China

From the Long March 1934 to Tiananmen 1989

From Workers’ Liberty 12-13 The Chinese Communist Party [after its defeats in 1926-7 thanks to Stalin’s policy, and then its conversion from a working-class socialist party, however misled, into a Stalinist political machine] more and more it withdrew from the towns, until by the mid-30s it had no influence or implantation in the towns worth speaking of. Because of the weakness of the central state, the poor communications and transport, and the vast distances, the Maoist “warlords” could resist the central state’s drives against them. Chiang [and the GMD], who saw the Maoists for the threat...

How Beijing workers organised their own union

The Workers' Autonomous Federation emerged in May 1989 as a prototype for a future independent trade union movement in China. It arose alongside the student demonstrations which began in April 1989 calling for greater democracy, an end to corruption, a more open and accountable government and autonomous student unions. Under the red banner of the Workers' Autonomous Federation and fluttering slogans calling for democracy and freedom of association, between fifty and one hundred workers erected a tented headquarters on the outskirts of the students' tents at the Tiananmen Square in Beijing in...

West Bank surveillance echoes China

In a development that echoes the Chinese state’s repressive methods against the Uyghur people, the Israeli military is monitoring Palestinians in the occupied territories with a vast and intrusive database of personal details. This database is connected to facial recognition cameras and smartphone apps that Israeli soldiers and settlers use to stop, scan, control and detain civilians. The database and the apps have been described by former Israeli soldiers interviewed by the Washington Post and Breaking The Silence. BTS is an Israeli organisation of ex-soldiers campaigning against the...

China document (Motion at AWL Conference 2023)

China document Summary of recent developments Unrest, the White Paper Movement and the end of “Dynamic Zero Covid” (DZC) China's DZC policy was not like any other country's lockdowns, and involved much more than protecting the population. It was a brutal, ultra-repressive regime and an exercise in extending the state’s surveillance and enforcement capacity This repression was not evenly experienced but intensified (and was used to intensify) existing inequalities of class and oppressed groups. The last quarter of 2022 saw an escalation of unrest: scattered worker protests, the Sitong Bridge...

Zheng Chaolin, great Chinese revolutionary socialist

Zheng Chaolin (1901-98), the veteran leader of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the Chinese Trotskyist movement, devoted his entire life to the cause of the liberation of the Chinese workers and peasants. Now at last Zheng Chaolin’s Selected Writings have been translated and published. Gregor Benton, who translated and edited these texts and Prophets Unarmed (2015), deserves huge praise for making the writings available in English. Every revolutionary socialist worth their salt should know the life and writings of Zheng Chaolin. Life Zheng Chaolin was born in 1901 in Fujian province. In...

Zheng Chaolin, great Chinese revolutionary socialist

Zheng Chaolin (1901-98), the veteran leader of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the Chinese Trotskyist movement, devoted his entire life to the cause of the liberation of the Chinese workers and peasants. Now at last Zheng Chaolin’s Selected Writings have been translated and published. Gregor Benton, who translated and edited these texts and Prophets Unarmed (2015), deserves huge praise for making the writings available in English. Every revolutionary socialist worth their salt should know the life and writings of Zheng Chaolin. Life Zheng Chaolin was born in 1901 in Fujian province. In...

The Feminist Five

In the days before International Women ’s Day 2015, Chinese authorities arrested five women — Wei Tingting, Zheng Churan, Li Maizi, Wu Rongrong and Wang Man — for planning to hand out stickers challenging sexual harassment on public transport across China. They were detained for 37 days. Over the course of their detainment, the five were subjected to violent interrogations, denied important medication and medical treatment, and were routinely harassed and humiliated. The women had been involved in feminist and LGBTQ rights activism for some years. While at university, Zheng Churan — known by...

Free the Hong Kong 47!

On Monday 6 February, the landmark trial began in Hong Kong of 47 leading members of the 2019-20 democracy movement on charges of subversion. Most of the defendants have already been in prison awaiting trial for almost two years. Five have been threatened with life imprisonment. The Hong Kong 47 (HK47) include almost every leading public figure who has been prominent in calling for democratic and workers' rights in HK. Veteran socialist Leung Kwok-Hung ("Long Hair") of Hong Kong's League of Social Democrats is among them, and trade union leaders Carol Ng and Winnie Yu. Carol had earlier been a...

More crises to come in China

There should be little doubt amongst Chinese citizens that protesters won an important battle against Xi Jinping’s government, a regime that seemed all powerful. Xi had to change tack drafted after pledging that his government is “unwavering” in its commitment to dynamic Zero-Covid. A combination of drastic economic downturn and widespread protests, as Omicron eluded every isolation attempt, was more than the Chinese Communist Party could cope with. So Xi went for a sudden and reckless dismantling of curbs. China’s National Health Commission has now announced (Thursday 19 January) that...

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