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 […]

Obituary for Din Wong, founding member of Workers Power

YOU MAY not have heard of him, but the man to watch in China is Xi Jinping. Two years ago he organised the Beijing Olympics. By this time next year, he will be President of China. In the capitalist dictatorship that still calls itself the ‘People’s Republic’, the question of government is not left to chance, […]