Category: Speeches

Symposium held in London: New Development of China, New Opportunities for the World

On Friday 24 October 2025, the Chinese Embassy in the UK organised a symposium on the topic New Development of China, New Opportunities for the World. The symposium was focused on the complex and ever-changing international situation; the challenges facing the United Nations and multilateralism; and China’s recently-proposed Global Governance Initiative, which addresses itself to the critical issue of “how to build a global governance system and how to reform and improve global governance”.

The event introduced by Minister Zhao Fei, followed by a keynote speech by Ambassador Zheng Zeguang. Counsellor Mu Yongpeng provided an introduction to the Global Governance Initiative, and Counsellor Kong Xiangwen introduced China’s position on the questions of Taiwan and UN Resolution 2758.

British participants were then invited to contribute remarks:

  1. Robert Griffiths, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Britain
  2. Andy Brooks, General Secretary of the New Communist Party of Britain
  3. Stephen Perry, Honorary President of the 48 Group Club
  4. Martin Albrow, Fellow of the British Academy of Social Sciences
  5. Kerry Brown, Director of the Lau China Institute at Kings College, London
  6. Ollie Shiell, CEO of UK National Committee on China
  7. Frances Wood, Sinologist
  8. Keith Bennett, Co-editor of Friends of Socialist China
  9. Hugh Goodacre, Managing Director of Xi Jinping Thought Study Group
  10. Max Browning, Schwarzman Scholar at Tsinghua University
  11. Janet St John-Austen, Director of Xi Jinping Thought Study Group
  12. Carlos Martinez, Co-editor of Friends of Socialist China
  13. George Korkovelos, Central Committee Member of the Communist Party of Great Britain (Marxist-Leninist)

We reproduce below the Embassy’s report of the event, followed by the contributions by Keith Bennett and Carlos Martinez.

Ambassador Zheng Zeguang Briefs Representatives of Different Sectors in the UK on the Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee

On 24 October 2025, the Chinese Embassy in the UK held a symposium on “New Development of China, New Opportunities for the World” to brief participants on the important decisions made by the Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee. Chinese Ambassador to the UK Zheng Zeguang delivered a keynote speech at the symposium. Representatives of several UK political parties and those from different sectors attended the symposium and joined in the discussions.

In his speech, Ambassador Zheng noted that the Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee comes at a time when China is marching towards the second Centenary Goal and represents a call to action for the entire country to seize the momentum and advance Chinese modernisation.

With this meeting, the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core sets to unite and lead the Chinese people to write yet another chapter on the miracles of rapid economic growth and long-term social stability and to open up new horizons for Chinese modernisation.

Ambassador Zheng pointed out that the meeting has identified the critical role the next five years will play in China’s development. During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, China has achieved pioneering progress, breakthrough transformation, and historic accomplishments in its economic and social development. Over these five years, China has reached new heights in terms of economic, scientific and technological capabilities, and composite national strength. China’s economy will grow by about 4 trillion pounds.

carlosmartinez

Free Mumia Campaign discusses China and the international anti-imperialist struggle

On Sunday October 19 the Free Mumia Abu Jamal Campaign UK organised a discussion meeting on the theme of China and the international anti-imperialist struggle at International House in Brixton, south London.

Chaired by Sarah Mudd and introduced by Wilf Dixon of the Free Mumia Campaign, the meeting heard three presentations expressing differing views within a common overall anti-imperialist perspective:

  • Our Co-editor Keith Bennett spoke on ‘China and the global struggle against imperialism today’;
  • Cecil Gutzmore, Chair of the Free Mumia Campaign and veteran revolutionary Pan-Africanist, spoke on ‘Judeo-Christendom’s racism and the global anti-China movement’; and
  • Andy Higginbottom, former Assistant Professor at Kingston University, London, and a long-standing anti-imperialist activist and Marxist scholar, spoke on ‘Neo-colonialism still matters – Militarisation and Imperial Grand Strategy (US v. China)’.

The presentations were followed by a lively discussion and informal networking. We embed below a video of the three speeches, followed by the text of Keith Bennett’s presentation.

I’d like to thank the Free Mumia Abu Jamal Campaign UK for their initiative in organising this discussion on China and the international anti-imperialist struggle and for inviting me to speak.

Some might ask why a campaign such as yours might wish to address such a topic. But such a view could be said to not fully take account of why you have – correctly in my view – placed such importance on Mumia’s case and on the necessity to win the freedom of this revolutionary fighter who has endured some 43 years of incarceration in the hell hole conditions of the US prison system without losing his revolutionary faith and will or his original aspiration.

Whether before or throughout his long imprisonment, Mumia’s writings have expressed unwavering solidarity with the struggles of peoples throughout the world against imperialism. In his early teens, he joined the Black Panther Party. Many things distinguished the Panthers, of course – from armed self-defence to free breakfast programs for children to clinics to treat sickle cell anaemia. But equally distinctive was the strong solidarity the party expressed, and the inspiration it drew from, the Asian socialist countries – from China, Vietnam and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). From their long-standing, protracted struggles against imperialism. And from their revolutionary standpoint and their creative application and development of Marxism-Leninism from the standpoint of the oppressed.

Continue reading Free Mumia Campaign discusses China and the international anti-imperialist struggle

The long march through the primary stage of socialism

The following is the text of a speech given by Eben Dombay Williams, YCL Education Officer, at our second annual Socialist China Conference, held on Saturday, September 27.

Eben’s speech is based primarily on a text he has been translating, written by an academic at a Chinese Marxist Institute in Shanghai, analysing the theoretical aspects of what is known in China as the primary stage of socialism. The article observes that socialism in China did not emerge from fully developed capitalism, as envisioned by Marx and Engels, but from a revolutionary leap over the “Caudine Forks” of capitalism. Because of China’s relatively undeveloped productive forces at the time of revolution, it must spend an extended historical period completing the modernisation tasks that capitalism would otherwise have accomplished.

The “primary stage” theory, formally defined at the CPC’s 13th National Congress, recognises that class struggle persists but does not constitute the principal contradiction in society. Currently, “the primary task is to energetically expand the commodity economy, raise labour productivity and gradually achieve modernisation of industry, agriculture, national defence, science and technology”.

The text notes that, in the first decades of Reform and opening up, a level of ideological confusion crept in. “Some of the differences between socialism and capitalism were to a certain extent concealed under the banner of ‘modernisation,’ and a series of problems and phenomena that were clearly contrary to socialist principles emerged in society. But since the new era, the Central Committee of the CPC with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has always emphasised the socialist nature of the Chinese road, continuing to follow the basic principles and core values of socialism in drawing up the strategy for China’s modernisation drive and always inserting socialist elements into this modernisation, leading the way to building a great modern socialist country in all respects and striving to promote an organic unity between socialism and modernisation.”

As it moves towards basic completion of the task of socialist modernisation by the middle of this century, China is breaking new ground in the development of Marxism. “The implications … are not only to provide another option for the path to modernisation for the vast number of developing countries, including other socialist countries, but also to present a new solution to the problems of modernity for the developed capitalist countries, that is, the socialist road out.”

The video of the speech is embedded below the text.

I’d first like to give a massive thank-you to Carlos, Keith and the whole team at Friends of Socialist China. It’s so encouraging to see that following on from the successful 75th anniversary celebrations last year, this has now become an annual conference. It’s no small feat to bring multiple socialist and communist organisations on the left together under one roof, but it’s so important that we reject petty sectarianism and unite to build an anti-imperialist united front in the face of attacks on socialist China and the multipolar world. Of course, solidarity with George Galloway and his wife Gayatri on their shameful detention.

In my day job, I work as a Chinese to English translator and it just so happened that when I was invited to speak on the subject of socialist construction in China, I was in the middle of translating an important text written by an academic at a Chinese Marxist Institute in Shanghai. This text focuses on the theoretical aspects of what the CPC has termed the “primary stage of socialism” and will hopefully be appearing in a future edition of Iskra Books’ theoretical journal, Peace, Land, and Bread next year. I wanted to share a small extract of the text because I found it very interesting and relevant:

Theoretically speaking, socialism is not being constructed in China on the exact same basis envisioned by Marx and Engels and fully expanded upon in Capital. Instead, it has been reached directly under conditions where capitalism has not fully developed, where political power was seized through revolution at the appropriate historical moment, and where the “Caudine Forks” of the capitalist system was leaped across,” with “Caudine Forks” being the term Marx used in his prophetic wisdom to describe the problem of a potential, future socialist society attempting to skip over the capitalist stage after a successful proletarian revolution.

Continue reading The long march through the primary stage of socialism

China and climate – the question of leadership

The following is an expanded version of a talk given by London-based climate activist Paul Atkin at the Socialist China Conference 2025 on the subject of China’s leadership role in fighting climate breakdown.

The piece argues that climate change is no longer a distant eventuality but a present-day crisis. Drawing on IPCC science, Paul stresses we are already on a dangerous trajectory and in a decisive decade. China is directly suffering climate impacts including flooding, drought, heat deaths and crop yield loss, and as such has a compelling reason to lead on mitigation and adaptation. 

China frames its approach to environmental protection through the lens of ecological civilisation and the Two Mountains proposition popularised by Xi Jinping – that green mountains with clear water are as valuable as mountains of gold and silver. China’s political system, Paul contends, allows a centralised, state-driven push for renewable energy and clean infrastructure at scales and speeds that the capitalist world cannot easily emulate.

The country is now a global powerhouse in solar, wind, batteries and electric vehicles, and as a result its domestic emissions may already have peaked. China’s solar and wind installation rates are staggering: “Last year China installed as much renewable power in one year as the US has in its entire history, and this will accelerate.”

Abandoning overseas coal investments, China is helping developing countries leapfrog fossil dependency via exports of solar panels and other clean energy hardware.In contrast, Trump “is locking the US into a suicidal entrenchment in increasingly outmoded fossil fuel technology”.

The article concludes that China is emerging as the de facto climate leader, charting an urgently-needed path of sustainable development. The choice for the rest of the world is whether to hitch itself to the US’s fossil-fuel wagon or align with a cleaner, renewable-based future enabled in large part by China’s commitment, investment and innovation.

This article first appeared on Paul Atkin’s blog, Urban Ramblings. Below the text we embed the video of the speech.

I edit the Greener Jobs Alliance Newsletter and convene the National Education Union Climate Change Network, but am speaking in a personal capacity because both organisations contain a range of views about China and its role in climate change. These are mine.

Marx used to quote Hegel’s dictum that “The owl of Minerva spreads its wings only with the falling of dusk” to note that people by and large learn from events only after they have happened. In the case of the climate crisis, dusk is falling already and we know what is happening. 

IPCC Reports are very clear about the increase in greenhouse gases, the increase in global temperatures that arise from that, and the impacts are increasingly documented, as well as reported as they happen. We are experiencing it. It’s not a single cataclysm that may or may not happen some time in the future. It is happening now. Slowly from the point of view of political/electoral cycles, but with terrifying rapidity in geological terms; such that we are in a crucial decade in the century that will make or break human civilization. 

Continue reading China and climate – the question of leadership

China’s progress proves socialism is the only viable framework for saving the planet

The following is the text of a presentation given by Carlos Martinez to the Fourth World Congress on Marxism, which took place on 11-12 October 2025 at Peking University (PKU), China, organised by PKU’s School of Marxism.

The presentation gives an overview of the progress made by China in recent years with regard to clean energy, and poses the question: why is it China, rather than the advanced capitalist countries, that has emerged as the world’s only ‘green superpower’? Carlos argues that the fundamental reason lies in China’s economy being “structured in such a way that political and economic priorities are determined not by capital’s drive for constant expansion but by the needs and aspirations of the people.”

On the other hand, “the balance of power in capitalist countries is such that even relatively progressive governments find it very difficult to prioritise long-term needs of the population over short-term interests of capital.”

Carlos notes that, as a result of its systematic investment in renewable energy, electric vehicles, transmission systems, batteries and more, China has become the first country to meaningfully break the link between economic development and greenhouse gas emissions. “While governments in the West justify inaction on climate on the basis that it would harm economic growth, China is the first country to make the green transition a powerful driver of economic growth, thereby addressing both the immediate needs of the Chinese people for modernisation and the long-term needs of humanity for a habitable planet.”

China’s progress is set to have a profound global impact. As a result of Chinese innovations and economies of scales, there has been a global reduction in costs, such that for much of the world, solar and wind power are now more cost effective than fossil fuels.

And for those of us in the advanced capitalist countries, where political power is dominated by a decaying bourgeoisie, China’s example can be used to help create mass pressure to stop our governments and ruling classes from destroying the planet, and to encourage sensible cooperation with China on environmental issues.

The Congress featured an impressive array of Marxist academics and authors, including Gong Qihuang, President of Peking University; Li Yi, Vice President of the Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (National Academy of Governance); John Bellamy Foster, Editor-in-Chief of Monthly Review; Cheng Enfu, Professor, School of Marxism, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences; Radhika Desai, Professor, University of Manitoba; Roland Boer, Professor, Renmin University of China; Pham Van Duc, Professor, Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences; and Gabriel Rockhill, Professor, Villanova University. The Congress has been reported on CGTN, including brief video interviews with Carlos Martinez and Radhika Desai.

We will never again seek economic growth at the cost of the environment. (Xi Jinping)

There is a prevailing prejudice in the West that China is a climate criminal – the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases, and a country that continues to build coal-fired power stations. This connects to a wider perception of socialist governance as being antithetical to environmental protection.

And yet China’s remarkable progress over the last two decades in tackling pollution, protecting biodiversity and developing clean energy is causing this narrative to fall apart.

China has recently passed a historic milestone in its energy transition: cumulative installed solar capacity has exceeded 1 terawatt, representing 45 percent of the global total and far outstripping the United States and European Union.

At the United Nations climate summit in September, President Xi Jinping announced that China was committing to cut carbon dioxide and other pollution by at least 7 to 10 percent by 2035 – the first time that China has set a concrete target for reducing emissions as part of its Nationally Determined Contributions under the Paris Agreement.

Credible evidence suggests that China’s greenhouse gas emissions have already peaked, five years earlier than promised.

Since 2013, China’s solar installed capacity has increased by a factor of 180, while wind power capacity has grown sixfold.

China dominates the global green technology supply chain, producing the overwhelming majority of solar modules, wafers, and battery components.

Continue reading China’s progress proves socialism is the only viable framework for saving the planet

China has consolidated itself as a true friend and a beacon of light for sovereign peoples

Wilfredo Hernández Maya, Counsellor of the Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, was among the members of the diplomatic corps in London who extended greetings in the opening rally of our 2025 second annual conference, held on Saturday, September 27.

Gathered in Bolívar Hall, he noted that, “your presence in this space, which bears the name of our Liberator, Simón Bolívar, is deeply meaningful: it unites the memory of the struggles for independence with today’s commitment to building a fairer, more supportive and multipolar world.”

“Today, through its clear international leadership, China offers us pathways of progress, cooperation and development in a world where traditional hegemonic powers seek to impose their will on our peoples through violence, imperialism, and a supremacist and racist vision.”

We are pleased to publish Comrade Wilfredo’s speech below.

Dear friends,

On behalf of Ambassador Félix Plasencia González and the Bolivarian Government of Venezuela, I extend to you all a fraternal word of welcome to our Bolívar Hall, which today is honoured to open its doors once again to celebrate the 76th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, together with Friends of Socialist China, as well as representatives of solidarity movements and the diplomatic corps of brotherly nations present here.

Allow me to begin by expressing our sincere gratitude to Friends of Socialist China for choosing Bolívar Hall once more as the venue for this important gathering. Your presence in this space, which bears the name of our Liberator, Simón Bolívar, is deeply meaningful: it unites the memory of the struggles for independence with today’s commitment to building a fairer, more supportive and multipolar world.

We also wish to give special thanks to the friendly embassies and solidarity movements whose steadfast commitment accompanies us in the defence of sovereignty, the self-determination of peoples and respect for international law. Your support and friendship stand as testimony that our causes are shared, and that international cooperation founded on mutual respect is not only possible but essential.

Dear comrades,

In this year, when we mark both the 76th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China and the 80th anniversary of the victory over fascism, we must remember the millions of men and women who gave their lives in the struggle against imperialist barbarism. That achievement was more than a military triumph: it represented the affirmation of the dignity of all humanity and the birth of a new hope. The brave Chinese people rose from the ruins and, through sacrifice, wrote one of the most glorious chapters in world history.

Venezuela recognises in that epic struggle the spiritual strength that continues to inspire the Chinese Revolution, today a beacon of sovereignty and social justice for its people and for the world. The People’s Republic of China, with its renewed and robust global leadership, now puts forward proposals of great meaning and potential for humanity, such as the Global Governance Initiative presented by President Xi Jinping at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit, held in Tianjin this year.

This new international project complements the three initiatives previously advanced by China: the Global Development Initiative, the Global Civilisation Initiative and the Global Security Initiative. Together, they point towards building a Community of Shared Future for Mankind, in full harmony with Venezuela’s Bolivarian Diplomacy of Peace and with our vision of a balanced world order, based on the sovereign equality of States, respect for international law, genuine multilateralism, and a focus on the wellbeing of peoples.

Continue reading China has consolidated itself as a true friend and a beacon of light for sovereign peoples

We celebrate a victory that continues to inspire working people across the world

We are very pleased to publish below the speech delivered by Comrade Aswathi Asok, Executive Committee member of the Association of Indian Communists (AIC), during the closing rally of our China Conference 2025, held on Saturday September 27.

Aswathi notes that: “The Chinese revolution of 1949 was more than a change of government. It showed that the oppressed can rise, organise and shape their own future,” and goes on to outline how, from the earliest days, progressive movements in India, “looked to the Chinese people’s bravery with admiration and with a sense of kinship.”

She also outlines the social and developmental achievements of her home state of Kerala under elected communist governments:

“I grew up in a tradition, where in many homes the photograph of Chairman Mao still hangs on the wall, not as decoration but as a reminder that ordinary people can make history… Let us carry forward the banner of socialism with courage, unity, discipline, and hope. And I believe that China, with its rich experience, will support and lead the awakening of the working class around the globe.”

The AIC is the overseas wing of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), India’s largest communist party.

Dear comrades, friends and distinguished guests,

On this seventy sixth anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, I am honoured to be here and bring greetings from the Association of Indian Communists, the overseas wing of the Communist Party of India (Marxist). As someone born and raised in a neighbouring country of China, it is with great pride and joy that I join you to celebrate a victory that continues to inspire working people across the world. As we all know, the Chinese revolution of 1949 was more than a change of government. It showed that the oppressed can rise, organise and shape their own future.

Continue reading We celebrate a victory that continues to inspire working people across the world

In China’s example we see hope – the victories of the Chinese people are victories for all of us

The following is the text of the speech delivered by Gearóid Ó Machail, Member of the National Executive Committee of the Communist Party of Ireland (CPI), to the closing rally of our China Conference 2025, held on Saturday September 27.

Gearóid’s talk touches on a number of important topics, including the importance of the fraternal relations between the CPI and the Communist Party of China (CPC), the Irish and Chinese struggles against imperialism, and the importance of people-to-people ties.

Comrades and friends,

Ar dtús báire ba mhaith liom a rá gur mór an onóir dom labhairt libh inniu ag an chruinniú tábhachtach seo atá á óstáil ag Cairde na Síne Sóisialaí. Cuirim beannachtaí réabhlóideacha ó chroí ó Pháirtí Cumannach na hÉireann agus cuirim ár ndlúthpháirtíocht in iúl le muintir na Síne agus le Páirtí Cumannach na Síne.

I begin my speech today with some words in my native language not least in honour of Kneecap and their tremendous victory this week.

It is a great honour to address you today at this important gathering of esteemed company hosted by my dear comrades in Friends of Socialist China. I bring warm revolutionary greetings from the Communist Party of Ireland and express our deep solidarity with the People’s Republic of China, with the Chinese people, with the Communist Party of China and with all Friends of Socialist China.

The Communist Party of Ireland deeply values its fraternal relations with the Communist Party of China. These ties are not transactional – they are built on mutual respect, shared ideological foundations, and a commitment to building socialism in our respective contexts. Over the 46 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations, China and Ireland have deepened exchanges and cooperation across politics, economy, science and technology, and culture, bringing tangible benefits to both peoples.

We meet here at a time when the achievements of Chinese socialism are not only undeniable but are increasingly vital to the future of human civilisation and the survival of our delicate, global eco-system. From lifting hundreds of millions of people out of poverty to leading the world in green development and technological innovation, China stands as a beacon of what is possible when a proud and resilient people chart their own course, guided by socialist principles and a commitment to national sovereignty.

Continue reading In China’s example we see hope – the victories of the Chinese people are victories for all of us

Socialist China Conference another landmark in the work of building friendship and solidarity with China

On Saturday 27 September 2025, Friends of Socialist China held a successful conference at Bolivar Hall, London, to mark the 76th National Day of the People’s Republic of China. Attended by well over a hundred people, the event featured panel discussions on China’s role as a force for peace and multipolarity, its achievements in overcoming poverty and building socialism, and its leadership in combating climate breakdown.

Introducing the event, Professor Radhika Desai reflected on the importance of this annual gathering, noting that China’s “size and level of development give it an objectively critical role in the global transition to socialism, having subtracted a sixth of humanity from the ravages of capitalism and its imperialism, and promised to make it a modern socialist society by 2049”. Meanwhile, “while the West is the fomenter in chief of the world chaos, China and its allies are emerging as the centre of a spreading and steadying calm.” Radhika emphasised that it is essential for progressive forces worldwide to build understanding of, and friendship with, China.

The opening rally was addressed by a number of senior diplomats based in London: Jiang Zhouteng, Minister Counsellor at the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China; Pablo Arturo Ginarte Sampedro, First Secretary of the Embassy of the Republic of Cuba; Timofey Kunitskiy, Counsellor of the Embassy of the Russian Federation; Wilfredo Hernández Maya, Counsellor of the Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela; and Thavone Singharaj, Counsellor and Deputy Head of Mission, of the Embassy of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic. Each of them brought greetings from their respective governments and expressed solidarity with Socialist China and with our conference. A video of greetings from Zhang Weiwei – Professor of international relations at Fudan University – was also shown.

Former MP and leader of the Workers Party of Britain, George Galloway, was expected to speak at the opening rally, but was prevented from doing so due to being detained, with his wife Gayatri, by Sussex Police on their arrival at Gatwick Airport under Schedule 3 of the Counter Terrorism and Border Security Act 2019. As we noted in a website post the following day: “Friends of Socialist China vehemently condemns this further brazen assault on democratic rights by the British state and its attacks on anti-imperialists. We extend our full support and solidarity to George and Gayatri and to the comrades of the Workers Party, as we do to all those subject to state repression on account of their political work against imperialism and war and in support of peace, democracy and social progress.”

Following the opening rally, we had a panel discussion on the theme 80 years since the defeat of fascism: China as a force for peace and multipolarity, with contributions from Mick Wallace (Former MEP; Former TD [Member of the Irish Parliament] for Wexford); Keith Bennett (Co-editor of Friends of Socialist China); Jenny Clegg (author and peace activist); Luke Daniels (President of Caribbean Labour Solidarity) and Francisco Domínguez (Secretary of the Venezuela Solidarity Campaign).

The second panel was on China’s achievements in overcoming poverty and building socialism, chaired by R Islam (Friends of Socialist China Britain Committee) and featuring contributions from Ali Al-Assam (Managing Director of the NewsSocial Cooperative); Eben Williams (Education Officer for the Young Communist League); and Fiona Sim (Co-founder of the Black Liberation Alliance).

The final panel was on the theme How China is leading the fight against climate breakdown, chaired by David Peat (Iskra Books) with contributions from Paul Atkin (environmental campaigner); Yanan Song (lecturer in Global Politics at SOAS University of London) and Carlos Martinez (co-editor of Friends of Socialist China).

The closing rally featured speeches from Robert Griffiths (General Secretary of the Communist Party of Britain); Aswathi Asok (Executive Committee member of the Association of Indian Communists); and Gearóid Ó Machail (National Executive Committee member of the Communist Party of Ireland). It was chaired and introduced by Ileana Chan of Empire Watch.

We were also delighted that Dr Jenny Clegg’s new book, Storming the Heavens – Peasants and Revolution in China, 1925-1949, was launched at the conference. Drawing on decades of research, the book examines land, class and revolution, analysing peasant struggles, imperialism, and the Communist Party of China’s evolving strategy in crucial phases of the revolution.

All speeches from the event can be found on the YouTube channels of Friends of Socialist China and the event’s media partner, Empire Watch.

The conference was supported by a broad range of progressive organisations: The Morning Star, Communist Party of Britain, Workers Party of Britain, Communist Party of Ireland, International Manifesto Group, Black Liberation Alliance, Iskra Books, Praxis Press, Manifesto Press, Young Communist League, Caribbean Labour Solidarity, Third World Solidarity, No 2 NATO, and Institute for Independence Studies.

The conference marks another landmark in the work of building friendship and solidarity with China, and understanding of its role in the world.

The videos of the opening and closing rallies, and the panel discussions, are embedded below.

The traditional friendship between Laos and China is at its best in history

The opening session of our China Conference 2025, held in London on September 27, was addressed by senior diplomats from the embassies of the People’s Republic of China, Republic of Cuba, Russian Federation, Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and Lao People’s Democratic Republic.

We are very pleased to print below the warm speech given by Comrade Thavone Singharaj, Counsellor and Deputy Head of Mission of the Lao Embassy.

The speech outlines the thriving bilateral relations, across various sectors, between the two socialist neighbours as Laos prepares for its 12th national party congress, due to be held in early 2026, and to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the people’s democratic republic on December 2nd this year.

It is a profound privilege and honour for me to join comrades today, and I would like to thank Comrade Keith Bennett for giving this opportunity.

As you may know, this year marks the 76th Anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China whereby we are about to hear stories of both the past and current development of China later today. While I am taking the floor, I would like to express my congratulations and appreciation for the successful hosting of the 25th Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit 2025, as well as the commemorations marking the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Chinese People’s War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War held earlier this month. These two historical events organised by the Party and State of China are considered to elevate the role of the Communist Party of China and the People’s Republic of China on the international stage, showing the world community the strength and growth of the People’s Republic of China amidst the complex changes in the regional and international situation in recent years.

I would also like to congratulate the outstanding achievements that the Party, State and people of China have achieved under the leadership of the Communist Party of China with General Secretary and President Xi Jinping at the core, especially the implementation of the Resolutions of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and the 14th Five-Year Plan for Socio-Economic Development of the Chinese Government, just to name some.

Back to 25 April 1961, Laos and China established bilateral relations making this year the 64th anniversary of diplomatic relations. Since then, our bilateral relations and cooperation have gradually enhanced from strength to strength. Our two nations have stood side-by-side through times of struggle and currently work together to advance socialist development and prosperity.

The latest visit to China by H.E. Thongloun Sisoulith, General Secretary of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party (LPRP) and President of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (LPDR) on 4-6 September has brought our bilateral relations to a greater height. Our two nations have signed a total of 11 cooperation documents in order to pave the way for our future directions. The two leaders reaffirmed their commitment to work together and also agreed to focus on the operation of the China-Laos Railway and development along the route to upgrade key projects in defence, law enforcement and security, and other fields. In addition, both sides valued that the Laos-China and China-Laos relationship is now at the best in history and will work together to implement a new shared future Master Plan (2024-2028) and pledged to accelerate its implementation for even greater success, which has laid a strong foundation for cooperation across multiple sectors.

Continue reading The traditional friendship between Laos and China is at its best in history

Li Qiang issues rallying call for development at UN

During his recent visit to New York to attend the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Chinese Premier Li Qiang also addressed a high-level meeting on the Global Development Initiative (GDI), proposed by China.

Held on September 23, the meeting was attended by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid, Angolan President Joao Lourenco, Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda Gaston Browne, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Nigerien Prime Minister Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine, as well as ministerial-level officials from more than 30 countries and heads of international organisations.

In his speech, Li Qiang noted that: “Development is a timeless theme for human society. At its very inception, the United Nations embedded the promotion of global development into its Charter… The Global Development Initiative (GDI) put forward by President Xi Jinping at the UN General Assembly in 2021 aims to advance the broadest common interests of all humanity.”

He said that a review of history shows that when countries worked together in solidarity for shared benefits, global development would advance steadily and everyone would gain; when zero-sum mentality reared its head and division and confrontation rose, global development would come to a halt, and everyone would lose. Saying that China stands ready to work with all parties to further implement the GDI, advance the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at a faster pace, and reinvigorate global development, he put forward four points as follows:

  • We need to foster a stable and open international environment for development. Peace and stability underpin development and prosperity; openness and cooperation sustain economic growth. Decoupling, severing supply chains and bloc confrontation would only hurt the global economy, disrupt global order and create greater risks.
  • We need to build balanced and universally beneficial partnerships for development. Behind the growing North-South development gap in recent years are the inequalities and inequity in rights, opportunities and rules. Certain developed countries are reluctant to fulfill their pledges of development financing, and even cut off funding to global development institutions, which has seriously undermined North-South cooperation.
  • We need to cultivate future-oriented drivers for innovation-driven development. At present, rapid advances in technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and big data are becoming a powerful driver of global development. We need to seize the opportunities to enhance international cooperation on scientific and technological innovation and oppose such moves as putting up walls and barriers and blocking the flow of technology.
  • We need to promote green and low-carbon development with greater sustainability. Climate change, environmental degradation and overconsumption of resources are major challenges facing the world. Development is in urgent need of a green transition. Climate and ecosystem know no borders, and homeland Earth should be jointly preserved.

He added that China will continue to strengthen scientific and technological cooperation to empower global development. Over the years, China has readily shared its scientific and technological innovation outcomes and advanced the AI Capacity-Building Action Plan for Good and for All, to help countries across the Global South enhance digital and intelligence capabilities. In the next five years, China will establish a funding program dedicated to digital capacity-building within the Global Development Capital Pool to support the ‘Digital South’ initiative under the GDI. China will also initiate an International Alliance of Sustainable Development Satellites to provide solid support of space observation data for global development.

Continue reading Li Qiang issues rallying call for development at UN

China and Cuba show that a better world is not only possible – it is being built day by day

The opening session of our China Conference 2025, held in London on September 27, was addressed by senior diplomats from the embassies of the People’s Republic of China, Republic of Cuba, Russian Federation, Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and Lao People’s Democratic Republic.

Below we reprint the main body of the inspiring speech delivered by Pablo Arturo Ginarte Sampedro, First Secretary of the Embassy of the Republic of Cuba. He notes that: “This year we celebrate a momentous milestone: the 65th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Cuba and the People’s Republic of China. In 1960, revolutionary Cuba became the first nation in the Western Hemisphere to recognise the People’s Republic. That decision was an act of sovereignty and principle, and it laid the foundation for what has become an unbreakable, ironclad friendship. That friendship was forged by the historic leaders of our revolutions, Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz and Chairman Mao Zedong.”

It is a profound honor to address you today from this historic place, Bolívar Hall, a beacon of Latin American culture and resistance here in London, graciously hosted by our dear Venezuelan comrades. On behalf of the people and government of the Republic of Cuba, I bring you the warmest, most fraternal greetings.

This year we celebrate a momentous milestone: the 65th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Cuba and the People’s Republic of China. In 1960, revolutionary Cuba became the first nation in the Western Hemisphere to recognise the People’s Republic. That decision was an act of sovereignty and principle, and it laid the foundation for what has become an unbreakable, ironclad friendship.

That friendship was forged by the historic leaders of our revolutions, Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz and Chairman Mao Zedong. From those early days it has grown into a comprehensive strategic partnership. Today we work hand in hand to build a China-Cuba community with a shared future.

Our partnership extends well beyond trade and infrastructure. Equally important is our collaboration in science and technology. Together we are building sovereign scientific capacity in the Global South so the benefits of the fourth industrial revolution serve people, not only the profits of a few multinational corporations. This scientific solidarity is essential for achieving genuine independence in the 21st century.

For Cuba, these are not abstract ideals. For more than 60 years my country has resisted the most brutal and prolonged economic, commercial, and financial blockade in human history, a criminal policy imposed by the United States. In that struggle our friendship with China has been a vital pillar of support. Through trade, investment, and solidarity, China has offered a crucial lifeline and shown the world a model of relations based on sincere mutual assistance rather than imperial domination.

Continue reading China and Cuba show that a better world is not only possible – it is being built day by day

China’s Premier champions peace, justice and development at UN General Assembly

Chinese Premier Li Qiang spoke in the general debate of the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on September 26.

He began by noting that: “This year marks the 80th anniversary of the victory of the World Anti-Fascist War. It is also the 80th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations (UN). Eighty years ago, fascism was defeated in fearless battles by countless heroic men and women around the world, and the UN was created upon their ideal of a world free of war.

“An important outcome of the victory of the World Anti-Fascist War, the UN was born out of a deep reflection on the scourge of two world wars. Its founding initiated a historic experiment to escape the law of the jungle, and marked the beginning of an extraordinary journey, i.e. building the postwar international order and pursuing peace and development. The past 80 years have been tortuous but purposeful.”

The last eight decades, he continued, have seen, “human society leapfrog from the age of electricity and computers into a digital intelligence era. While the world we live in has changed enormously, the ideal of making it a better place remains unchanged.”

In this regard he identified three key aspects:

  • Peace and development are the strongest aspirations shared by the people of all countries. Throughout history, while the shadows of war and conflict have never fully gone away, no force has ever stopped humanity in its quest for peace and development. Having gone through two world wars, we must never forget the bitter lessons learned through bloodshed and loss of lives.
  • Solidarity and cooperation are the most powerful drivers for human progress. In the ferocious years of the World Anti-Fascist War, countries with different social systems, histories and cultures rose above their differences, fought side by side, and prevailed together. All this proves a simple yet powerful point – solidarity lifts everyone up, while division drags all down.
  • Fairness and justice are the most important values pursued by the international community. In the past 80 years, the world saw the demise of the old colonial system, the establishment of the existing international order, and the strengthening of international rule of law. History keeps reminding us that when might dictates right, the world risks division and regression; when fairness and justice prevail, societies enjoy stability and thrive. Should the era of the law of the jungle return and the weak be left as prey to the strong, human society would face even more bloodshed and brutality.

Turning to the present situation, he made this appeal:

“At present, the world has entered a new period of turbulence and transformation. Unilateralism and Cold War mentality are resurfacing, the international rules and order built over the past 80 years are under serious challenge, and the once-effective international system is constantly disrupted. The various problems induced are distressing and worrying. Humanity has once again come to a crossroads. Anyone who cares about the state of affairs in the world would want to ask: Why couldn’t we humans, having emerged from tribulations, adopt a greater sense of conscience and rationality, and treat each other with kindness and coexist in peace? How could we, in the face of deplorable incidents such as humanitarian disasters, turn a blind eye to atrocities that trample blatantly on fairness and justice and sit on our hands? How could we, when confronted with unscrupulous acts of hegemonism and bullying, remain silent and submissive for fear of might?”

Li explained that the Global Governance Initiative proposed at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s Tianjin Summit at the beginning of September underscores the principles of adhering to sovereign equality, abiding by international rule of law, practicing multilateralism, advocating the people-centred approach and focusing on taking real actions. China, he said, is ready to take coordinated and effective actions together with all sides to offer more concrete solutions and promote world peace and development.

Continue reading China’s Premier champions peace, justice and development at UN General Assembly

Xi Jinping at the UN Climate Summit: Green and low-carbon transition is the trend of the time

In video remarks to the United Nations Climate Summit on 24 September 2025, Chinese President Xi Jinping called for a renewed global commitment to climate action. He stressed that green and low-carbon transition is the “trend of our time”, urging countries not to be swayed by the backsliding of “some country” (presumably referring to the United States) and to deliver ambitious Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).

Xi outlined three key principles. First, confidence: the world must stay resolute and consistent in its climate efforts. Second, responsibility: fairness requires that developed nations lead in emissions cuts while providing financial and technological support to developing countries, respecting their right to development. Third, cooperation: countries should strengthen coordination in green technology and industry, ensure open trade in green products, and share the benefits of sustainable growth worldwide.

Announcing China’s new NDCs, Xi pledged that by 2035 China will: reduce net greenhouse gas emissions by 7 to 10 percent from peak levels; raise non-fossil fuels to over 30 percent of energy consumption; expand wind and solar capacity to 3,600 GW (six times 2020 levels); increase forest stock to 24 billion cubic meters; make new energy vehicles dominant in new sales; extend its carbon trading market; and basically establish a climate-adaptive society. He concluded:

Great visions require concrete actions. Climate response is an urgent yet long-term task. Let’s all step up our actions to realize the beautiful vision of harmony between man and nature, and preserve planet Earth—the place we call home.

In a blog post, veteran educator and activist Mike Klonsky contrasted President Xi’s vision with Donald Trump’s speech at the UN General Assembly – “a long and humiliating rant, filled with personal grievances and attacks on the UN, European leaders, migration policies, and clean energy.” Mike observes that Trump “spent about a quarter of his speech undermining UN-led efforts to address climate change and ridiculing renewable energy policies”. Meanwhile, “China is quietly rewriting the global energy script. The numbers aren’t just staggering—they’re humiliating for any nation like the US, still tethered to fossil-fuelled delusions”.

A Morning Star report of 25 September quotes UN climate chief Simon Stiell saying that plan announced by President Xi “is a clear signal that the future global economy will run on clean energy.”

In a separate opinion piece for the Morning Star on 25 September, London-based climate activist Paul Atkin describes the extraordinary progress China is making in relation to green energy:

• China has 17.2 per cent of the world’s people but half of the world’s solar, wind power and EVs.
• Last year, China installed as much renewable power as the US has in its entire history.
• Three out of four offshore wind turbines in 2025 are being installed in China.
• This April, China installed solar power at a rate equivalent to a new power station every eight minutes.
• Enormous solar and wind farms are being built. One of these, in Tibet, is the size of Chicago.

Paul points to the urgent necessity of working closely with China in pursuit of a sustainable future: “As the climate crisis deepens, the cost of being shackled to the US and its cold war stance against China will become more and more apparent — a point we have to make in and through the unions, Labour, the Greens and Your Party.”

Paul is among the speakers at the Socialist China Conference on Saturday 27 September.

We republish below President Xi’s speech at the UN Climate Summit, followed by the text of Paul Atkin’s article.

Honoring Commitments with Concrete Actions and Jointly Writing a New Chapter in Global Climate Governance

Remarks by H.E. Xi Jinping, President of the People’s Republic of China
At the United Nations Climate Summit
September 24, 2025

Your Excellency Secretary General António Guterres,

Your Excellency President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva,

Colleagues,

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Paris Agreement, a pivotal year for countries to submit their new Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). Global climate governance is entering a key stage.

I wish to share with you three points.

First, we must firm up confidence. Green and low-carbon transition is the trend of our time. While some country is acting against it, the international community should stay focused on the right direction, remain unwavering in confidence, unremitting in actions and unrelenting in intensity, and push for formulation and delivery on NDCs, with a view to providing more positive energy to the cooperation on global climate governance.

Second, we must live up to responsibilities. In the course of global green transition, fairness and equity should be upheld and the right to development of developing countries fully respected. The transition should serve to narrow rather than widen the North-South gap. Countries need to honor the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities, whereby developed countries should take the lead in fulfilling emission reduction obligations and provide more financial and technological support to developing countries.

Third, we must deepen cooperation. The world now faces a huge demand for green development. It is important that countries strengthen international coordination in green technologies and industries to address the shortfall in green production capacity and ensure free flow of quality green products globally, so that the benefits of green development can reach all corners of the world.

Colleagues,

Let me take this opportunity to announce China’s new NDCs as follows: China will, by 2035, reduce economy-wide net greenhouse gas emissions by 7% to 10% from peak levels, striving to do better; increase the share of non-fossil fuels in total energy consumption to over 30%; expand the installed capacity of wind and solar power to over six times the 2020 levels, striving to bring the total to 3,600 gigawatts; scale up the total forest stock volume to over 24 billion cubic meters; make new energy vehicles the mainstream in the sales of new vehicles; expand the National Carbon Emissions Trading Market to cover major high-emission sectors; and basically establish a climate adaptive society.

These targets represent China’s best efforts based on the requirements of the Paris Agreement. Meeting these targets requires both painstaking efforts by China itself and a supportive and open international environment. We have the resolve and confidence to deliver on our commitments.

Colleagues,

Great visions require concrete actions. Climate response is an urgent yet long-term task. Let’s all step up our actions to realize the beautiful vision of harmony between man and nature, and preserve planet Earth—the place we call home.

Thank you.

Time to follow China’s climate leadership

The climate crisis is happening now. We are in a crucial decade in the century that will make or break human civilisation. 

It will not follow a path of Fabian gradualism. In physics as in politics, long periods of apparent stasis, in which forces build, hit a tipping point, setting off sudden, dramatic shifts; unimaginable until they happen, but making the previous period unimaginable once they have. 

China aims to build a moderately prosperous socialist society as an ecological civilisation, expressed in the “Two Mountains” proposition — that green mountains with clear water are as valuable as mountains of gold. 

So, as China grows, it will be green; not socialism with a green component, but green socialism. As one Canadian commentator put it: “China is pushing power sector transformation through central planning. It can build clean infrastructure quickly.” 

So, if you have socialist planning, you can put social and ecological priorities in command in a way that the West can’t. 

“China sees the old fossil fuel growth model as … unable to sustain long-term prosperity.” 

If the socialism that’s built isn’t green, it can’t survive. Investment in solar power, electric vehicles, batteries, and wind power is now the core driver of China’s economy.

• China has 17.2 per cent of the world’s people but half of the world’s solar, wind power and EVs. 
• Last year, China installed as much renewable power as the US has in its entire history.
• Three out of four offshore wind turbines in 2025 are being installed in China.
• This April, China installed solar power at a rate equivalent to a new power station every eight minutes.
• Enormous solar and wind farms are being built. One of these, in Tibet, is the size of Chicago.

China now has 57 per cent of its electricity generated by renewables, compared to 50.8 per cent for Britain. China’s domestic emissions are peaking, even as demand for energy increases. Emissions were down 1.6 per cent, and coal consumption dropped by 2.6 per cent, in the first half of this year. 

The International Energy Agency expects China to hit peak oil in 2027. As China had driven two-thirds of global oil demand growth from 2013 to 2023, it is set to plateau then drop before 2030.

This makes investment in fossil fuel exploration or power plants increasingly risky. Banks that have traditionally put huge resources into them are beginning to get cold feet. This is putting the US fossil fuel drive at odds with markets. China’s decision to stop coal investment overseas has been pivotal. 

• China’s clean energy exports in 2024 shaved 1 per cent off global emissions outside of China.
• Three-quarters of global fossil fuel demand is now in nations where this has already peaked.
• More than 60 per cent of emerging and developing economies like Brazil and Vietnam are leapfrogging the US and Europe in clean electrification.
• Pakistan doubled its previous grid capacity with new rooftop solar last year.
• Solar panel exports from China to Africa are up 60 per cent this year. 

Three factors underlie this. 

Physics: fossil fuels are wasteful. Two-thirds of their energy is lost to heat or inefficiency. Solar, electric motors, and heat pumps are two to four times as efficient. 

Economics: as fossil fuel reserves deplete, they become more expensive to access. The more electric technology is manufactured, the cheaper and better it becomes.

Geopolitics: the old energy system left three-quarters of humanity dependent on expensive, imported fuels. Electric technologies unlock local resources. 

So, the Western model of development is outmoded, and the future does not, and cannot, look like the US. China is not following the US in a race to the bottom. Ma Zhaoxu, China’s vice-foreign minister, says: “Regardless of how the international situation evolves, China’s proactive actions to address climate change will not slow down.”

In rolling back Joe Biden’s attempt to suck green investment into the US, Donald Trump has abandoned the future. 

This doesn’t simply involve domestic economic self-sabotage, with more expensive fossil fuel plants pushing up bills, offshore wind farms cancelled, imperilling supply in regions like New England, but also a wrecking ball taken to disaster emergency relief and scientific research monitoring the climate.

As the world’s leading petrostate, US policy now actively suppresses the truth about climate change. Their aim is to lock as much of the world as possible into fossil fuel bondage.

Success for the US would lock the world, and the US itself, into climate collapse. But, while the US still makes some of the weather — literally in this case — it’s no longer able to determine the direction of the world.

As climate scientist and 350.org founder Bill McKibben puts it in his article Here Comes the Sun: “Big Oil spent more money on last year’s election cycle in my country than they’ve ever done before. And it’s why they’re now being rewarded with a whole variety of measures designed to slow this transition down, which may succeed.

“I mean, it’s possible that 20 years from now, the US will be a kind of museum of internal combustion that other people will visit to see what the olden days were like. But it’s not going to slow the rest of the world down much, I don’t think.” 

There is a tension in the British government, with its attempt to dodge tariffs by bending the knee and committing to an annual £77 billion black hole in “defence” spending, and the stated direction of the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero to make Britain an “electrostate.” This involves some co-operation with China, but would require more investment than the military spend will allow. 

Reform UK and the Conservative Party aim at consolidating energy dependence on the US, no matter how ruinous the cost. As the climate crisis deepens, the cost of being shackled to the US and its cold war stance against China will become more and more apparent — a point we have to make in and through the unions, Labour, the Greens and Your Party.

Is China a threat?

On 24 September 2025, Friends of Socialist China supporters in Yorkshire, Britain, organised a webinar on the theme of Is China Really a Threat?

The main speakers at the webinar were Jacquie Luqman (activist, journalist, radio host, and Coordinating Committee Chair of Black Alliance for Peace) and Carlos Martinez (author, and co-editor of Friends of Socialist China).

In her contribution, Jacquie argues that China’s achievements building socialism and a better life for the Chinese people are an outstanding example of what can be achieved when power is taken away from the exploiting class. China shows that it’s possible to achieve development and modernisation without recourse to colonialism and imperialism. She notes that China is vilified by the Western media because it provides the “threat of a good example”, disproving the lie which constitutes the whole foundation of capitalist ideology: that socialism doesn’t work.

Carlos’s contribution addresses the accusations that China is an aggressive, expansionist power intent on disrupting the “rules-based international order”, and compares the reality of China’s peaceful rise with that of the imperialist powers. He concludes that, rather than being a threat, China stands at the core of a multipolar trajectory providing a desperately needed alternative to the destructive hegemony of the United States — an alternative based on peace, co-operation, friendship and sustainable development.

The two speeches are embedded below, along with an article based on Carlos’s contribution, which appeared in the Morning Star on 26 September, in advance of the Socialist China Conference being held in London on Saturday 27 September.

Continue reading Is China a threat?

Communist forces played the main role in defeating Japanese militarism

On Sunday 21 September, Friends of Socialist China (FoSC) and the International Manifesto Group (IMG) jointly organised a webinar on the theme, ‘World War Against Fascism: Remembering China’s Role in Victory 80 Years On’.

Speakers were:

  • Ken Hammond (Historian and China scholar)
  • Chen Weihua (Former EU bureau chief of China Daily)
  • Jodie Evans (Co-founder of Code Pink)
  • Jenny Clegg (Author and peace activist)
  • Keith Bennett (Co-editor of Friends of Socialist China)
  • KJ Noh (Journalist, writer and educator)
  • Radhika Desai (International Manifesto Group), Moderator.

Below we carry the full text of Keith’s contribution. (It was shortened somewhat on delivery due to time constraints.)

The livestream of the webinar may be viewed here. And all the individual speeches as delivered may be found on the IMG’s YouTube channel.

On May 8, 1945, people in Britain celebrated VE Day. Six years of all-out war in Europe against Nazi and fascist tyranny had come to a victorious conclusion.

But whilst the nation struggled with a collective hangover the next day, it did so with the knowledge that the war in East and Southeast Asia, and in the Pacific, continued. And, at that point, nobody could be sure for how long.

Given the circumstances of the time, the war in the East may have seemed remote to many. But not to those whose loved ones were fighting in Burma or elsewhere or worse still were enduring the dreadful cruelty that characterised being a Japanese Prisoner of War.

While, as events transpired, the war in Asia-Pacific was to last just a few more months – due not least to the decisive intervention of the Soviet Red Army rather than to the criminal bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki – this does serve to underline that the world anti-fascist war began first in the East, specifically in China, and that it lasted the longest.

Conventional British history would have us believe that the war began on September 3, 1939. Although it may not have seemed that way to the peoples of Spain, whose courageous fight against fascism began in 1936. Or to the people of Ethiopia – their country invaded by fascist Italy the previous year.

But the Chinese people’s war of resistance against Japanese aggression began in 1931, after Japan rigged up the puppet state of Manchukuo in northeast China.

This in turn became a nationwide war of resistance in 1937, with the Marco Polo, or Lugou, Bridge Incident heralding Japan’s all out invasion.

At that time, while progressive people around the world rallied to the support of China, the only state to take a clear stand in support of the Chinese people’s resistance was the USSR. And this clearly impacted on the entire geopolitical pattern in the region.

As President Xi Jinping noted in his article for the Russian media, published just prior to his state visit to attend the victory celebrations in Moscow this May: “In the darkest hours of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the Soviet Volunteer Group, which was part of the Soviet Air Force, came to Nanjing, Wuhan and Chongqing to fight alongside the Chinese people, bravely engaging Japanese invaders in aerial combat—many sacrificing their precious lives.”

Continue reading Communist forces played the main role in defeating Japanese militarism

Xi Jinping: At all times, our work must be for the people and we must do our best to improve the well-being of all the people

Chinese President Xi Jinping addressed the commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War, held on September 3 in Beijing’s Tienanmen Square, just prior to the commencement of the military parade.

Xi described it as “an occasion for us to remember history, honour fallen heroes, cherish peace, and create a better future” and paid “high tribute to our veteran soldiers and comrades, patriots, and officers who fought in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, and to the Chinese nationals from home and abroad who made important contributions to our victory. I express my sincere thanks to foreign governments and friends that supported and assisted the Chinese people in resisting aggression. I also extend a warm welcome to our guests from around the world who are with us today.”

He added: “The Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression was a great war fought with tenacity and valour. Under the banner of the national united front against Japanese aggression established at the initiative of the Communist Party of China, the Chinese people stood up to fight the formidable enemy with an iron will, formed a great wall with flesh and blood to defend the nation, and ultimately achieved the first complete victory in resisting foreign aggression in modern times… The Chinese nation is a great nation that is never intimidated by any bullies and always values independence and forges ahead. In the past, when faced with critical struggles between good and evil, light and darkness, progress and reaction, the Chinese people rallied together to defy the enemy. They fought for the survival of the country, for the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, and for justice for the whole of humanity. Today, humanity again has to choose between peace and war, dialogue and confrontation, win-win cooperation and zero-sum game. The Chinese people firmly stand on the right side of history and the progress of human civilisation. We will remain committed to the path of peaceful development and join hands with all peoples around the world in building a community with a shared future for humanity.”

Towards the conclusion of his remarks he stated: “On the new journey in the new era, the Chinese people of all ethnic groups should, under the strong leadership of the Communist Party of China, follow Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought, Deng Xiaoping Theory, the Theory of Three Represents and the Scientific Outlook on Development, and fully implement the Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for the New Era.”

Shortly afterwards, Xi hosted a lunch in the Great Hall of the People for visiting foreign heads of state and government, other prominent politicians, and the relatives of international friends and comrades who had supported the Chinese people during the war, among others.

He noted: “Eighty years ago, the Chinese people thoroughly defeated the Japanese militarist aggressors after fighting a bitter and heroic war of resistance for 14 years. This marked the complete victory of the World Anti-Fascist War. It was a historic turning point for the Chinese nation emerging from the grave crises in modern times to embark on the journey toward great rejuvenation; it was also a major turning point in the course of world history.

“The Chinese people won the great victory through their united efforts with the anti-fascist allied forces and the people around the world. The Chinese government and people will never forget the foreign governments and international friends who supported and assisted the Chinese people in resisting aggression.”

He said the purpose of the commemoration was to “remember history, honour fallen heroes, cherish peace, and create a better future,” adding:

“Might may rule the moment but right prevails forever. Justice, light and progress will inevitably triumph over evil, darkness, and regression. At all times, we must advocate the common values of humanity, resolutely defend international fairness and justice, and ensure righteousness prevails and brightness shines in our world.

“The people are the creators of history, and the pursuit of a better life is a shared aspiration of all nations. At all times, our hearts must be with the people, our work must be for the people, and we must do our best to improve the well-being of all the people.”

We reprint the full texts of both speeches below as originally published on the website of the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

Continue reading Xi Jinping: At all times, our work must be for the people and we must do our best to improve the well-being of all the people

BRICS countries seek common stand on ‘tariff wars’

On the evening of September 8, 2025, (Beijing Time) Chinese President Xi Jinping attended a Virtual Summit of the ten full members of the BRICS cooperation mechanism and delivered a speech entitled “Forging Ahead in Solidarity and Cooperation.”

The summit was convened and chaired by Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, whose country holds the current rotating Chair of BRICS. Lula’s initiative was largely triggered by the economic, political and psychological warfare currently being waged by the US Trump administration against many BRICS members, including Brazil, South Africa, India, Russia and China.  Besides Presidents Xi and Lula, it was also attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Khaled bin Mohamed representing the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and the representatives of India and Ethiopia. India was represented by Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, with the absence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi being widely interpreted as indicating his continued vacillation between the interests of the Global South and those of the imperialist camp headed by the United States.

In his speech, President Xi noted that transformation unseen in a century is accelerating across the world. Hegemonism, unilateralism, and protectionism are getting more and more rampant. BRICS countries, standing at the forefront of the Global South, should act on the BRICS Spirit of openness, inclusiveness and win-win cooperation, jointly defend multilateralism and the multilateral trading system, advance greater BRICS cooperation, and build a community with a shared future for humanity.

To this end, President Xi made three proposals:

  • Upholding multilateralism to defend international fairness and justice. Multilateralism is the shared aspiration of the people and the overarching trend of our time. It provides an important underpinning for world peace and development. The Global Governance Initiative that President Xi recently proposed is aimed at galvanising joint global action for a more just and equitable system. Active efforts should be made to promote greater democracy in international relations and increase the representation and voice of Global South countries.
  • Upholding openness and win-win cooperation to safeguard the international economic and trade order. BRICS countries should promote a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalisation, place development at the heart of the international agenda, and ensure that Global South countries participate in international cooperation as equals and share in the fruits of development.
  • Upholding solidarity and cooperation to foster synergy for common development. BRICS countries account for nearly half of the world’s population, around 30 percent of global economic output, and one-fifth of global trade. The more closely they work together, the more resilient, resourceful and effective they are in addressing external risks and challenges.

Other participating leaders said that unilateralist and bullying acts are disrupting the international order, international law and international rules are under threat, and trade is being used as a tool to interfere in other countries’ internal affairs, which severely jeopardises world peace and development. BRICS countries need to strengthen solidarity and collaboration, jointly respond to crises and challenges, safeguard multilateralism, uphold the international system of free and open trade, and protect the common interests of the Global South.

The Bloomberg financial news service further reported  Lula as stating that, “Tariff blackmail is being normalised as an instrument to seize markets and interfere in domestic affairs… Our countries have become victims of unjustified and illegal trade practices.”

Calling for unity, he added: “It is up to BRICS to show that cooperation overcomes any form of rivalry. We have the necessary legitimacy to lead the renewal of the multilateral trading system on modern, flexible foundations geared to our development needs.”

South African President Ramaphosa said developing nations are facing “great hardships and danger” and that South Africa has already experienced negative economic effects from the trade upheaval. He called on BRICS to “play a critical role in strengthening the multilateral system.”

The following articles were originally published on the website of the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

Continue reading BRICS countries seek common stand on ‘tariff wars’

Li Qiang: The Global South should stand at the forefront of global governance reform

The 17th Summit of the BRICS cooperation mechanism was held in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro, July 6-7.

On July 6, Chinese Premier Li Qiang delivered a speech at the plenary session focused on the theme of Peace and Security and Reform of Global Governance.

He noted that: “Today, transformations unseen in a century are accelerating in the world. Geopolitical conflicts and economic and trade frictions keep emerging, flames of war continue to rage in some regions, international rules and order face serious challenges, and the authority and efficacy of multilateral mechanisms are weakening.”

Faced with the growing necessity and urgency to reform the global governance system, China believes that in this process, one must firmly safeguard the shared interests of the international community and always stand on the right side of history. This is the only way to avoid taking a wrong turn or backpedalling, and to march forward in big strides toward peace, security, prosperity and sustainable development.

“There should be less arrogance and prejudice, and more sincerity and understanding. We need to look for the best answer that serves the interests of all through friendly consultation conducted on the basis of equality… Humanity lives in the same global village, and countries have increasingly become one community with a shared future. Whether it is tackling global challenges or promoting long-term development, no country can do it alone. Only by standing together in solidarity and working in close collaboration can we build a better home for us all… Development should not be a zero-sum game where one profits at the expense of the other, but a win-win story where all can benefit through mutual assistance. Countries’ development ought to be opportunities, not threats to each other.”

Observing that over the years, Global South countries have grown stronger and become champions of and contributors to the reform and improvement of the global governance system, Li said that, “standing at the forefront of the Global South, we BRICS countries should uphold independence, act with a sense of responsibility, take bigger steps to build consensus and synergy, and strive to be the pioneering force in advancing global governance reform.”

To this end, he made three key points:

  • We should uphold justice and safeguard world peace and tranquillity. When international rules are being undermined and bullying practices are on the rise, we need to stand up for what is right and speak up for justice.
  • We should focus on development and bolster the driving forces of economic growth. China’s journey of reform and opening up shows that in solving all problems, development is the foundation and key. This year, China will establish the China-BRICS New Quality Productive Forces Research Centre and the BRICS New Industry Golden Egret Excellence Scholarships, which will help BRICS countries train talents in areas such as industry and telecommunication and pursue innovation-driven development.
  • We should uphold inclusiveness and promote exchange and mutual learning among civilisations. With rich histories and cultures, BRICS countries should be advocates of harmonious coexistence of civilisations. We need to call for respect for cultural diversity in the world, and work to ensure that different civilisations inspire each other and prosper together.

The following is the full text of the speech. It was originally published by the Xinhua News Agency.

The summit adopted a detailed declaration. The full text may be read here.

RIO DE JANEIRO, July 6 (Xinhua) — Chinese Premier Li Qiang delivered a speech on Sunday at the plenary session of “Peace and Security and Reform of Global Governance” of the 17th BRICS Summit.

Continue reading Li Qiang: The Global South should stand at the forefront of global governance reform

Reject Western Marxism, defend the socialist countries, and stand with the peoples of the world against imperialism

On Saturday 5 July 2025, Friends of Socialist China hosted – along with the Morning Star, the International Manifesto Group, Critical Theory Workshop and Iskra books – a discussion of Domenico Losurdo’s crucial book, Western Marxism: How it was Born, How it Died, How it can be Reborn, in which the legendary Italian philosopher charts the long and complex history of Marxism’s bifurcation into ‘Western’ and ‘Eastern’ – a division based primarily on the national question and the relative prioritisation of anti-colonial, anti-imperialist struggles.

The meeting was held in-person at Marx Memorial Library in London (and online via Zoom and YouTube), and the packed room was addressed by Gabriel Rockhill (Editor of the English edition), Jennifer Ponce de León (Co-author of the introduction to the English edition), Alex Gordon (Chair, Marx Memorial Library) and Carlos Martinez (Co-editor, Friends of Socialist China), and was chaired by Francisco Domínguez (National secretary, Venezuela Solidarity Campaign).

Embedded below is the video of the event, followed by the text of Carlos’s speech. Carlos describes the journey Marxism has taken since its inception around the world – “a journey to the East and South”, transforming it “from being a liberatory framework for the industrial proletariat in Western Europe and North America, to being a liberatory framework for the working and oppressed peoples around the world”.

He goes on to define academic Western Marxism on the basis of its rejection of this globalisation of class struggle, and explores the material and ideological reasons for this trend’s refusal to support the socialist states and to prioritise the struggle against colonialism and imperialism.

The speech concludes with a plan of action:

Reject dogmatism and purism, reject Eurocentrism and chauvinism, and get back to playing our part in a global united front composed of the socialist countries, the oppressed nations, and the working classes and progressive forces in the imperialist countries. That’s what will get us on the path to a socialist future.

I’ve been involved in the Marxist movement in the West in some way or another since I was a teenager, but thankfully have never got particularly close to Western Marxism.

The political tradition I grew up in emphasised the importance of supporting the socialist states, and always prioritised the struggle against imperialism, colonialism and racism. To support China, to support the DPRK, to support Cuba, to support the national liberation struggles of the Irish, Palestinian, Zimbabwean, Vietnamese and other peoples were very much part of that tradition.

So despite being a Marxist in the West, I haven’t had all that much exposure to the Western Marxist academics described by Losurdo, and haven’t had to go through that extremely difficult “unlearning” process that many others have. I’ve read a lot of Lenin; I’ve read very little Adorno, Zizek and Perry Anderson.

Nevertheless, Losurdo’s book was really clarifying for me, and helped me understand the ideological roots of some of the objectively reactionary positions that you come up against all the time. Because although Western Marxism exists mainly in an academic ivory tower, it seeps into the wider movement for revolutionary change, which it seems to find quite fertile soil.

Marxism moves East and South

Marxism is, obviously, Western by birth. The first line of the Communist Manifesto is after all: “A spectre is haunting Europe — the spectre of communism”.

The nascent communist movement was geographically limited to Europe and North America, and focused almost exclusively on the industrial working class.

But from the beginning, it’s been on a journey to the East and South, including in Marx’s own lifetime.

Continue reading Reject Western Marxism, defend the socialist countries, and stand with the peoples of the world against imperialism