Minneapolis, MN – On Friday, August 15, more than 50 Twin Cites residents gathered at Lucy Parsons Center for the event “China: A Contrasting Vision for the World,” hosted by Women Against Military Madness (WAMM) talking about China and constructing a socialist society.

While China is growing influence in the world, it is being seriously threatened, both militarily and economically, by the U.S. and other Western powers. The Western press is constantly vilifying the country, pumping out disinformation on a near-daily basis. It was the goal of this panel to help dispel some of these myths.

Sarah Martin, a longtime member of WAMM, opened the panel by talking about some of the ways China is building socialism, “from ground-breaking achievements, poverty alleviation, and environmental protection to China’s role in promoting a global future built on mutual prosperity and a just peace.” Martin then introduced the main speaker for the event, Sydney Loving.

Loving, a member of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization’s Central Committee, went to China as part of the Friends of Socialist China delegation. She traveled to five different cities, including Xa’An and Shanghai, to see up close how China is building socialism.

Loving began the presentation with a brief history of the conditions of pre-revolution China, stating, “The countryside was being looted by elites, you had millions of deaths due to famines.” Indeed, “starvation was a feature of society. There was a life expectancy of around 24 years in the countryside, opium addiction was rampant, warlords ruled vast regions of the country. It was hell.”

Loving contrasted that with conditions in current-day China, stating, “With 75 years of socialist construction it has the largest economy, the largest industrial manufacturing and trading economy, absolute poverty eliminated, and life expectancy that is two years longer than the U.S.”

Loving continued, “China is the only renewable superpower in the world. 60% of all wind and solar production in the world is in China, 98% of all electric buses are made in China, 70% of all high-speed rail is in China, two-thirds of electric vehicles are in China, and they are a world leader in biodiversity and forestation.”

With wealth inequality growing, violence increasing around the world, and climate change continuing rapidly, the world is now more than ever looking to China for how to build an equal and just society, one that puts people's needs first. Panels like this are critical for understanding the path forward.

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