Neo Liberalism under attack in China - Introducing a People's Proposal for China by Zhun Lu

Poster : Only Socialism can Save China

In 1997, the World Bank published a long report “China 2020” calling for privatization of public owned enterprises and further liberalization of market. There was very little dissent from the Chinese people; in fact, very few of them knew what was going on in the policy making circles. The later history suggests that the Chinese government followed the advice from the World Bank very closely. Not only the bureaucrats privatized almost all the public owned enterprises, they also provide “market solution” to education, health service and residential housing issues.

Recently, the World Bank and the research institution under the Chinese State Council published a new report “China 2030”. This report gives basically the same prescription as 15 years ago. But the reception is different this time. In the World Bank news conference, Du Jianguo, an independent scholar stood up and protested against the structural reform doctrine advocated by the World Bank. He condemned the report as “poison” and demanded the World Bank to leave China. This protest was reported by several independent media and received enormous support from the online communities.

Interesting enough, just a short while ago, the authoritative People’s Daily published an editorial calling for further reform while acknowledging the potential oppositions as “trivial critics”. In the Chinese context, “further reform” in the mainstream media means neoliberal reforms like privatization and marketization. This article attracted lots of critique from Marxists and left wing in general, the scale of which is very unusual in the last 20 years.

All these widespread oppositions to the market reform give us a clear signal: the Chinese people are now explicitly hostile towards neoliberalism (even though not all of them ever heard of this term). There are several major reasons worth mentioning. First of all, we “have been there”. Last wave of neoliberal reform has laid off million of workers and destroy millions of families. The marketization of education, health service and residential housing made the life of the working class miserable. Second, the leftist movement has grown much stronger since 1990s. Several large leftist websites are more and more visible in public discussions and all of them explicitly oppose the reform plans from the World Bank and the central government. Many grass-root worker/peasant organizations come into being and they are in nature anti-neoliberalism. Last but not least, neoliberalism is in crisis all over the world. The recent economic crisis refreshes the memory of those Chinese people whose mentality remained at the “end of history” more than 20 years ago.

These oppositions and discussions gave birth to a People’s Proposal on China’s future development. The first draft was written by a writer on one of the largest online forum in China. Red China website quickly edited them into a concise version. After that, people have been enthusiastically discussing the proposal all over the Internet and have been adding other things. The China Study Club in UMass Amherst (which I belong to) collectively translate the Red China version into English to give people a sense of what the proposal looks like. This achievement is definitely a milestone in working class movement in China in that for the first time in recent three decades so many people are consciously questioning the whole program of the ruling class and begin discussing what they want. The proposal does not use any Marxist term, nor does it mention socialism, but everyone can see where it is heading towards.

A SIXTEEN-POINT PROPOSAL ON CHINA’S REFORM

1. That the personal and family wealth of all officials be publicized and their source clarified, and all “naked bureaucrats” be expelled from the Party and the government. (“Naked bureaucrats” refer to those officials whose family lives in developed countries and whose assets have been transferred abroad, leaving nothing but him/herself in China.)

2. That the National Congress concretely exercises its legislative and monitory function, comprehensively review the economic policies implemented by the state council, and defend our national economic security.

3. That the existing pension plans be consolidated and retirees be treated equally regardless of sector and rank.

4. That elementary and secondary education be provided free of charge throughout the country; compensation for rural teachers be substantially raised and educational resources be allocated on equal terms across urban and rural areas; and the state assume the responsibility of raising and educating vagrant youth.

5. That the charges of higher education be lowered, and public higher education gradually become fully public-funded and free of charge.

6. That the proportion of state expenditure on education be increased to and beyond international average level.

7. That the price and charge of basic and critical medicines and medical services be managed by the state in an open and planned manner; the price of all medical services and medicines should be determined and enforced by the state in view of social demand and actual cost of production.

8. That heavy progressive real estate taxes be levied on owners of two or more residential housings, so as to alleviate severe financial inequality and improve housing availability.

9. That a nation-wide anti-corruption online platform be established, where all PRC citizens may file report or grievance on corruption or abuse instances; the state should investigate in openly accountable manner and promptly publicized the result.

10. That the state of national resources and environmental security be comprehensively assessed, exports of rare, strategic minerals be immediately cut down and soon stopped, and reserve of various strategic materials be established.

11. That we pursue a self-reliant approach to economic development; any policy that serves foreign capitalists at the cost of the interest of Chinese working class should be abolished.

12. That labor laws be concretely implemented, sweatshops be thoroughly investigated; enterprises with arrears of wage, illegal use of labor, or detrimental working condition should be closed down if they fail to meet legal requirements even after lawfully limited term for self-correction.

13. That the coal industry be nationalized across the board, all coal mine workers receive the same level of compensation as state-owned enterprise mine workers do, and enjoy paid vacation and state-funded medical service.

14. That the personal and family wealth of managerial personnel in state-owned enterprises be publicized; the compensation of such personnel should be determined by the corresponding level of people’s congress.

15. That all governmental overhead expenses be restricted; purchase of automobile with state fund be restricted; all unnecessary traveling in the name of “research abroad” be suspended.

16. That the losses of public assets during the “reforms” be thoroughly traced, responsible personnel be investigated, and those guilty of stealing public properties be apprehended and openly tried.

ORIGINALLY PROPOSED BY Hanjiangchunmeng on bbs.people.com.cn

EDITED BY RED CHINA WEBSITE (http://redchinacn.com)

TRANSLATED BY CHINA STUDY CLUB IN UMASS AMHERST

SEE ALSO MAOIST COMMUNIST PARTY OF CHINA :
http://democracyandclasstruggle.blogspot.com/2010/08/ten-declarations-of-maoist-communist.html

COMMUNIST PARTY OF INDIA (MAOIST) — CENTRAL COMMITTEE — Press Release — March 2, 2012

In the last week of February 2012, the police have arrested activists of our Party including some senior cadres from Kolkata and Mumbai. On the specific intelligence inputs provided by the murderous APSIB, joint forces of police and STF of AP, Maharashtra and West Bengal have raided the shelters of our comrades in Kolkata and Mumbai suburbs and arrested at least nine comrades including two women comrades. Comrades Sadanala Ramakrishna, Deepak Kumar Pargania, Sukumar Mandal, Bapi Mudi and Sambhu Charan were arrested from Kolkata while Comrades Dinesh Wankhede, Aasimkumar Bhattacharya, Suman Gawde and Paru Patel were picked up from Thane in Maharashtra. Comrades Sadanala Ramakrishna alias Santosh (62) and Aasimkumar Bhattacharya (65) were the seniors among the arrested. Senior comrade Sadanala Ramakrishna has been working for the revolution for at least four decades. He has been ailing with serious health problems for so many years. A mechanical engineer graduated in prestigious Regional Engineering College (REC) of Warangal from where martyr leaders like Surapaneni Janardhan and Azad were emerged as great revolutionaries of their times, Comrade Ramakrishna sacrificed his bright life for the cause of liberation of the downtrodden.

Both the two women comrades arrested – Vijaya and Suman – have been undergoing medical treatment for some time staying in the shelters outside the struggle zones. Particularly, comrade Vijaya has been suffering from serious heart problems.

The police forces, better known for worst kind of cruelty, have been torturing these comrades mentally and physically in custody. They have foisted several false cases against these comrades so that they could be languished behind the bars forever.

On one hand the ruling classes are asserting that these arrests are a big success for them and on the other hand, they are trying to portray our comrades as dangerous criminals claiming that they have recovered huge amounts of cash and other material that is used for making arms.

These arrests are nothing but a part of Operation Green Hunt (OGH), i.e. the ‘War on People’, which has been underway since 2009. The comprador ruling classes in connivance with their imperialist masters, particularly with the US imperialists, have unleashed this brutal war of suppression in the poorest parts of India so that their neo liberal policies of plunder of resources could get going unhindered. They are particularly targeting the revolutionary leadership and eliminating them. As the Pentagon itself claimed recently, the US Special Forces are not only actively involved, but also assisting their Indian counterparts on the ground in the counter-insurgency operations aimed at eliminating the revolutionary leadership. This fact also shows us that the US has been patronizing in the ongoing OGH making the values such as freedom, independence, and sovereignty of our country a joke. The exploiting rulers of our country are daydreaming that this movement can be suppressed if its leadership is wiped out.

Revolutionary movement cannot be crushed with arrests and murders. The bars of the dungeons can not restrict the revolutionary ideas from spreading among the vast masses.

The CC of CPI (Maoist) strongly condemns these arrests and inhuman torture being inflicted to them. We demand immediate and unconditional release of these comrades, as well as all of the political prisoners languishing in various jails in all corners of our land. We also demand to lift all the false cases foisted against these comrades.

(Abhay)

Spokesperson, Central Committee, CPI (Maoist)

Save the life of Comrade Azzedine Eroussi - protest to Moroccan Embassy Now !

Morocco: Who Will Stop the Massacre?

This article first published in Partisan  

–> UPDATE (March 7, 2012) (French only)

At the time of this writing, political prisoner Azzedine Eroussi has already been on hunger strike in Morocco for over 70 days. A 22-year-old communist, Azzedine was sentenced for his support to the “basist” movement and his activity within the National Union of Moroccan Students (UNEM).

Arrested on 1 December at the Faculty of Taza, he has been repeatedly tortured and is now in imminent danger of death.

Four other activists joined him on hunger strike on January 23.

Dozens, potentially even hundreds, of other political prisoners, are currently in jail, where they face torture under the corrupt, iron fist regime of King Mohammed VI. Let us remember the martyr Saida Lamnabehi, who left us after 40 days of a hunger strike, and the martyrs Belhouari, Dourayedi and Chbada.


If nothing is done in the coming days, Azzedine Eroussi will suffer the same fate.

The Moroccan youth are ruthlessly repressed by a reactionary regime and a so-called “left” that supports the corrupt Prime Minister. The deadly crackdowns on protests and hunger strikes are happening under the watchful eye of the imperialist powers, whose “concern” for the Arab peoples stops where their interests prevail.

In a letter we received from Azzedine’s family, we can read: “Our son has suffered all kinds of torture; they smashed his arms, fingers and feet after having undressed him... The few times we were allowed to the jail, the guards harrassed us and even prevented us to see him.”

We must act immediately to save the life of Azzedine Eroussi! Call or write to the Embassy of Morocco

EMBASSY OF THE KINGDOM OF MOROCCO  49, QUEENS GATE GARDENS LONDON SW7 5 NE TEL 0207 581 5001-4 FAX 0207 225 3862 E-MAIL: ambalondres@maec.gov.ma

Aleksandr Buzgalin : More analysis of Russian Elections

Two views of Putin - Boris Kagarlitsky and Pepe Escobar - Contradictions in Russia Today

These videos are published for information only and are not an endorsement of either views expressed. Watching these videos we see the contradictions in Russia Today and the need for the emergence of a new revolutionary movement against Russian neo liberalism.

Despite the warnings of Boris Kagarlitsky we have published Pepe Escobar on RT, however we do not regard RT has a good source on domestic Russian developments even if it's coverage of international events can sometimes be said to be better than western media.

Saudi Arabia, Qatar follow US agenda in Bahrain

The Imperialist Threat and the Islamic Republic of Iran, 33 years after its foundation by N. Peyman

source : World to Win

The threats against Iran, the sanctions and other economic pressures and the military movements and manoeuvres all testify to the intensification of the contradictions between the US and Iranian regime, 33 years after its foundation. These contradictions have reached such a critical point that an air strike or other form of military intervention against Iran by the US and some of its allies has become a clear possibility.

Why have relations between Iran and the Western powers, especially the US, been so tense for most of the last three decades, and why are they now fast approaching such a dangerous point? What are the forces driving the imperialist powers to another war in a region that is already overloaded with various wars?

These questions are even more striking if we take into account the fact that both the Western powers and the Iranian regime are undergoing crises internally.

According to the constant barrage from the mainstream media, the main concern of the Western powers is Iran’s nuclear programme. They argue that the Iranian regime intends to build nuclear weapons. So the Western imperialists are pushing harder and harder to force the Iranian regime to stop enriching uranium, while Iran denies this charge and claims its nuclear programme is for purely civilian purposes.

The pressure so far has included UN Security Council approval for several rounds of economic sanctions against Iranian institutions and the personnel involved in its nuclear programme. Now the US and EU have taken it upon themselves to impose further sanctions against Iran’s central bank. On July 1 of this year a ban on the importation of Iranian oil will take effect. These measures are meant to block Iranian exports and make it impossible for the country to import for lack of foreign currency.

But is the US and Western powers’ concern about Iran’s nuclear programme the real driving force behind the current crisis?

Despite the claims of the mainstream media and political officials whose job is to repeat and spread Western imperialist ruling class propaganda, the claims about the Iranian regime’s nuclear programme are highly questionable. In fact their assertions have repeatedly been challenged by genuine experts, investigative reporters and observers familiar with the issue.

First of all, the Western powers and the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)  have not, so far, been able to provide any credible evidence, let alone proof. Even their intelligence and military officials have not been able to back the claims of their leaders. So they seem to be making so much noise and heading toward war based on a case built on the “suspected intentions” of the Iranian regime that no one has been able to prove.

The US and its allies also claim if Iran succeeds in making nuclear bombs, it would start attacking other countries, especially Israel, and endanger American and Western security.

There seems to be a consensus among experts, however, that even if the US and its allies are right about the Iranian regime’s intentions, it could become capable of making only one or a very few bombs in the near future. There is no way that it could match the nuclear arsenal of Israel, said to include more than 200 warheads, let alone the nuclear capability of the imperialist powers. According to experts, this cannot change the military balance of power in the region.

There is also the argument put forward by some imperialist apologists that if Iran goes nuclear, that would start a nuclear arms race in the region, so that Egypt, Saudi Arabia and other countries would have to compete. First of all, experts familiar with the region’s economic and political situation argue that political problems in some countries such as Egypt and the lack of infrastructure in others such as Saudi Arabia would make it impossible for them to undertake full-scale nuclear programmes. Secondly, this nuclear arms race has already been started with India and Pakistan. Thirdly, countries such as Turkey are not waiting for Iran to go nuclear. They are already working on it.

So not only is there no definitive evidence that Iran is making nuclear bombs, the arguments about the danger that an Iranian nuclear programme would represent for the security of the world and the stability of the region are exaggerated and do not match the reality. In fact, these arguments are little more than justifications for a hidden agenda – the preparations by the US and its allies for a war against Iran.

Also, as everyone now knows, or should know by now, the US and its allies have repeatedly made up various excuses to start wars in different parts of the world. The most memorable example is the 2003 invasion of Iraq under the cover of accusations about the Saddam Hussein regime’s possession of weapons of mass destruction that proved to be a pure invention by George W. Bush and Tony Blair. This has cast even more doubt on the Western powers’ real intentions. Many people all over the world simply don’t trust the US imperialists and their allies on this issue.

Thus it is not difficult to conclude that even if the Iranian regime’s nuclear programme is a concern, it is not the main issue. It cannot, in itself, explain the US’s agenda –  why it is intensifying the contradictions with Iran and building a case for and preparing military intervention.

If that is not the real issue, what are the real contradictions that are pressing so hard on both sides, and what are its real sources? Why are the US and its allies unhappy with the Iranian Islamic regime?

Saudi Arabia unrest set to trigger oil price hike

Oil prices have soared to their highest level in the past ten months following reports of an explosion of pipelines in Saudi Arabia's oil-rich Eastern Province. 

Bahraini forces kill another elderly man- Commentary by George Galloway on Yemen, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia and Syria

Publication is to provide an essential alternative viewpoint and is not endorsement of Press TV or George Galloway's views. We agree with many of the views of George Galloway but not all.


Democracy and Class Struggle's comrades in Iran are the following :
http://www.sarbedaran.org/

St David's Day - Welsh National Day - Land of My Fathers sung by Paul Robeson

Song dedicated to Welsh Comrades past and present on March 1st St David's Day.


On March 1st 2012 Democracy and Class Struggle supports call of Forward to a Welsh Socialist Republican Party !

Visit : http://adfywiadgoch.blogspot.com/