Report: Hands off China meeting held in Bristol

The first meeting of Hands off China to take place outside London was held in Bristol on 12 October at the Malcolm X Community Centre, St Pauls.

The meeting was introduced by Comrade Giles Shorter of the CPGB-ML, who welcomed the audience and gave an overview of what Hands off China aims to achieve in Bristol and elsewhere. He introduced the main speaker, Comrade Keith Bennett, an expert in Asian politics and longstanding supporter of the People’s Republic of China.

Comrade Keith began by highlighting the significance of the meeting being held in the Malcolm X Centre. Malcolm X made a significant contribution to the struggle against imperialism, and was highly supportive and appreciative of the role played by post-revolutionary China in that struggle.

Keith addressed the reasons for supporting China in the current climate, noting the extraordinary advances made by the Chinese people since the revolution in 1949. The achievements that China has made under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party have taken place in the face of ongoing attempts by imperialism to weaken the PRC, whether under the guise of ‘freeing’ Tibet or orchestrating a totally unsuccessful campaign to boycott the Bejing Olympics.

Comrade Keith reminded the audience that, only sixty years ago, China was poor, oppressed and despised. Now it is strong, united and dignified. It has lifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty and massively raised social welfare through the hard work and sacrifices of successive generations.

Keith addressed the issue of China’s wider role in the world, commenting that China was focussed on building relations with developing countries on the basis of mutual assistance, fair trade and non-interference. China has had a hugely progressive role in Africa and South America, giving valuable support to enable the construction of schools, hospitals, roads and other infrastructure to countries seeking to break free from imperialist domination and build independent societies.

Commenting on Hugo Chavez’s recent visit to China where he declared himself a Maoist and voiced his support for ‘China’s strategy to end US domination of world affairs’, Comrade Keith continued to reiterate the significance of the support China lends peoples’ struggles across the globe. Without the PRC, the situation of other socialist, progressive and developing countries would be immeasurably more difficult.

Comrade Keith concluded his presentation by pointing out that the work of building the Hands off China campaign is not intended to replace solidarity work with other struggles across the globe, such as in Cuba, North Korea, Venezuela, Nepal, Palestine or the Iraqi and Afghan resistance; rather it is done in order to strengthen the worldwide revolutionary front and widen the opposition to imperialism. Defence of the People’s Republic of China is a crucial issue for all the oppressed and progressive people of the world, because, if the PRC were to be defeated, it would be a world-historic setback for the masses everywhere.

Discussion

Comrade Keith’s presentation was followed by a lively and fruitful discussion. Questions were asked about the state of China’s economy in light of the current global economic crisis and the amount of US currency held by China at the moment. It was indicated that, over the past three years, there has been a change in policy aimed at diversifying the currency held by China, in order to reduce the dependency on the US dollar. Nevertheless, this does not entirely alleviate the current situation, and the Chinese will no doubt be doing everything within their power to limit the impact of the international crisis on the Chinese population.

Extensive discussion took place on the question of Tibet, as a small number of people in the audience were calling for Tibetan independence and criticising the PRC’s supposed aggression against the Tibetan people.

The speakers, as well as members of the audience, pointed out that Tibet had been part of China for centuries and had made no claim for independence until a decade after the Chinese revolution (when the successful development of infrastructure under the PRC was undermining the feudal control of the Dalai Lama and his cohorts). Indeed, the very concept of ‘Tibetan independence’ was a creation of British imperialism.

The allegations that the violence in Lhasa earlier this year was the result of aggressive actions by the army were dispelled with reference to the riots that were instigated by a small number of buddhist monks against not only Han Chinese but also muslim and Tibetan peoples.

It was also pointed out during the discussion that the right of nations to self-determination is a very concrete question, not an abstract one. Not every community of people constitutes a nation and not every nation needs to or should exercise its right to self-determination by opting for secession. Consequently, the demand for self-determination of a given nation is not automatically progressive and worthy of our support – the international balance of forces, among other factors, needs to be taken into consideration. Reference was made to Bolivia, where the minority of white landowners and bourgeoisie have been calling for autonomy of a number of regions in direct opposition to the progressive government of Evo Morales. In such a situation, no progressive would defend the right of this minority of exploiters to their self determination. Neither was support given to the idea peddled by the white apartheid regime before its final removal that each tribe within South Africa should be given its independent self determination, as it was clear this would have been done in order to divide and rule the peoples of South Africa as a whole.

In relation to Tibet, the same litmus test has to be applied. As part of the PRC, Tibet has benefited from investment in infrastructure, provision of schools, books, healthcare and the abolition of the barbaric feudal system under which the Tibetan people had suffered for centuries. Furthermore, Tibetan culture and language have been consistently supported and have thrived. If Tibet were to break from China, it would certainly not become any more independent. The Dalai Lama has already made clear his supportive relationship with Anglo-American imperialism, and a Tibet under the auspices of US imperialism is not going to be one that focuses on the rights and living standards of the average Tibetan people (human rights and living standards are largely ignored even within the borders of the US!) but simply a cat’s paw to be used against China.

The meeting was rounded up by Comrade Giles, who thanked all for attending and urged those who were not already involved to join the campaign and keep an eye out for future events that will be held by Hands off China in Bristol and nationally.

Chinese citizens up for debate over healthcare reform

China Daily article

BEIJING, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) — China’s new healthcare reform plan, which aims to provide universal medical service to 1.3 billion people, has triggered nationwide debate since it was publicized on Tuesday morning.

News articles on healthcare reform showed up in major newspapers and online forums were swarmed with netizens eager to express their opinion.

More than 900 comments were left on the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) website in less than two days.

Suggestions, complaints and criticisms kept pouring into the site, which the Chinese authorities set up to solicit opinions on the long-awaited reform plan.

“I suggest leaders pay more attention to medical services in rural areas,” Cao Pengfei wrote. “It would cost more than a 1,000 yuan (146 U.S. dollars) for a minor illness in my county,” added the Shandong Province resident.

“I have no stable job and travel from place to place for work. I was wondering how people like me could be covered by medical insurance?” Ma Shengcheng asked.

Many proposed long lists of suggestions. Xia Shaochun wrote thousands of words, analyzing the problems of the current insurance system and government funding.

Opinions of health experts were seen in newspapers and magazines. Besides commenting on the plan itself, many agreed the government had taken an unprecedented open attitude towards the reform.

Healthcare reform expert Gu Xin told the China Youth Daily that scholars in the past were often asked to prove the validity and thinking behind a government decision after it was made.

“But as for the healthcare reform plan, scholars really participated in it,” he said. “The government asked for our opinions and paid great attention before the plan was drafted.”

Growing public criticism of soaring medical fees, a lack of access to affordable medical services, poor doctor-patient relationships and low medical insurance coverage compelled the government to launch the new round of reforms.

China first started reforming healthcare in 1992 to abolish a system under which the government covered more than 90 percent of expenses.

The country then gradually switched to a market-oriented medical system. However, soaring medical costs plunged many rural and urban Chinese into poverty.

In the new plan, the government promised to set up a “safe, effective, convenient and affordable” healthcare system that would cover all urban and rural residents by 2020.

The draft lists five priorities: speeding up the establishment of a universal healthcare system, setting up a basic drug system, improving the grassroots health service network, providing equal public health service to rural and urban residents and pushing forward reform trials in state-run hospitals.

Healthcare reform debates have been going on in China for years. In 2006, the State Council, the country’s Cabinet, set up a joint-working team consisting of experts from 16 departments to create a reform plan.

An official with the team told Xinhua the group had conducted numerous seminars and undertook field investigations in more than 20 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions over the past two years.

It also entrusted nine domestic and overseas organizations, including the World Health Organization, to conduct independent research. The submitted opinions were included in the draft.

In early 2007, the National Development and Reform Commission started a website, inviting public opinion on medical reform. The commission received 1,500 suggestions and 600 letters in less than six months.

In April, Premier Wen Jiabao held two symposiums in Zhongnanhai, the government headquarters in downtown Beijing, to discuss the issue with representatives from the medical field, companies, migrants and farm workers, among others.

“Healthcare reform is a tough problem worldwide,” Peking University professor Li Ling said. “To mobilize the whole nation to join the debate is an unprecedented move of the Chinese government, which ensures that the decision could be made in a prudent, scientific and democratic way.”

UN hails China’s role in south-south cooperation

Xinhua article

UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) — “China has been in the forefront in forging South-South cooperation,” UN Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro told Xinhua in a recent interview, when asked about her comment on China’s development since it embraced an open and reform policy in the late 1970s.

In the last 30 years, there has been a lot of cooperation between China, in its pursuit of the open policy, and other countries, particularly developing ones, she said to Xinhua Thursday.

“In the last few years, we have seen China engaging more and more with the outside world, holding meetings to forge partnerships, all with a view to advancing the social and economic agenda which definitely feeds into the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs),” she said.

Migiro said UN chief Ban Ki-moon also appreciates China’s contribution to the priorities he has been working on by advancing the goal of development.

“China is a key player in the world… and has played its role,” she said.

As a Tanzania national, the ex-foreign minister of Tanzania gave witness to the relationship between China and African countries, including Tanzania, long before she joined the Foreign Ministry.

“I saw it grow,” she said. “It started in the 70s, and we saw China contributing to the economic development in many countries including Tanzania in the area of infrastructure development.”

“Coming from Tanzania, I cannot but mention the immense support China gives to Tanzania and Zambia in building the railway, which is known as the Tazara, as many Chinese would know it by that name– the Tanzania-Zambia Railway,” said Migiro.

China has also supported education, water availability, engineering sector, not only in Tanzania, but in other countries as well, she said.

China is increasing its support and its coordination with other countries, she said, citing the recent China-Africa Forum as “one indication that China was really resolved in increasing its partnership with African countries.”

The deputy UN chief also commended China for contributing immensely to the UN peacekeeping efforts around the world.

“I do hope that China will continue to engage positively for purposes of contributing to peace, security and development,” she added.

China aims to double income of rural residents in 12 years

Xinhua article

BEIJING, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) — China’s ruling Communist Party said on Sunday that it would strive to double the per-capita disposable income of rural residents by 2020 from the 2008 level.

The goal was part of the decision made at the close of the third Plenary Session of the 17th Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, which focused on issues concerning rural reform and development.

Hu Jintao, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, delivered a work report at the four-day plenum, held from Oct. 9 to 12 in Beijing.

The government would also boost consumption of rural residents by a big margin and basically eliminate absolute poverty in rural areas by 2020, according to a communique issued on the plenum’s conclusion.

Per-capita disposable income was recorded at 4,140 yuan (605.6 U.S. dollars) in rural areas in 2007, a year-on-year gain of 9.5 percent in real terms. A rise of at least 6 percent was expected for 2008, according to a government report in March.

The rural population mired in absolute poverty was reduced to 15 million last year, down from 250 million in 1978.

Targets set at the plenum for rural reform and development till 2020 also included “improving the system of economic growth in the countryside and establishing a mechanism to integrate urban and rural areas in terms of economic growth and social development”.

“The modernization of agriculture will advance with major progress, and agricultural productivity will be elevated to a higher level, with national grain security and product supplies guaranteed,” said the communique.

The Central Committee also agreed a goal to improve grassroots democracy in the countryside, and vowed to guarantee equal public services in rural areas, such as education opportunities for all rural residents and better medical services and subsistence support.

The communique said there were several “musts” which should be followed:

– strengthening the position of agriculture as the foundation of the national economy and putting the food security of 1.3 billion people as the top priority.

– protecting farmers’ rights and ensuring the aim and outcome of all the work of the Party and the state is to realize, safeguard and expand the fundamental interests of the majority of the farmers.

– unremittingly liberating and developing the productive forces in rural areas and make reform and innovation as the fundamental driving force for the development of the rural regions.

– taking into overall consideration the development of both urban and rural regions.

– upholding the Party’s role as the leadership in the development of the rural areas.

The communique outlined the plan for advancing rural reform and development in the next few years, giving priority to reform and innovation, developing modern agriculture, boosting the capacity of agricultural production, and developing public utilities in rural regions.

About the land policy, the communique said it was necessary to maintain and improve the basic system for rural operations and improve the strict management system of land in rural regions.

It was also necessary to set up a modern financial system in rural areas and establish a system which would help integrate economic and social development in urban and rural areas.

In addition, the communique said it was imperative to enhance standardization of agricultural products and strengthen work on improving quality of agricultural products.

“We should strictly conduct supervision in the entire production process and carry out supervisory duty to ensure quality of the products. We should never allow unqualified products to enter the market,” it said.

A total of 202 full members and 166 alternate members of the Committee attended the plenum, according to the communique.

Members of standing committee of the CPC central committee for discipline inspection and top officials of the relevant departments were also present at the session, the communique said.

The plenum had also gathered delegates to the 17th CPC National Congress who had been working on agriculture and rural development at grassroots levels, and experts and scholars on agriculture, rural areas and farmers.

This meeting was significant because it was the third Plenary Session of the 11th CPC Central Committee 30 years ago that pushed the country on to the road of its historic reform and opening-up drive.

China leads developing countries on health list

Xinhua article

BEIJING, Oct. 9 — China ranked 13th on a list ranking international health conditions released by a Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) study group on Wednesday.

The tally uses a Nation Health Index (NHI) combining four branch indexes measuring populations’ metabolisms, immunities, nervous systems and behavior, and determined China to be “qualified healthy”.

“A nation is like a person,” CAS’ study group leader Yang Duogui said. Yang explained that immunities hinge on ecological conditions, resistance to financial risk and social stability.

“We based the rankings on an overall assessment of the countries that combined all four branch indexes,” Yang said.

Forty-five countries - accounting for 89.5 percent of the global GDP, 76.6 percent of the population and 64.2 percent of the land - were evaluated in the study.

According to their indexes, they were placed into four categories: “surplus healthy”, “qualified healthy”, “sub-healthy” and “health deficit”.

China ranked No 1 among developing countries because of its pioneering spirit, sense of responsibility, economic vitality and cohesion.

“Our country has adopted a distinctive development process,” Yang said.

China is unique in that it made great efforts to developing its power, rather than wealth, in its early years.

“In the 1950s and 1960s, people were willing to starve to develop advanced sectors, such as nuclear power generation,” Yang said.

However, after the reform and opening-up, the country shifted its priorities to generating national and per-capita wealth.

Over time, problems such as over-development and pollution emerged.

“As the government and people developed greater awareness, China began pursuing sustainable development, which has made it healthier,” Yang said.

“If we work to strengthen our capacities for responding to national risks, controlling the course of development, creativity, and resource and environment protection our country would move up the list,” Yang said.

Finland ranked No 1, and Nigeria came last. Overall, the development pattern of the Northern European countries was the healthiest.

The United States ranked No 11, and Russia came in 29th.

Trade union official: Overseas firms must unionize

(Source: China Daily)

BEIJING, Oct. 8– All foreign-funded companies in China will be unionized by the end of next year, an official with China’s top trade union body said Tuesday.

Wang Ying, a division chief of the grassroots organizations and capacity building department of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU), said more than 4,100 major foreign companies run by the Fortune 500 are doing business in China.

She said 82 percent of the companies have formed trade unions to date, and the figure would reach 90 percent by the end of this year. As of July, workers had been able to form trade unions in less than 50 percent of the Fortune 500 firms.

Wang said the dramatic shift resulted from a three-month national unionization campaign that began in June.
The ACFTU is directly responsible for supervising the formation of trade unions in 10 of the Fortune 500 companies.

Currently, Maersk Logistics, Lotus, IKEA, TNT, Kodak, FedEx, Home Depot, Emerson, Canon, Sony and ABB have trade unions.

“Most of the foreign companies have been cooperative, as they know they must abide by China’s laws if they do business in China,” she said.

She said the ACFTU had also met “tremendous resistance” from some foreign firms, especially American companies.

“Some US companies, such as Wyeth, Microsoft, 3M, AstraZeneca and PwC, have been quite uncooperative and have used various means to delay the establishment of trade unions,” she said.

“Workers do not need the approval of their employers to form trade unions, because the Trade Union Law, promulgated in 1992, gives them that right,” she said.

“However, it is still very important in practice for workers to gain support from the employers in forming unions.”

She said both the American Chamber of Commerce in China and the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry in China have shown support for the ACFTU over the issue.

By law, employers must allocate 2 percent of workers’ pay for trade union funds. Wang explained 40 percent of the funds go to the superior trade union and 60 percent remains in the company.

Senior ACFTU official Yang Honglin said some foreign companies still have misconceptions about trade unions.

“Trade unions in China not only safeguard workers’ rights and interests but also contribute to a company’s development,” he said.

ACFTU vice-chairman Sun Chunlan told a press conference Tuesday in Beijing that the ACFTU is leading another nationwide push for collective wage negotiations.

She said all the 108 Wal-Marts in China had signed collective contracts with their employees through negotiations by Sept 16.

Meeting report: China’s National Day

On Saturday 4 October, a diverse audience of over 80 people packed into Southall’s Saklatvala Hall to attend a highly spirited meeting organised by Hands off China and the CPGB-ML celebrating the 59th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. In addition to the representatives from the Chinese Embassy and the Xinhua News Agency, there were comrades from Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America, plus of course lots of locals. The meeting opened with all standing for the national anthem of the People’s Republic.

Chairing the meeting on behalf of the CPGB-ML, Comrade Harpal Brar explained that the Hands off China campaign had been formed in response to the barrage of anti-China propaganda in the run-up to the Olympic Games. These games, he said, had caused great embarrassment not to China but to its detractors – the Beijing Olympics had truly been a festival of friendship and peace.

Comrade Harpal pointed to the extraordinary achievements that have been made by China, especially in the area of poverty alleviation. He noted the stark contrast between China’s ongoing success and the credit crisis affecting the capitalist countries. Ironically, the US financial institutions will probably be forced to come cap in hand to China, which has $2 trillion in currency reserves!

Harpal also addressed the issue of human rights, ridiculing the British press and NGOs for criticising China’s human rights record whilst keeping silent about the human rights abuses perpetrated by Britain around the world. He pointed out that the Chinese people have employment, shelter, food security and national security – things that imperialism denies people everywhere. He ridiculed the outrageous hypocrisy of those who accuse China of exploiting Africa, when China has had a massively positive impact on developing African infrastructure (with no strings attached). Contrast this with the British record of stripping tens of millions of Africans, loading them onto ships and enslaving them in the cane and cotton fields of America and the Caribbean.

Harpal concluded his speech with a discussion on the importance of Mao’s theory of people’s war and its crucial relevance today, from Nepal to Iraq to Afghanistan.

Comrade Hardev Dhillon, giving a message of support from the Indian Workers’ Association (Great Britain), explained that the IWA(GB) had a long and consistent history of support for China, even when supporting China was considered by the Indian ruling class to be an act of treachery. He said that the IWA(GB) had always understood that there would never really be freedom in India without socialism, without traversing the path of popular liberation forged by the Chinese and others. He concluded with a call to step up our efforts to defend China’s independence and sovereignty, saying: “If China goes down, we all go down”.

Comrade Kojo Amoo Gottfried, former Ghanaian ambassador to China, congratulated Hands off China for helping to counter imperialist lies about China. Talking about China’s long term plan to develop a prosperous socialist society, he cited the Chinese proverb: “If your vision is one year, you grow rice; if your vision is ten years, you plant trees; if your vision is 100 years, you train people to do what is needed to uplift humanity”. He said that, in 59 short years, China had shown the world what could be achieved by a formerly backward and oppressed country – banishing poverty, seeing to people’s education, seeing to people’s health and providing crucial support to other countries.

Kojo admonished the audience to give China their unstinting support. He concluded by saying that, with the support of progressive people, China will always prevail.

Comrade Taimur Rahman, speaking on behalf of the Communist Workers’ and Peasants’ Party (Pakistan) gave a detailed and extremely interesting presentation on China’s rate of growth since its revolution in 1949. Exploding the myth that China’s reform process represented a departure from the socialist road and the historical continuity of the Chinese revolution, he showed that GDP growth had on the whole been remarkably even since the early 1950s (around 9% - an extraordinary rate of growth to sustain for such a long period of time). He also gave the lie to the idea that China’s growth is only due to foreign direct investment, pointing out that those provinces with high levels of FDI do not always achieve higher rates of growth than those provinces with low levels of FDI.

Taimur also pointed out that the variation in growth rate is unusually low; this is evidence that China, with its predominantly socialist economy and its strict economic controls, is not subject to the ‘business cycle’ of boom and bust that all capitalist countries are subjected to.

Comrade Taimur concluded by paying tribute to China’s extensive social programme, which has so greatly benefitted the Chinese people. He noted that, at a time when – according to official statistics – poverty levels are rising in Europe, central Asia and Africa, China has lifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty, and is responsible for 75% of all poverty alleviation over the last 30 years. Taimur congratulated China for its achievements, which are built on the efforts of the Chinese people and which can only be attributed to the Chinese socialist revolution of 1949.

Comrade Mohammed Arif made a statement of support on behalf of the British Afro-Asian Solidarity Organisation. He discussed how the Chinese revolution had unleashed the creative energies of the Chinese people in a land that had for so long been pillaged by imperialism, which was able to ravage China with the help of three things: compass, printing press and gunpowder – all Chinese inventions! Arif supported Taimur’s point about the progress made during the first 30 years of New China, noting that, between 1949 and 1978, life expectancy increased from under 40 to over 62 and child mortality fell from over 20% to under 4%. He pointed out that China had not relied on exploiting other countries; far from it – it had always helped countries in Africa and elsewhere.

After Mohammed Arif’s speech, messages of support were read out, including one from our patron Isabel Crook, a veteran communist revolutionary who lives in China. The message from Vidya Sagar Anand, writer and veteran political activist in the Asian community, said that the 21st century would be China’s century. He recalled the dream of Sun Yat-Sen, the leader of China’s democratic revolution in the early 20th century: that all Chinese children would have shoes and clothes to wear and food to eat. He said that this dream had been realised and surpassed.

Comrade Jack Shapiro, our honorary president and veteran friend of China, inspired the audience, declaring that China had not simply stood up, it had leapt up! Pointing to the success of the recent Beijing Olympic Games, he said: “Have you ever seen such an incredible spectacle in your life?!”

Jack talked at length about the treatment afforded to disabled people in China, which is far better than the treatment afforded them even in rich countries such as Britain. He said that the Disability Act enacted by the Chinese National People’s Congress was the first piece of legislation of its kind anywhere in the world. It was amazing, he said, that China – only 60 years ago a totally devastated country – had become the world leader in enabling and truly liberating disabled people. “In Britain, we still have a long way to go before we treat disabled people as full human beings.”

Jack said that China is leaping forward in every respect and that it would soon be the world’s leading economy. He said that China would “show the world how to run an economic system that benefits all the people, not just a few fat cats”. He concluded on a grave note, pointing out that we are going into a deep crisis of imperialism and that it is the workers who will suffer most. However, he said, this crisis is a signal to us: capitalism is weak; we must be strong and we must use that strength to defeat capitalism for once and for all.

Jack’s inspiring speech was greeted by a standing ovation.

The last speaker of the evening was Comrade Keith Bennett, who remarked on the extraordinary progress made by China since its revolution. China had gone from being “in every respect a ruined and humiliated nation” to being a beacon for peace and progress.

Keith spoke at length about China’s record of proletarian internationalism, pointing out that, less than a year after the formation of the People’s Republic of China, the Chinese People’s Volunteers advanced into Korea wave upon wave to roll back the armies of the United States, Britain and more than a dozen other countries. This heroic contribution cost the lives of hundreds of thousands of fighters, including Comrade Mao Anying, the son of Comrade Mao Zedong.

Comrade Keith also paid tribute to the principled stance taken by the Chinese Communist Party in response to Khruschevite revisionism and its attacks against Stalin and the dictatorship of the proletariat. China maintained its stance in spite being effectively placed under a double embargo – by the United States and the Soviet Union.

Keith spoke of the great joy felt not only by the Chinese people but by the oppressed people of the whole world when, in October 1964, China successfully detonated its first atomic bomb. Malcolm X described this event as “the greatest thing that has ever happened in the 20th century to the black people”. Keith cited the Xinhua report that contained Malcolm X’s comments: “Referring to the present struggle of the American Negroes and the firm support given to this struggle by the Chinese people, he said that the US imperialists would never loosen their grip on the 22 million colonised American Negroes before the peoples of Asia and Africa cast off the yoke of imperialism and became strong. Bearing this in mind, we therefore appreciate the great strides that the Chinese people have made toward true independence and the unlimited contribution they are making to help the oppressed peoples in other parts of the world to throw off the chains of imperialism.”

Keith went on to note that, as the household names of imperialist banking and finance capital collapse like a pack of cards, it is only the socialist road, walked in the past by the USSR, and today by China, Cuba, Korea, Vietnam and Laos, increasingly joined by the peoples of Venezuela, Bolivia, Nepal and elsewhere, now also beginning this journey, that represents humanity’s only hope of a decent future. “This is why it’s so important for us to celebrate the birthday of the People’s Republic. It is China and the other socialist countries that represent the guarantee of a better tomorrow for all working and oppressed people, not just the people of their own countries. It is therefore our absolute duty to support them through thick and thin.”

After the speeches, Comrade Harpal read out a resolution, which was unanimously agreed by the audience (reprinted below). The formal part of the meeting was concluded in fitting style with the singing of the Internationale, after which comrades enjoyed delicious food and continued their discussions.

The text of the resolution passed at the meeting is as follows:

This meeting, organised by Hands off China and the Communist Party of Great Britain (Marxist-Leninist), in celebration of the 59th founding anniversary of the People’s Republic of China conveys its warm fraternal greetings to the Communist Party of China, the government of the People’s Republic of China and the Chinese people.

Forward to the 60th anniversary!

The meeting was reported the next day in Xinhua in the following glowing terms:

Britain’s Communist Party celebrates 59th anniversary of New China

In July this year, the Communist Party of Great Britain launched a “Hands off China” campaign, supporting China in the waves of China-bashing in western media in the run up to the Beijing Olympics.

Reminder: HoC meeting in Bristol, 12 October

We will be holding a public meeting in Bristol on 12 October 2008, 1-4pm.

Venue: Malcolm X Community Centre, 141 St Pauls Road, Bristol BS2 8HY

Speaker: Keith Bennett, Expert in Asian politics

The main presentation will be followed by questions and discussion.

Download leaflet (PDF)

Venezuela and China Expand Joint Oil and Investment Accords

Venezuela Analysis

Venezuela and China signed accords Tuesday to increase the flow of Venezuelan oil to China, increase Chinese investments in Venezuelan telecommunications and agriculture, and double the size of a previously established joint investment fund.

“Our relationship with China has become highly strategic on the political, economic, scientific, and military fronts, a very intense relationship, and we came to continue strengthening it,” said Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez upon arriving in Beijing Tuesday, his fifth visit since being elected president nearly ten years ago.

Mixed commissions made up of government and private industry officials from both countries moved forward on plans to construct joint oil refineries in China’s Guandong province and Venezuela’s Orinoco Oil Belt.

In a statement Wednesday, Chávez projected that Venezuelan oil exports to China will increase from the current 331,000 barrels per day to 1 million barrels per day by 2012, to fuel China’s rapid growth and diversify Venezuela’s export markets.

The two countries also plan to build a fleet of tankers and expand shipyards to transport this oil.

Venezuela currently sells a third of its daily oil production, more than 1 million barrels per day, to its biggest customer, the United States, but has steadily diversified its markets both within and outside of Latin America, many times with reduced prices and payment terms favorable to poor or vulnerable nations.

China and Venezuela also agreed Tuesday to double the amount of capital in their joint investment fund, bringing the total amount in the fund to $12 billion. The fund is meant to fund development in agriculture, infrastructure, communications, education, industry, and culture.

In addition, the Chinese companies ZTE and Haier signed accords to manufacture cellular phones and domestic appliances in Venezuela, according to Venezuela’s minister of basic industries and mining, Rodolfo Sanz, who accompanied President Chávez in Beijing.

Simultaneously, a shipload of tubing from China arrived in the Port of Maracaibo in northwestern Venezuela, part of an earlier agreement to improve water distribution in Venezuela’s dry Guajira region.

“China is supporting us in railway materials, watering systems for the national agricultural system, and also in technological sciences,” said Haiman El Troudi, the Venezuelan Planning Minister, who was also in Beijing.

Venezuela’s minister of light industries and commerce, Willian Contreras, highlighted “the commitment of the Chinese government to guarantee to us the transfer of technology and the knowledge associated with its experience in different areas of production.”

Such knowledge transfer is included with the telecommunications satellite that China has produced for Venezuela. 180 Venezuelan doctoral students and specialists have been trained to manage the satellite, which is on schedule to be launched this November 1st, according to statements Tuesday by the Venezuelan minister of science and technology, Nuri Orihueja.

“We are breaking down barriers, breaking down borders, demonstrating our capacity for technological autonomy,” said Orihueja.

Responding to suggestions that Venezuela’s activities in China were aimed against the interests of the United States government, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Jiang Yu, said the accords with Venezuela reflect “normal state-to-state relations, are not based on ideology, are not targeted against any third party and will not affect other countries’ relations with Venezuela.”

Chávez, who advocates a “pluri-polar world,” free of the hegemony of any nation, explained, “While the institutions of the capitalist system currently confront a grave crisis across the world, we are, for a change, guaranteeing our progress without doing harm to anybody.”

“The only thing we demand is respect for our peoples,” Chávez said. “I am not anti-United States. I am anti-imperialist.”

China and Venezuela re-established diplomatic relations more than three decades ago, but interaction between the two countries has grown drastically during Chávez’s term in office. Commerce between China and Venezuela has increased from $200 million in 1998 to 5.8 billion dollars in 2007, and Chávez estimated this week that commerce would reach $8 billion this year.

Following Tuesday’s meetings, which included Chinese President Hu Jintao the speaker of the parliament, Wu Bangguo, Chávez deeply thanked the Chinese government for its support. “In Venezuela, a decade ago, we began opening our own path, and like Mao Tse Tung said, we began to walk on our own feet… I want to thank, once more, the significant fact that you have believed in us, from the first moment.”

When asked why he is not attending the United Nations summit in New York this week, Chávez said it was “more important” for him to be in China than in New York. “Besides, I am not being missed… new voices are being heard,” he said, mentioning specifically Argentine President Cristina Fernández, Bolivian President Evo Morales, and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Da Silva, who are in New York.

Videos from the National Day meeting

You can see speeches from the 4 October meeting at the CPGB-ML YouTube page.