A CYM member living abroad in China reflects on how the Irish media peddles a distorted image of the country he now calls home. Many have fallen for it due to a lack of first-hand experience and interaction with the Chinese nation and its people.
The rise of racist attacks against East Asians in the West is not due to individual hatred or fringe populists like Donald Trump. In reality, this rise in racism is due to centuries of white supremacist ideology, which is perpetuated by Western hegemony and its imperialist interests. Reading this article, one may take away that only the far-right is to worry about, but when you look at how the majority of leftists, centrists, and centre-right individuals perpetuate these ideas about China, especially through the media, it is clear that liberals enable and accentuate the fascist narratives around China.
Jacobin is not a socialist paper. It exists because the US capitalist media allows it. Their ideology is characterised by their inability to see beyond electoral politics even in the face of persistent failure, and their role as a mouthpiece of US imperialism. Despite their aesthetic, the “Brooklyn Socialism” of Jacobin amounts to little more than the same meek demands of democratic socialism, but in radical dress.
“It is hard to watch things back home and see how they should be done, and how they could be done. Its not rocket science. The people and the party go hand in hand, and people do see the benefit of doing these things and that’s why they’re happy to do it”
The government has completely dropped the ball in its response to the Covid-19 pandemic, and pursued a reactive, rather than a proactive strategy. This is in marked contrast to the country at the epicentre of the pandemic: China
The claims surrounding China’s treatment of Uyghur Muslims have been circulating since early 2018. The claim of human rights abuses in Xinjiang are upheld by Australia, Bahrain, France, New Zealand, many of them NATO members. This article is a reference for those looking for to expand their reading and challenge misinformation on the topic.
Governments across the world are desperate for someone else to blame. Their mishandling of the Covid-19 crisis has led to countless unnecessary deaths, mainstream media, are redirecting public anger by capitalising on people’s misconceptions about China to whip up negative sentiment towards its people.
Our job, like striking workers in Chicago 134 years ago, is to see through and resist the propaganda, to organise and build solidarity among the working class. They are terrified of what will happen if these generations are not browbeaten into anti-communism. For many on almost every degree of the political spectrum, the propaganda is working.
The Children’s’ Hospital will be built at some stage, but it will have lined the pockets of many different consultants, officials, developers, builders, contractors before it actually helps a single patient.
Now more than ever, a communist response is needed – one that will transcend the false dichotomy of economic stability vs. human life and protect workers’ livelihoods while defeating the virus.