To mark the 126th anniversary of the birth of Chinese revolutionary Mao Zedong, Dec. 26, Fight Back News Service is circulating his oft-quoted 1945 speech to the 7th Congress of the Communist Party of China, “The Foolish Old Man Who Removed the Mountains.”
On November 24, Hong Kong held local elections for all 18 district councils in the city, with 452 of the 479 council seats up for grabs. Amid the polarized political atmosphere created by the protests and riots that gripped the city this year, turnout was much higher than past local elections. In total, 2,931,745 people cast ballots for their local district councils; about 71% of the 4,132,977 registered voters.
The following speech was delivered by Fight Back! editor Mick Kelly at a Minneapolis October, 2019 celebration of the 70th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese revolution. Kelly is a member of the Standing Committee of the Central Committee of Freedom Road Socialist Organization and is responsible for its international relations.
Minneapolis, MN – On October 18, the five-starred flag of the People’s Republic of China fluttered in the wind, as a group of patriotic Chinese international students marched in opposition to a reactionary demonstration billed as the “Liberty for Hong Kong March.”
To mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, Fight Back News Service is circulating the following Oct. 1, 1949 statement by Mao Zedong.Proclamation of the Central People's Government of the PRC
San José, CA – On Friday, August 23, the U.S. stock market opened lower, on the news that China was retaliating to Trump's latest round of tariffs. It then recovered after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's speech at the Jackson Hole economic conference. Then Trump tweeted that he was “ordering” U.S. companies to leave China, and stocks dived, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average ending with a loss of more than 600 points or almost 2.5% lower. The broader S&P 500 average fell a bit more than 2.5% percent and the NASDAQ composite, which is heavily weighted towards technology companies, fell 3%.
There’s a tendency among progressives in the United States to support big crowds of people protesting in other countries. No doubt, the corporate media assists in this process by labelling certain movements ‘pro-democracy’ or ‘freedom fighters.’
Recession fears make Trump backtrack in trade war with China
San José, CA – On Wednesday, August 14, the U.S. stock market tanked, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 800 points, or 3%. The technology-heavy NASDAQ index also fell 3% and the S&P 500 fell just shy of 3%. This is the third day in a row of major market moves: Down more than 450 points on Monday, up 375 points on Tuesday, and now down again.
San José, CA – U.S. stocks fell again on Monday, August 12 as growing recession worries were added to ongoing concern about the direction of Trump’s trade war with China. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell almost 400 points, or 1.5%, while the broader markets fell by smaller percentages of about 1.2%.
Washington DC – On August 8, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said that the People's Republic of China would continue economic cooperation with Venezuela. Speaking in Beijing, Hua stated the U.S., “should let the Venezuelan people decide their future and immediately stop the bullying behavior.”
San José, CA – On Monday, August 5, China replied to Trump’s new tariff threat by calling off the purchases of U.S. agricultural products and weakening government support for the RMB, China’s currency. In response the RMB fell to 14 U.S. cents, meaning it will take slightly more than 7 RMB to buy one U.S. dollar. Soybean prices also fell, as China is the largest foreign buyer of U.S. soybeans.
San José, CA – On Thursday, July 31, President Trump tweeted that he would be imposing new tariffs, or taxes, on the $300 billion of Chinese goods not covered by his 25% tariffs. U.S. stocks took an immediate dive, giving up all of their 300-point gain to drop 280 points for the day. They continued to fall on Friday, leading to the worst week for U.S. stocks all year.
Minneapolis, MN – June 4 marks the 30th anniversary of the 1989 anti-socialist turmoil in Beijing’s famed Tiananmen Square and the decisive moves by the government of the People’s Republic China to confront counter-revolution. The U.S. State Department, the corporate media (and some unthinking people who parrot their lies), will speak about a ‘massacre’ that never happened, and use the opportunity to breathe some life into an anti-communist paper tiger that has lost its power to compel or convince.
San José, CA – On Friday, April 26, the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) issued its first report on economic growth in 2019. The country’s Gross Domestic Product, or GDP, which measures the total production of goods and services, grew at a 3.2% annual rate during the first three months of the year (January to March). This was stronger than most economists expected.
To mark the 125nd anniversary of the birth of Chinese revolutionary Mao Zedong, Dec. 26, Fight Back News Service is circulating Mao Zedong’s 1944 speech ‘Serve the People.”
San José, CA – On Sept. 17, President Trump announced that tariffs of 10% will be slapped on $200 billion of Chinese goods starting Sept. 24. These tariffs will rise to 25% at the beginning of 2019. Trump also said that he would put tariffs on another $267 billion dollars of imports from China if China responds to his tariffs. Along with the tariffs on $50 billion of Chinese imports already in place, this would mean steep tariffs on virtually all of the $500 billion in goods that the United States buys from China.
_Tariffs on an additional $200 billion of Chinese imports includes Christmas lights _
San José, CA – While most Americans won’t have a ‘white Christmas’ this year, many of us will be looking forward to the displays of lights on many homes and businesses. Now the Trump administration’s escalating trade war with China threatens to dim this coming holiday celebrations – or at least make them more expensive.
San José, CA – On Friday, June 15, President Trump signed orders to place tariffs (taxes) on $34 billion of imports from China beginning July 6. The office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) will be imposing tariffs on another $16 billion of imports from China in the near future for a total of $50 billion in imports facing 25% taxes. This represents another turnaround in trade from a few weeks ago, when Trump’s Commerce Secretary Steve Mnuchin said that the trade war was “on hold” after initial negotiation with the Chinese government, which had offered to increase purchases of U.S. goods and further open the Chinese economy to foreign investments.