China is facing serious economic problems.

The trail of Jimmy Lai under the National Security Law.

By Peter Main In this short pamphlet, Simon Hannah seeks to, ‘outline the recent history of China as well as the ways in which the politics and economy of the country have shifted – making it one of the most powerful capitalist and emerging imperialist countries in the world’. More than that, as the title […]

Growing divisions in the party have forced a change of tack.

Who is Xi scared of?

CHINA’S CONSTRUCTION industry, a key lever in Beijing’s entire economic policy, is facing a debt crisis of enormous proportions. Attention has focused on Evergrande, a development company, whose total debts are estimated at $310 billion and which failed to pay some $96 million interest on foreign bonds in September. Just three days before being declared […]

By Alex Rutherford The Aukus security pact between Australia, the UK and the US represents one of the most dramatic moves yet taken by the United States to counter the threat to its interests posed by its largest imperialist rival, China. It also represents a brutal snub to France and by extension to the European […]

International Secretariat of the League for the Fifth International On July 1, Beijing’s National Security Law (NSL) was imposed on Hong Kong. It extends the laws against “sedition, conspiracy and collusion with foreign powers” that already operate within “mainland” China to Hong Kong. The law also means that the internal “security” agencies will now operate […]

On September 4, Hong Kong's Chief Executive, Carrie Lam, finally agreed to withdraw the hated Extradition Bill altogether, and not just leave it on the shelf. If the Bill had become law it would have allowed extradition of anybody on Hong Kong territory for trial on the mainland. Although presented as simply a measure to prevent criminals taking refuge in Hong Kong, it could also have been used against journalists and political dissidents and , indeed, almost anyone doing business on the mainland, where corruption is rife.

Progress for the movement now depends not on the force of argument, but on the argument of force. Only a real general strike, a strike that stops all production, all transport, all publications, all broadcasting, can do that. Such a strike cannot be mobilised out of thin air, it has to be built for within the workplaces and housing estates themselves. That is the task that the Left and the thousands of student activists should set themselves.

Our perspectives on the current global situation, League for the Fifth International Congress in Berlin, June 2019

The trashing of the Legislative Council, Legco, building in Hong Kong on July 1 certainly drew the world's attention to the ongoing opposition to the proposed Extradition Law that would allow people detained in Hong Kong to be tried in mainland Chinese courts.

On Sunday, 1 million people marched in protest against a proposed new law which will allow Beijing to extradite anyone from the territory of Hong Kong.

How the crushing of the democracy movement paved the way for the restoration of capitalism

On 4 May 1919, in Beijing, some 3,000 students demonstrated outside the home of the Minister of Communications. After pelting its residents with eggs, they broke in, trashed the building and then torched it. This violent, but rather small scale, incident turned out to be one of the key turning points in 20th Century history, in many ways the real beginning of the Chinese Revolution.

By Markus Lehner “Trade wars are good” – Donald Trump Though Donald Trump’s tweets often seem mere clowning, the decrees he signed imposing import duties on steel and aluminium, and subsequent threats of further punitive duties on Chinese imports, do have to be taken seriously. The US president has used a loophole that allows him […]

China's president used the party's 19th Congress to set out the country's bid for global pre-eminance

THE BRITISH government rolled out the “reddest of red carpets” for China’s President Xi Jinping’s four day state visit. There was no limit on the pomp and pageantry laid on to impress their visitor – and no doubt pictures of his reception by the Queen and his speech to members of both Houses of Parliament […]

By Peter Main 7 July, 2015 The volatility of the Chinese stock markets in the last week is symptomatic of the problems facing President Xi Jinping’s economic strategy. Between June 12 and July 8, the Shanghai market dropped by 28 percent, wiping some $3.5 trillion off the value of shares and forcing the government to […]

By Peter Main Are China and Japan locked into a course towards war? A review of the dynamics and motives suggests they are not, yet.   The scenario is eerily familiar. Two imperialist powers, one continental and dynamic, the other an island power now past its peak, confront each other in a series of diplomatic […]

By Peter Main In July it has become traditional for China’s leaders to leave behind the heat and smog of Beijing and head for the seaside resort of Beidaihe. No doubt today’s mandarins know how to enjoy themselves, but this is no holiday trip. Over the next few weeks the new government team under Xi […]