Military Commission, made an important speech.

Among the key points made by Xi Jinping are:

One hundred and five years ago, amid the great awakening of the Chinese people and the Chinese nation and the close integration of Marxism-Leninism with China’s workers’ movement, the Communist Party of China was born. From that point on, the Chinese people and the Chinese nation had a most reliable backbone, and a China beset by internal turmoil and external aggression and mired in poverty and weakness embarked on an earth-shaking historical transformation.

Over these 105 years, our Party has held fast to its founding mission of seeking happiness for the Chinese people and rejuvenation for the Chinese nation. It has discerned the broad trends of world development, accurately grasped the changes in the principal social contradiction across different historical periods, and united and led the people of all ethnic groups in unremitting struggle. It has achieved the great successes of the new democratic revolution, of socialist revolution and construction, of reform and opening up and socialist modernisation, and of socialism with Chinese characteristics for a new era, writing the most magnificent epic in the several-thousand-year history of the Chinese nation.

Leading the people through magnificent and great struggles, our Party overthrew the three big mountains of imperialism, feudalism, and bureaucrat capitalism, established a New China in which the people are masters of the country, brought a definitive end to old China’s history as a semi-colonial, semi-feudal society, and achieved the historic leap in the people’s lives from inadequate food and clothing, to moderate prosperity in general, and then to moderate prosperity in all respects.

Through the great endeavours of revolution, construction, reform, and the new era, our Party has led the people through countless hardships to successfully open up and stay on the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics, completing in a few decades an industrialisation process that took developed countries several centuries, and producing the twin miracles of rapid economic growth and long-term social stability.

One hundred and five years of unremitting struggle have demonstrated the powerful vitality of Marxism. Our Party has integrated the basic tenets of Marxism with China’s specific realities and with fine traditional Chinese culture, continually advancing the adaptation of Marxism to the Chinese context and the needs of the times, and giving rise to Mao Zedong Thought, Deng Xiaoping Theory, the Theory of Three Represents, the Scientific Outlook on Development, and the Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, thereby greatly enriching and developing Marxism. Today the vigour and vitality of the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics have fully borne out the scientific and truthful nature of Marxism, fully displayed its people-centred and practical character, and fully demonstrated its openness and contemporary relevance.

One hundred and five years of unremitting struggle have profoundly shaped the course of world history. Our Party has always stood on the right side of history and on the side of human progress, and through tireless self-strengthening it has profoundly changed the trends and configuration of world development. Today, as the Party leads the people in advancing Chinese modernisation, it has created a new form of human civilisation and broadened the paths by which developing countries can achieve modernisation. We are working to build a community with a shared future for humanity, contributing Chinese wisdom, Chinese proposals, and Chinese strength to solving humanity’s major problems. Socialist China under the Party’s leadership is widely recognised as a builder of world peace, a contributor to global development, and a defender of the international order.

Our Party has kept firmly in mind the nature, purpose, and goals of a Marxist party, vigorously carried forward the great founding spirit of the Party, and grown ever more resolute through adversity and ever stronger through repeated tempering. Today our Party has grown into the world’s largest governing party with major global influence, enjoying the wholehearted support of the people, serving as the strong core of leadership for the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and proving itself fully worthy of being called a great, glorious, and correct party.

At this moment we deeply cherish the memory of the older generation of revolutionaries such as Comrades Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, Liu Shaoqi, Zhu De, Deng Xiaoping, and Chen Yun, and of Comrade Jiang Zemin, and we deeply cherish the memory of the revolutionary martyrs and people of high ideals who advanced wave upon wave, sacrificing and giving of themselves for national independence, the liberation of the people, the prosperity of the country, and the happiness of the people.

Our Party takes Marxism as a powerful ideological weapon for transforming both the subjective and the objective world; it upholds emancipating the mind, seeking truth from facts, keeping pace with the times, and taking a realistic and pragmatic approach; it works to reveal and apply truth within the movement of social contradictions.

Our Party keeps in mind that this country is its people and its people are the country; it upholds building the Party for the public good and exercising power for the people; it consciously acts on the fundamental purpose of serving the people wholeheartedly; and it stands firmly together with the people, thinking and working as one with them, giving it a solid foundation that no storm can shake.

Our Party cherishes the lofty ideal of communism and is dedicated to the enduring great cause of the Chinese nation; it firmly bears on its shoulders the heavy responsibilities entrusted to it by history and the people; it keeps long-term goals and stage-specific goals unified, sets central tasks in line with changes in the principal social contradiction, and formulates and implements correct lines, principles, and policies, ensuring that it keeps a firm grip on leadership and initiative in the development of its cause.

With a strong sense of history and a broad global vision, our Party has a clear-eyed grasp of China’s national conditions and the themes of the era; it actively recognises, responds to, and seeks change, forging ahead with determination.

It is both willing and able to struggle and has always maintained the conviction of certain victory. Our Party upholds and carries forward the spirit of fearing no sacrifice and fighting valiantly; for the sake of the people, the country, and the nation, and for the sake of its ideals and convictions, it cuts through thorns and presses forward.

It attaches great importance to its own development, resolutely removing every factor that damages the Party’s advanced nature and purity and clearing out every virus that erodes the Party’s healthy body, growing stronger and more capable through revolutionary tempering.

China’s development is at a stage in which strategic opportunities coexist with risks and challenges and in which uncertain and unpredictable factors are increasing, requiring us to be ready at all times to withstand major tests of high winds and rough seas, and even perilous storms. On the new journey, the whole Party must strengthen its sense of adversity and adhere to bottom-line thinking, carry forward the fighting spirit and enhance its capacity to struggle, better coordinate the two overall situations of the domestic and international spheres, coordinate development and security, and improve its ability to scientifically anticipate change, detect risks in good time, and respond effectively to challenges, ensuring that the great ship of China’s rejuvenation cuts through the waves and sails steadily into the distance.

To be firm in confidence and carry the struggle forward, we must continue to promote the building of a community with a shared future for humanity. As the once-in-a-century changes accelerate, the world has entered a new period of turbulence and transformation, and humanity once again stands at a crossroads over which way to go. On the new journey, we must follow the aspirations of the people and the trend of the times, hold high the banner of peace, development, cooperation, and mutual benefit, champion the common values of humanity, promote the building of a new type of international relations, and push forward the implementation of the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, the Global Civilisation Initiative, and the Global Governance Initiative, injecting more positive energy into world peace and development.

Taking the Party’s political building as the overarching principle, we must strengthen Party building in all respects, resolutely wage the tough, protracted, and all-out battle against corruption, and continually enhance the Party’s capacity to provide political leadership, to guide through theory, to organise the people, and to inspire society, ensuring that the Party always remains the strong core of leadership in the historical process of upholding and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era.

The 105-year glorious history of the Communist Party of China is a source of pride, but we must never become arrogant or complacent or come to a halt. By the middle of this century, we are to build China into a great modern socialist country in all respects and achieve the Second Centenary Goal. Time waits for no one. History waits for no one. All comrades of the Party must never forget our original aspiration and keep our mission firmly in mind, we must be modest and prudent and work hard, we must dare to struggle and be adept at struggling, closely rely on and unite with and lead the people of all ethnic groups of the whole nation in forging ahead on the new journey and performing meritorious deeds in the new era, and strive to create new historic glories!

Carlos Martinez: What would Rajani Palme Dutt have made of contemporary China?

The following is the text of a lecture delivered by Carlos Martinez, author of The East is Still Red: Chinese Socialism in the 21st Century and a co-editor of Friends of Socialist China, marking the 130th anniversary of the birth of Rajani Palme Dutt – theoretician, organiser and, for half a century, one of the foremost Marxist minds in the British movement.

Taking as its starting point Palme Dutt’s 1967 pamphlet Whither China?, written at the height of the Sino-Soviet split and a year into the Cultural Revolution, the lecture asks what this towering figure of British Marxism – who died in 1974 – would have made of the People’s Republic today. Carlos tests Palme Dutt’s critique against the verdict of history: on the Cultural Revolution, on the Theory of the Three Worlds, and on the rival conceptions of peaceful coexistence – finding some of it vindicated, and some of it a product of a European Marxism that struggled to fully grasp a peasant-driven revolution.

Confronted with two stubborn facts – that the People’s Republic still exists while the Soviet Union does not – Palme Dutt, who even in 1967 refused to write China out of the socialist camp, would, Carlos argues, have recognised China as the largest and most developed socialist society in history. He would have recognised that in China it is the state that disciplines capital, not the other way round. The lecture closes with a call to carry forward Palme Dutt’s enduring principle: solidarity with a socialist country under imperialist siege, “irrespective of any differences”.

Chinamaxxing in the 1960s and 1970s

The following is the full text of the presentation prepared by our co-editor Keith Bennett for our April 12 webinar on the subject of ‘Socialist Chinamaxxing: How China’s achievements are a product of socialism’. Due to time constraints, Keith previously delivered an abbreviated version of his remarks. The livestream of the webinar and videos of all the speeches as delivered can be viewed here. The video of Keith’s speech is embedded below the text.

We’ve heard some excellent speakers on the present trend of Chinamaxxing.

For my part, I’m going to attempt to give a certain historical and comparative perspective. Going back to the 1960s and 70s. And therefore, if you like, making a case that what we see today is at least Chinamaxxing 2.0, even if the term itself didn’t previously exist.

My focus here is on the cultural and intellectual rather than the party political. Although the background and context are inevitably political.

The late 1960s and 70s were a time of great change in China. Political life was still in tumult, but the mass mobilisations of the Cultural Revolution abated and were curtailed. A stridently revolutionary foreign policy gave way to handshakes between Chairman Mao and President Nixon. And a procession of other western political leaders generally from the right of the political spectrum, such as Britain’s Edward Heath.

But what remained at the time was a sense that China was a remote and somewhat mysterious place. Literally a world away from the West. Few people went there. Besides political considerations on both sides there were also objective factors. Social media and mobile telephony simply did not exist. As late as the mid-1980s, the London-Beijing flight with BA was London-Rome-Bahrain-Hong Kong-Beijing.

Yet the fascination for China in important sectors of western societies belied and overcame the physical and mental remoteness.

The political seeped into the cultural and each impacted on the other.

Barely two months after France had been shaken by the events of May 1968, and four months after demonstrators protesting the American war in Vietnam had clashed with police outside the US embassy in London, the Beatles recorded a track entitled Revolution, composed by John Lennon. Initially released as the B side to the single Hey Jude, it includes the lines:

But if you go carryin’ pictures of Chairman Mao

You ain’t gonna make it with anyone anyhow

Apparently, this was a late addition to the words, being added in the studio, but Lennon said in a promotional clip that he regarded them as the song’s most important lyrics.

They may have been meant to express disapproval, but he had certainly noticed the phenomenon. Moreover, they encountered a backlash.

New Left Review dismissed the song as “a lamentable petty bourgeois cry of fear.” But by January 1971, in a conversation with Tariq Ali, Lennon said of the song: “I made a mistake, you know. The mistake was that it was anti-revolution.” The following year, he remarked: “I should have never said that about Chairman Mao.”

Socialist Chinamaxxing: How China’s achievements are a product of socialism

On Sunday 12 April, Friends of Socialist China hosted a webinar on the subject of Socialist Chinamaxxing: How China’s achievements are a product of socialism.

In spite of several years of intense propaganda and misinformation about China in the media, large numbers of young people in the West are going through “a very Chinese time in their lives”, not least because they are seeing China’s extraordinary achievements in poverty reduction, technological innovation, ecological protection, infrastructure development and more.

This webinar explored how these achievements are a product of China’s social, political and economic system: socialism. The speakers argued that China’s progress would simply not have been possible within a framework of capitalist rule, and that the country’s experience provides a powerful example of the superiority of socialism in terms of delivering for the people and for the planet.

The speakers were:

Li Jingjing (Journalist and political commentator, CGTN)
Tings Chak (Asia co-coordinator, Tricontinental Institute)
George Galloway (Former MP, leader of Workers Party of Britain)
Danny Haiphong (Geopolitical analyst and journalist)
Ben Norton (Editor, Geopolitical Economy Report)
Chen Weihua (Former China Daily EU bureau chief)
Qiao Collective (Diaspora Chinese media collective)
Ileana Chan (Host of the Global Majority for Peace podcast)
Keith Bennett (Co-editor, Friends of Socialist China)
Chair: Carlos Martinez (Co-editor, Friends of Socialist China)

Embedded below is the full event stream, followed by the individual speeches.

China’s solidarity with Venezuela, Iran and Cuba

The text below is an edited version of a talk given by Alex C during a launch event for the book “China Changes Everything” held at the SHAPE (Self Help for African People Everywhere) Center in Houston and online on March 28, 2026.

The speech observes that, as the US escalates its wars of aggression against the Global South – invading Venezuela, bombing Iran and tightening its stranglehold on Cuba – the People’s Republic of China has stood firmly alongside the peoples under attack. Alex C traces China’s concrete solidarity with three revolutionary nations on the frontlines of the struggle against imperialism. In Venezuela, China defended Maduro’s government against US-backed coup attempts, and provided critical economic assistance and diplomatic support.

In Iran, China has been a lifeline, purchasing Iranian oil to offset the impact of sanctions, supplying military components, and building a comprehensive strategic partnership that has fundamentally undermined Washington’s efforts to economically strangle the Islamic Republic.

In Cuba, China has contributed $80 million toward the island’s electrical grid, forgiven substantial debt, and partnered with Havana on an ambitious transition to renewable energy.

Drawing on the lessons of Lenin and Mao, the speech reminds us that “nations which embrace revolutionary socialism can and will endure the onslaught of imperialism” – and calls on those of us in the imperial core to stand with the anti-imperialist camp.

The text of the speech first appeared on Workers World. The text is followed by a video of the full launch event.

Venezuela — like China, Iran, Cuba and so many other countries under siege by the United States — is one of many links in the chain of international proletarian revolution. To paraphrase China’s Chairman Mao Zedong, the Venezuelan people stood up in 1999, proclaiming that from that day forth, they would be the masters of Venezuela’s destiny, not international capital.

Chinese Embassy in London hosts briefing and discussion on Two Sessions

The Chinese Embassy in London hosted a symposium on March 19 for Ambassador Zheng Zeguang to brief on the recently concluded annual ‘Two Sessions’ – of the National People’s Congress (NPC) and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) – held in Beijing, which he had attended as a CPPCC member, and to exchange views in this regard with British friends from various walks of life.

He began, however, with remarks concerning current events in West Asia, which he correctly noted is an issue with which everyone is concerned. The US-Israeli war of aggression against Iran is, he noted, a war that should never happened and Iran had been attacked while negotiations were ongoing; it is a war that does no good to anyone, that had no authorisation from the UN, and that violates international law.

The Ambassador further outlined the ongoing diplomatic efforts to restore peace being undertaken by Foreign Minister Wang Yi as well as by Zhai Jun, special envoy of the Chinese government on the Middle East issue, who was still in the region at time of speaking.

Ambassador Zheng noted that the Two Sessions reviewed and adopted the Government Work Report and the Outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan, setting key priorities for China’s economic and social development in 2026, and providing top-level design for development over the next five years.

They are, he explained, a vivid example of whole-process people’s democracy under the leadership of the Communist Party of China. During the Two Sessions, deputies to the National People’s Congress and members of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference gather in Beijing to deliberate on state affairs. Both the Government Work Report and the Outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan were formulated after extensive consultation with all sectors of society, bringing together the broadest possible wisdom and consensus, and reflecting the shared will of the Chinese people.

Ambassador Zheng identified the scientific formulation and implementation of Five-Year Plans as an important governance experience of the Party and a distinctive political advantage of socialism with Chinese characteristics. Through successive Five-Year Plans, China has worked with perseverance to translate its blueprint into reality, creating the twin miracles of rapid economic growth and long-term social stability. By implementing the 15th Five-Year Plan, China will continue to write new chapters in these two miracles and provide stability and positive energy to the world.

He also pointed out that the world is undergoing growing transformation and volatility. Unilateralism and acts of bullying are on the rise, regional conflicts persist, and the international order is facing serious challenges. The more turbulent the world becomes, the greater the need to promote dialogue and cooperation. China always stands on the side of international fairness and justice and on the right side of history. China stands ready to strengthen cooperation with all countries in implementing the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, the Global Civilisation Initiative, and the Global Governance Initiative, with a view to a community with a shared future for humanity.

Victor Gao: Stop the war on Iran

In an International Manifesto Group webinar held on 1 March, prominent Chinese scholar Victor Gao – Vice President of the Center for China and Globalization – gives a powerful critique of the latest Israeli-US aggression against Iran.

Victor correctly characterises the war launched by Israel and the United States as “a war of aggression and a war of injustice”. He goes on to unambiguously uphold Iran’s right to self-defence:

I listened very carefully to UN Secretary-General António Guterres when he spoke at the Security Council of the United Nations. He condemned the war launched by Israel and the United States against Iran, which I fully support. But he also condemned the military attacks launched by Iran against quite a few countries in the Middle East.

I tend to disagree with Secretary-General Guterres. Why? Because Iran, in my view, has the full right to strike at any military bases, facilities, installations, or military personnel of the United States in other regions in that part of the world—including, for example, in Qatar, the UAE, Bahrain, and so on.

Otherwise, it would be completely odd for Iran to be attacked in such an aggressive manner by the United States and Israel, and yet be expected to sit like a sitting duck under such military attacks – attempts to overthrow its government, probably also to destroy its civilisation – while being bound by the futility of not striking at the military facilities and installations in its neighbourhood, which most likely have been used one way or another in launching this ongoing attack against Iran.

He proceeds to reiterate China’s orientation towards peace and its clear interest in seeing an end to hostilities: “China’s imported oil accounts for about 75 percent of the total oil we consume annually. Much of that comes from the Middle East, and much of it needs to go through the Strait of Hormuz. So we have a vested interest in keeping peace in the Middle East rather than seeing the continuation of the war and the deterioration of the situation.”

Victor concludes with a stark warning:

The US and its allies want to expand. They want to take over land, oil, gas and other minerals from the legitimate possession of other countries. They want to violate sovereignty and territorial integrity. They want to impose war – and this will not be the last war. They want to impose war after war against other countries. If we do not unite to put a stop to this aggression and war, I think they will push the situation – not only involving Iran, or the Middle East, but the whole world – into an abyss of turmoil, chaos, instability, and destruction.

The video of the speech is embedded below.

The US is pursuing a global Monroe Doctrine

The following article is based on a presentation given by Friends of Socialist China co-editor Carlos Martinez at the Latin America Adelante Conference in London on 7 February 2026. The presentation was part of a session on ‘Latin America, the New Cold War and the Rising Global South’, which was also addressed by Sophie Bold (CND General Secretary), Roger McKenzie (Morning Star International Editor) and Fiona Sim (Co-founder, Black Liberation Alliance). The session was chaired by Carole Regan of the Cuba Solidarity Campaign.

Carlos’s presentation focused on the Trump administration’s National Security Strategy and its implications for Latin America, as well as its connection to the US’s longstanding global strategy of encirclement and containment against China. Carlos concludes:

The ruling class is pushing an agenda that is increasingly unpopular and untenable — an agenda of permanent war, economic decline and ecological destruction. We need to push our own agenda: one of peace, multilateralism, solidarity, and the broadest possible global cooperation to confront the existential threats facing humanity.

The Trump administration’s National Security Strategy (NSS), released in late November 2025, has been the subject of widespread comment and a diverse array of interpretations. For those of us concerned with questions of peace, sovereignty and international justice, its most striking feature is its explicit reassertion of the Monroe Doctrine, shifting the focus of US military strategy towards “defending our hemisphere”, with more troops, bases and military operations in the Americas.

US hegemony over the Western Hemisphere is of course nothing new. Since the Monroe Doctrine was first promulgated in 1823, the United States has treated Latin America and the Caribbean as its backyard, overthrowing governments, installing dictatorships, funding death squads and imposing economic subjugation as a matter of routine. But, at least in the post-WW2 era, previous administrations have at least maintained some pretence of respect for international law and the sovereignty of other nations. The NSS does away with any such niceties, declaring that “the United States will reassert and enforce the Monroe Doctrine to restore American preeminence in the Western Hemisphere” and “deny non-Hemispheric competitors the ability to position forces or other threatening capabilities, or to own or control strategically vital assets, in our Hemisphere.”

Multipolarity and Chinese modernisation are distinct concepts but they are inextricably intertwined

As previously reported by us, an international forum on the theme of Multipolarity and Chinese Modernisation, hosted by the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics (SUFE), was held on 13 December 2025 in Shanghai. This conference brought together numerous scholars, authors and researchers from around the world to explore pathways toward a prosperous and multipolar future for humanity.

We print below the text of the speech to the conference by Friends of Socialist China co-editor Keith Bennett, which was delivered by video recording.

Keith’s speech stresses the interrelationship of multipolarity and Chinese modernisation in the context of President Xi Jinping’s thesis that the world is presently seeing changes unseen in a century.

Proceeding from Lenin’s 1923 observation that, “In the last analysis, the outcome of the struggle will be determined by the fact that Russia, India, China, etc., account for the overwhelming majority of the population of the globe. And during the past few years it is this majority that has been drawn into the struggle for emancipation with extraordinary rapidity… In this sense, the complete victory of socialism is fully and absolutely assured,” Keith notes how the progress of humanity over the ensuing century has conformed to that essential paradigm, such that quantitative increase is leading to qualitative change. “We are indeed witnessing the sun setting in the west and rising in the east and south.”

With bodies such as BRICS+ and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in the forefront, “it is socialist China that is today the indispensable nation in driving the changes unseen in a century.”

Until now, Keith notes, modernisation has only been achieved by a minority of, overwhelmingly majority white, nations. In terms of scale alone, therefore, as China is home to some 22 per cent of the world’s population, China’s modernisation will more than double the percentage of humanity living in modernised societies. As such, it will profoundly change, and indeed revolutionise, global society, economy and culture, and hence the prospects and possibilities for those nations and peoples still facing the tasks of development and modernisation.

Therefore, socialism with Chinese characteristics offers a new option for other countries and nations who want to speed up their development while preserving their independence.

I would like to express my thanks to the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics for their kind invitation to participate in this important international forum and regret not being able to join you in person.

Multipolarity and Chinese moderniation are distinct concepts but they are inextricably intertwined.

General Secretary Xi Jinping often reminds us that we are living in a moment of history where we are witnessing changes unseen in a century.

This statement has applicability and relevance across a range of events and numerous spheres of human endeavour. But perhaps it does not express itself quite so cogently, or with such profound import, as it does with regard to both the tectonic changes in the world’s geopolitical configuration, and the accompanying evolution and reform of global governance, and the long march of more than 1.4 billion Chinese people towards a modernisation of their own style.

In his last published article, ‘Better Fewer, But Better’, Lenin insisted that:

“In the last analysis, the outcome of the struggle will be determined by the fact that Russia, India, China, etc., account for the overwhelming majority of the population of the globe. And during the past few years it is this majority that has been drawn into the struggle for emancipation with extraordinary rapidity, so that in this respect there cannot be the slightest doubt what the final outcome of the world struggle will be. In this sense, the complete victory of socialism is fully and absolutely assured.”

The ensuing century since Lenin wrote these words has seen a whole number of momentous events and trends that include the Chinese people’s victory in the war of resistance against Japanese aggression, the world peoples’ victory in the global anti-fascist war, the founding of the United Nations, the triumph of the Chinese revolution and the founding of the People’s Republic, and the independence of India and the other countries of South Asia.

Uncharted territory – how China is developing a path to modernisation without hegemonism

An international forum themed Multipolarity and Chinese Modernisation, hosted by Shanghai University of Finance and Economics (SUFE), was held on 13 December 2025 in Shanghai. This conference brought together numerous scholars, authors and researchers from around the world to explore pathways toward a prosperous and multipolar future for humanity.

Below is the text of the video contribution by Friends of Socialist China co-editor Carlos Martinez. Carlos argues that China is forging a historically unprecedented route to modernisation, fundamentally distinct from the Western experience. Modernisation, he stresses, is not an abstract ideal but a recognised human right, rooted in UN declarations affirming the right to development, technological progress and rising living standards. Its purpose is – or should be – to enable dignified, meaningful lives for all.

Carlos contrasts China’s approach with the dominant Western narrative, which credits liberal democracy and free markets for modernisation. Historical reality, he argues, tells a different story: Western modernisation was built on colonialism, slavery, genocide and, later, neocolonial domination enforced through military power and economic coercion. This legacy explains why only a handful of imperialist countries have modernised, while the Global South has largely been locked into underdevelopment.

China’s modernisation project, by contrast, begins with the 1949 revolution and proceeds through socialist construction, the Four Modernisations, and Reform and Opening Up. Today it is defined by ambitious but concrete goals: raising living standards to those of the mid-level developed countries, achieving scientific and technological leadership, expanding equitable public services, revitalising rural life, and pursuing ecological sustainability.

Crucially, China is modernising without war, colonisation or hegemonism. Drawing on statements by Xi Jinping, Deng Xiaoping and Hugo Chávez, Carlos argues that this is possible because China is socialist: capital does not rule the state, long-term planning replaces market anarchy, and foreign policy is not driven by the need for ever-expanding profits. As a result, China can develop peacefully while helping create space for other developing countries – through initiatives such as the Belt and Road Initiative – to pursue their own paths to modernisation.

China’s modernisation process has become a major focus of international attention in recent years, particularly as Chinese scholars and policymakers have begun to articulate a distinctive model of modernisation that contrasts starkly with the Western experience.

Remembering Zulfikar Ali Bhutto – Architect of China-Pakistan Friendship

Third World Solidarity organised a meeting on Monday January 5, 2026, marking the 98^th birth anniversary of the late Pakistani leader Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who made an outstanding contribution to the friendship between his country and China.

The meeting, held in the Baseline Studios, home to a number of community organisations and projects in west London, was attended by many prominent members of the Pakistani community, and others who have been friends with members of the Bhutto family.

Chairing the meeting, Mushtaq Lasharie, Chair of Third World Solidarity, the British Pakistani Mayors Association and Lancaster West Residents Association, drew attention to the price that has often been paid by leaders of the Global South who stand for independence and popular democracy, from the martyrdom of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and his daughter Benazir Bhutto, to today’s illegal kidnapping of Venezuelan President Maduro and his wife. This was also one of the themes that was returned to in the discussion period following the main speeches, in which Keith Bennett explained how the hand of US imperialism was present in all these cases, whether overtly or covertly.

The first speaker was London-based Pakistani journalist Javed Soomro, whose family has long had a close relationship with the Bhuttos. He explained that before Z.A. Bhutto founded and led the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), politics in the country had been confined to the feudal class and the boardrooms of the industrialists. The people were irrelevant. Bhutto was “the first to bring the voices of the masses and ordinary people” to the political arena. The basic slogan of the PPP was for clothes, food and shelter. [Note: In its simplicity and profundity this has echoes of the Bolshevik call for bread, peace and land.]

In 1974, he organised a major conference aimed at uniting the Muslim countries. This effort was key to the animosity that the United States came to harbour for Bhutto. [This has clear parallels with the way that the efforts of the late Hugo Chávez and President Maduro to unite the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean has intensified the hatred of the United States for the Bolivarian revolution in Venezuela.]

Javed was followed by Keith Bennett, co-editor of Friends of Socialist China, who spoke on the great contributions of Z.A. Bhutto, as well as his daughter Benazir Bhutto and grandson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, to Pakistan’s friendship with both the People’s Republic of China and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).

The full text of Keith’s speech is reproduced below.

The final speaker was Victoria Schofield, author of ‘Bhutto: Trial and Execution’ (1979) and ‘The Fragrance of Tears: My Friendship with Benazir Bhutto’ (2020).

Victoria forged a close friendship with Benazir Bhutto when they were fellow students at Oxford University. With Benazir’s encouragement she succeeded her as President of the Oxford Union. She travelled to Pakistan in 1978, when Z.A. Bhutto was on trial and subsequently hanged, at Benazir’s invitation. She was one of the last people to see Bhutto alive and recalled how Benazir was not even allowed to hug her father on their last meeting, just a couple of days before he was executed.

She further recalled Bhutto’s vision for his country, as outlined to the Spectator:

“My vision is that of a Pakistan whose social standards are comparable to some parts of Europe. This means a war against illiteracy and ignorance. It means fighting prejudice and obscurantism. It involves the equality of men and women. It demands the mobilisation of the people’s selected energies. It dictates the restoration of dignity to the human person… It requires a check on the growth of population and easy access to education and medical care throughout the country. It contemplates better towns and cities and cleaner villages. It raises 100 challenges. It is a long haul. We have braced ourselves for it.”

Following a lively Q&A, closing remarks were delivered by Mian Saleem, President of PPP Greater London.

The formal proceedings were followed by two songs from Hugh Goodacre on guitar and dinner.

The following is the full text of Keith’s speech.

President Xi: No issue of the people is too small; we care for every leaf and tend every branch in the garden of people’s well-being

Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered his New Year Address for 2026, on December 31, 2025.

Below we reprint the full text of the address, as released in English by the Xinhua News Agency, preceded by a short introductory commentary by our co-editor Keith Bennett.

President Xi Jinping’s inspiring new year address represents a message of confidence, determination and optimism which stands in stark contrast to the depression, crisis and sense of drift prevailing in the major capitalist countries. Both in tone and content it reflects how socialism, with a strong communist party at its core, is again rising and assuming an enhanced role in the world in terms of both achievement and attraction.

This spirit animates the entire speech. As President Xi notes, this year just past saw the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War, the celebration of which, immediately following the largest ever gatherings of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, where the Global Governance Initiative was unveiled, further raised the international prestige and standing of socialist China, with the participation of leaders from dozens of countries, the elucidation of ways and means to achieve a better world, and the demonstration of China’s ever growing defensive military prowess which constitutes a fundamental guarantee of peace.

A similar message can be seen in the economy and domestic development. With the world having experienced a ‘Deep Seek moment’, President Xi underlined the purpose of socialist competition as being a “race to the top”, a ‘win win’ concept contrasting with the race to the bottom that characterizes the decadent stage of monopoly capitalism.

In turn, the cultural self-confidence that this facilitates and embodies, from humanoid robots performing kung fu kicks, through Wukong and Nezha, to the grassroots football leagues of Guizhou, shows both how life for the masses of the Chinese people is becoming more dignified and joyful as well as the growing attraction of Chinese civilization, culture and ‘soft power’ for people throughout the world – and most importantly how these two aspects are inextricably interconnected and mutually reinforcing.

When President Xi speaks of how the rights and interests of workers in new forms of employment, not least the ‘gig economy’, have been better protected, better facilities have been created for the elderly, and increased subsidies provided to help families with childcare, it is simply impossible not to draw comparisons with our situation in Britain, where ‘gig economy’ workers lack the most basic protections, social care for the elderly is a national shame that successive governments have been singularly unwilling and unable to tackle, and ever growing numbers of children are being raised in poverty, with consequences they will carry for the rest of their lives.

Former UN under-secretary-general Erik Solheim: China is the total dominant force in the green economy

Erik Solheim, former under-secretary-general of the UN and former executive director of the UN Environment Programme, gave a presentation at the Global Times Annual Conference on 20 December 2025. He described the past year as one of global turbulence, but argued that China has emerged as a force for stability, delivering 5 percent economic growth that benefits both its people and the global economy. He highlighted China’s dominance in the green economy, noting that it leads the world in solar, wind, hydropower, electric vehicles, batteries and electric public transport, and observing that global progress in these sectors is being driven almost exclusively by China.

China is the total dominant force in the green economy. 60 percent or more of solar, wind, hydropower, electric cars, electric batteries, metros, high-speed rail, whatever you want to mention, is developed by one nation alone. That’s China…

Solheim made an important link between China’s economic success and its planning system, indicating that China’s socialist market economy is more effective in driving development – particularly sustainable development – than capitalism.

The national plan process of China is unique. No other nation is able to do this. There is a combination of a strong state with a very vibrant market, which we have seen in China since the reform and opening-up started in 1978. To do this, you need a strong state to set the targets, to make the direction, to define the goals, to take the nation in the right direction.

Solheim also discussed the role being played by the Chinese government and companies in the digital economy, particularly the orientation towards the production of open source software as a global common good.

Whitewashing Japanese and German war crimes paves way to new imperialist aggression

The following is a speech given by Sevim Dagdelen, foreign policy spokesperson for Germany’s Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) and a former member of the Bundestag (German parliament), to the 12th Beiing Xiangshan Forum, which took place between September 17-19, 2025.

Dagdelen begins by noting that: “The High Representative of the European Union, Kaja Kallas, declared in September 2025 that it was entirely new to her that Russia and China referred to a shared past as fighters against fascism and militarism in the Second World War. Russia and China wanted to rewrite history, and the world believed them, according to Kallas.”

She goes on to note that what is interesting is that this statement encountered no objection from the heads of state and government of Germany, France, Poland and Italy.

Having pointed out that it was the Soviet Union and China that bore the main burden of the struggle against the fascist powers joined together in the “Anti-Comintern Pact”, she adds: “That pact was complemented by the secret German-Japanese agreement of 1937. Joint plans of military intelligence aimed at dividing Central Asia and the Caucasus into German and Japanese spheres of influence.”

The attempts to deny this history are intended not only to make people forget the crimes of the Nazi regime and Japanese militarism but above all to seek a revision of the outcomes of the war.

“Germany and Japan had attempted with their imperialist wars of plunder to subjugate the USSR and China and to divide the countries. Both powers failed due to bitter anti-fascist resistance. On the ruins of the destructive works of the Third Reich and the Japanese empire, a multipolar world was to emerge, not least shaped by the national liberation struggle of colonised peoples.”

Now, “US President Donald Trump, with his punitive tariffs against India and – with qualifications – also German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, with the conclusion of the German-Japanese armaments agreement, have revealed to the world that a departure from colonialism can only be achieved against the West and its leading powers.”

“However, the global balance of power has changed fundamentally. Neither China nor Russia nor India allows its policy to be dictated any longer by Washington, Brussels, Berlin or Tokyo. The west has simply missed the rise of the Global South.”

However, the west will not simply accept this situation. Presciently, she notes: “Latin America and a claimed Western hemisphere seem to be the first focus of the US, while in Asia, the Middle East, and Europe, Washington’s allies are placed in the front row to preserve US resources.”

She concludes: “We have a just world to gain. We should not let this opportunity pass.”

At its recent congress, the BSW voted to rename the party as the Alliance for Social Justice and Economic Reason, effective from October 1, 2026, while retaining the same initials. A brief report of the congress was carried by the Xinhua News Agency.

The following article was originally published by Consortium News.

The High Representative of the European Union, Kaja Kallas, declared in September 2025 that it was entirely new to her that Russia and China referred to a shared past as fighters against fascism and militarism in the second world war. Russia and China wanted to rewrite history, and the world believed them, according to Kallas.

One could dismiss this statement by one of the E.U.’s highest representatives as confused or uninformed. What is interesting, however, is that it encountered no objection from the heads of state and government of Germany, France, Poland and Italy. One must therefore understand Kallas’s historical judgment as an expression of an E.U. policy that seeks to rewrite history in order to flank the preparation for war with historical politics.

In any case, Kallas’s remark is reminiscent of the phrase by the Spanish-American philosopher George Santayana (1863-1952): “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

Reviewing and celebrating another year of progress for Friends of Socialist China

On Sunday December 14, 2025, Friends of Socialist China (FoSC) organised its third consecutive end of year reception and dinner. More than 60 supporters and friends from various progressive organisations, communities and walks of life packed the Palestinian Hiba Express restaurant in Holborn, central London, to renew friendships and to sum up the work in 2025 and the prospects for the new year.

We were joined by honoured guests and friends from the embassies of China, DPR Korea, Laos, Cuba, and Timor-Leste, as well as from China Daily.

FoSC co-editor Keith Bennett spoke on behalf of the organisation, welcoming everyone and reviewing our work in the outgoing year. He also stressed the particular importance of solidarity with the peoples of Palestine and Venezuela at this time.

Responding, Minister Counsellor Jiang Zhouteng from the Chinese Embassy extended his sincere greetings to all comrades and friends present and noted:

“Since its establishment, Friends of Socialist China has remained committed to telling the world true and vivid stories about China.

“Just in 2025, your website has published about 500 posts, closely following major events related to China, released a new book, titled China Changes Everything, which brings together insights from many contributors, and organised multiple seminars around various topics.”

Comrade Jiang also referred to our May-June delegation to China and to our conference marking China’s 76^th National Day, along with other activities, and added:

“I would like to extend our sincere gratitude for all your efforts in promoting a better understanding on China by the rest of the world including the UK. It is no doubt that through your efforts more and more people in the world have been encouraged to listen to and appreciate real and vivid stories about China, and have realised, much more than before, the power of socialism that is rooted in unity, peace, and justice for the world.”

Turning to the situation in China, he said that:

“The year 2025 is the final year of China’s 14th Five-Year Plan, which is the first five-year period since our march towards the second Centenary Goal, building a great modern socialist country in all respects, began in 2020.

“Facing a turbulent international landscape, we achieved pioneering progress, breakthrough transformation, and historic accomplishments in our economic and social development, laying a solid foundation for a good start on the new march towards the second Centenary Goal.

“The upcoming year 2026 will mark the first year of the 15th Five‑Year Plan, a period of strategic importance that will lay a solid foundation and give full momentum to the process of basically achieving socialist modernisation.

“In the next year, China will continue to advance Chinese modernisation, with economic development as our central task, high-quality development as our main focus, reform and innovation as the fundamental driving force, meeting the people’s ever-growing needs for a better life as our fundamental goal, and full and rigorous Party self-governance as the fundamental underpinning for all our efforts.

“China will continue to uphold the banner of peace, development, cooperation, and mutual benefit, and to advance efforts to build a community with a shared future for humanity, in order to promote world peace and development, and safeguard international fairness and justice.”

Finally: “Looking ahead to the new year 2026, we sincerely wish Friends of Socialist China continued progress and look forward to continuing our close collaboration with you.”

We print below the full text of Keith’s speech.

Minister Counsellor Jiang Zhouteng

Friends and Comrades

Thank you all for coming this evening, at a time of year when there are always many demands on people’s time.

We are honoured to be joined by friends from the embassies of the People’s Republic of China, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, and the Republic of Cuba, as well as from China Daily.

As Friends of Socialist China, we have never taken a narrow view of our internationalist responsibilities. As we clearly expressed it in our founding statement: “We support all states building or aspiring to socialism, and we favour the highest level of unity and friendship between them.”

We have maintained that original aspiration and will always do so.