War Against Taiwan and US Imperialists here ♦ Is China Imperialist here ♦ More on the Chinese Economy here ♦
Chinese Imperialists Prepare for War against Taiwan and US Imperialists
The island of Taiwan has been a bone of contention between the US and the Chinese rulers since 1949. Chiang Kai-shek — the US-supported dictator who ruled China from 1928 — was defeated by the revolutionary forces led by Mao Zedong. Chiang fled to Taiwan with the remnants of his army and supporters. With the Western imperialists’ backing, they imposed themselves on the Taiwanese masses with brutal terror, executing over 40,000 and jailing many more.
Today, the battle over Taiwan is sharpening. It could lead to a nuclear World War III.
The Chinese capitalists-imperialists have called on supporters to denounce “diehard Taiwanese secessionists” and give information about their “criminal activities” to Chinese agencies. They are intensifying their intimidation of the Taiwanese masses.
China has the world’s largest navy, with over 370 surface ships and submarines. Its rulers are in deadly competition with the US imperialists for global supremacy. To realize their goal of being top imperialist power, the Chinese imperialists need to control Taiwan so they can use it to launch their blue-water navy into the Pacific Ocean and worldwide. But the US imperialists are desperate to prevent this naval deployment by encircling China’s boundaries, especially controlling Taiwan.
The Chinese imperialists have long promoted— including in their constitution — that “Taiwan is a sacred part of China.” They use this to justify war against the Taiwanese masses and US imperialism. This war will potentially lead to mass displacements and killing of Taiwanese working-class siblings, especially those accused by Chinese rulers of being “secessionists” and “independence supporters.”
Mainland Chinese nationalistic extremists have posted online statements like, “Keep the island but not its people.” This is an outright call to genocide and mass displacement!
The Chinese rulers have intensified their censorship and fascist grip. During the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, the Taiwanese red and blue flag, the name “Taiwan” and its anthem, were banned! A sign reading “Let’s go, Taiwan!” was ripped out of a fan’s hands and torn up.
The Chinese imperialists have shown their unrelenting intentions by passing a law to draft veterans and students into the military. Xi Jinping has repeatedly called for the Chinese military to “prepare for active combat.”
The Chinese Minister of Defense warned of US arming and encouraging separatist elements in Taiwan. He attacks US intentions to “contain China with Taiwan.” He called these the greatest danger, saying China would “safeguard its national sovereignty and territorial integrity at any cost.” This means sending Chinese workers to the battlefield to kill Taiwanese workers for imperialist profits and empire!
The rulers are intensifying their patriotic nationalism to convince workers to fight other workers for the rulers’ profits. To ensure that their agenda goes forward unopposed, the rulers have been silencing and jailing anti-fascist dissidents, especially those opposed to war against Taiwan. They persecute anyone they see as a threat to the interests of capitalist-imperialism.
Chinese, US, and all imperialists are willing to slaughter millions of workers in their genocidal wars for maximum profits, to conquer the world’s markets at whatever the cost to the international working class.
But these capitalist-imperialist rulers are producing their own gravediggers. From Palestine/Israel to the US to Taiwan to China, masses everywhere have risen and will rise against fascist rule.
Our solution is not to fight for a “free” [capitalist] Palestine or an “independent” [capitalist] Taiwan. Neither will liberate any worker. There is no “independence” from capitalism-imperialism. Either the capitalists and some imperialists rule us — or the masses build communist workers’ power.
The working class has no nations — nations all belong to the capitalists. We should not make the mistake of siding with supposedly “lesser-evil” capitalists or imperialists, like Palestinian and Iranian capitalists “helping” the masses in Gaza, or Taiwanese capitalists defending “our Taiwanese motherland” against China. No capitalist helps or defends workers’ interests anywhere.
Capitalists and imperialists can’t get rich without exploiting the working masses and murdering workers and soldiers in their imperialist wars for maximum profits.
The masses need to fight directly for a classless egalitarian communist world without borders, nations, money, or markets. Without wage slavery, exploitation, ranks, or privileges. We will end them with a communist revolution. Only Communism can end this murderous system and its endless genocidal wars for good.
Chinese, Taiwanese, and ALL workers, let’s unite for COMMUNISM!
Activists Link Palestine and Congo: Is China Imperialist?
LOS ANGELES, September 16— “Congo must be talked about more,” posted G. “Israeli/European/American companies are worsening climate change with illegal mining and killing Congolese children.”
“Chinese imperialists also have massive investments in cobalt and other mines there,” added B.
One person, AP, was outraged at calling China imperialist. Others had a lot of reasons why it is.
“I was born in the Philippines,” retorted G. “I grew up seeing Chinese businesspeople buying Filipino properties and making life for Filipino workers very hard. Including agricultural farmlands that Filipinos have tended for generations.
“The Chinese government, with the Filipino government, allows this,” G continued. “Filipinos are trying to make ends meet because of the American and Chinese imperialism agenda. And China is attacking Filipino/a seamen and seawomen.”
P, from Hong Kong, jumped in. “I have Uyghur friends with family members missing for years. The Chinese government openly admits to drawing from Israeli counter-insurgency methods against Palestinians.”
AP slandered G and P as “US imperialist agents.” His uncritically pro-China comments mostly aren’t worth repeating. But others’ comments are.
“Just because it’s not western colonialism doesn’t mean the Chinese government aren’t imperialists as well,” G said. “Just because there is no Chinese military machinery on Filipino soil doesn’t mean it’s not imperialism or neocolonialism.”
“The main ethnic minority government minister in China openly suggests that Han settlers should draw from the US, Russia, and Israel in governing Xinjiang and Tibet,” P said. “Researchers at China’s elite police academy call for China to learn from Israel’s policing of Palestinians to build their police apparatus in Xinjiang.”
“The three major imperialists are fighting for power over the world,” said H. “Let’s not confuse the fight for the throne as a fight for liberation. China has purchased arms and tech from Israel. Israel sent Russia American weaponry during their war in Ukraine.”
“It’s not sports where you pick a side and defend them tooth and nail,” offered K. “We can afford objectivity.”
“China is the lesser of two evils,” said H. “But fighting for the lesser of two evils is what got us into this mess. We are fighting for liberation and China is not going to free us at all.”
Not everyone agreed that China was a “lesser” evil.
AP fumed that the Chinese government was not evil at all and nobody in the US had the right to criticize it.
“I was tear gassed by Chinese cops on the streets,” countered P. “Quite a few of my friends are still in jail or in exile. I try to at least raise their plight as I do for people facing US imperialist violence.”
“China is Israel’s second largest trading partner,” K mentioned.
AP claimed that “China is not imperialist towards Africa, it is a mutually beneficial relationship.” He quoted the Congolese president, who gets $14 million/year.
“It seems you want us to think our enemy’s enemy is our friend,” said AJ. “What makes a state imperialist to your understanding?” AP didn’t answer.
“I side-eye any nation-state and its intentions, especially in foreign relations,” AJ added.
“Any nation state is a capitalist state,” B declared. “Real workers’ power will not be organized along national lines.” That was very controversial.
“It’s important for us to have no illusions,” J concluded. “Even after western imperialism is defeated, the masses of the world will be at the mercy of a barbaric savage global capitalist class.”
G agreed: “This is now beyond western imperialism. It moves on ahead to a global capitalism/imperialism issue!”
Lenin described key features of imperialism as the concentration of production and capital, the merging of bank and industrial capital, the export of capital, and the formation of international monopolies. Today’s capitalist China qualifies on all counts.
More on the Chinese Economy
Chinese state-owned enterprises account for over 60% of China’s market capitalization. They generate about a quarter of gross domestic production.
Over 800,000 enterprises are at least partly state-owned. Four large state-owned banks (plus some smaller ones) control about 40% of Chinese capital. Bank and industrial capital are merged through the state.
The “Belt and Road” policy is increasing China’s capital export. China’s capital export mainly exists as securities investment and foreign direct investment. Examples are Congolese mines and El Salvadoran sweatshops.
Three of its four sovereign wealth funds are among the world’s top ten. China has a near-monopoly on several minerals crucial to “green technology.”
Pro-Palestine activists protesting Apple for using cobalt in iPhones sourced from super-exploited miners (including children) in Congo.