On Sunday 26 January, the Friends of Socialist China US commmittee held a hybrid public meeting (live in Portland and online via Zoom) on the theme of defending Socialist China. The event brought together speakers from a range of different organisations and backgrounds, covering several important themes related to Chinese socialism and the struggle against imperialism and war.
We republish below a report of the event that appeared in Workers World. Beneath the report, we embed the video of the full event as well as the individual contributions.
The Friends of Socialist China – U.S. Chapter, a coalition of anti-imperialist forces, held an incisive hybrid event on Jan. 26, to clarify the international role and domestic policies of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) — to dispel the myriad of misconceptions that pervade the West due to the onslaught of false propaganda that we are forced to consume on a daily basis.
The event was held in person before a packed audience at the Portland, Oregon Central Library. More than 600 people registered for the Zoom webinar hosted by the United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC). Others watched by FaceBook stream and hundreds more are viewing the program on UNAC and Friends of Socialist China YouTube channels.
The analysis of the seven presentations, each taking up a different topic, was striking in its breadth and depth. Especially notable was the vast number of established facts about modern China that would have been news even to someone familiar with the political, economic and social organization of the PRC. Some of those facts follow.
Material conditions in People’s China
During the tenure of Mao Zedong as Chairman of the Communist Party of China (CPC), life expectancy in China grew by one year, every year. The PRC went from practically the poorest country on Earth to solving the basic problems of feeding, clothing, housing, educating (the vast majority were made literate) and caring for the health of their nearly quarter of the world’s population; the role and social position of women were dramatically improved.
The PRC had about 19% of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2024, while the U.S. GDP declined to about 14%. From industries like automobiles and ship-building (about 50 times the capacity of the United States) to steel and green technologies, the PRC is leaving the United States behind.
The PRC is one of only four formerly colonized countries or regions to achieve “developed” status. It accomplished this without slavery, without colonization, without war and without invading foreign countries.
China has the longest post-retirement life expectancy — between 18 to 28 years. Blue=collar women workers can retire at age 50 and men at 55. Others retire between the ages of 60 and 63.
Some 70% of Chinese millennials own their own homes. This is twice the rate of the U.S. Between 90% and 96% of Chinese households own their own homes, usually without any debt.
Continue reading Portland event answers questions and debunks propaganda about People’s China