China
Top US health official makes provocative trip to Taiwan
By Peter Symonds, 11 August 2020
With the visit by US Secretary of Health Alex Azar to Taiwan, the Trump administration is taking another step towards overturning the “One China” policy and breaking US diplomatic relations with China.
President Trump signs executive orders banning Chinese social media apps TikTok and WeChat
By Kevin Reed, 8 August 2020
On Thursday, the US president signed two executive orders that will ban the operation of TikTok and WeChat in the US unless they are acquired by US-based companies within 45 days.
US moves to delist Chinese companies from stock exchanges
By Nick Beams, 8 August 2020
The move has been couched in terms of protecting “investor safety,” but it is another component of the economic warfare being carried out by Washington.
Former Australian PM: Beware the Guns of August in Asia
By Peter Symonds, 8 August 2020
Kevin Rudd argues that the danger of war between the US and China is greater than at any time since the 1950s and warns the risk “will be especially high” in the lead-up to the US presidential election.
US imposes new sanctions on China over alleged Uyghur abuses
By Peter Symonds, 5 August 2020
US propaganda now includes allegations of Uyghur “genocide,” based on sensational accounts of forced birth control and the sterilization of Uyghur women in Xinjiang province.
White House engineering a takeover of TikTok by Microsoft
By Kevin Reed, 3 August 2020
Under the White House’s direction, Microsoft is preparing to acquire the video-sharing app TikTok in a forced-divestiture from its China-based company ByteDance.
Hong Kong delays legislative elections amid crackdown on democratic rights
By Ben McGrath, 3 August 2020
Beijing is driven above all by fears that renewed protests in Hong Kong could spread to the mainland.
Japan raising tensions with Beijing in the East China Sea
By Ben McGrath, 31 July 2020
The US and Japan bear primary responsibility for upending the status quo in the East China Sea and fueling the dangerous stand-off over the disputed Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands.
New Zealand suspends extradition treaty with Hong Kong
By John Braddock, 31 July 2020
The diplomatic rift, underpinned by a domestic anti-China propaganda campaign, echoes Washington’s increasingly aggressive operations against Beijing.
US adopts policy of regime-change in Beijing
By Peter Symonds, 29 July 2020
By declaring the defeat of Chinese “tyranny” the aim of American foreign policy, the Trump administration has greatly intensified confrontation with China, with an all-but explicit call for regime-change.
Australian government echoes aggressive US shift on South China Sea
By Mike Head, 28 July 2020
Australia suddenly abandoned its previous policy of formal neutrality on the competing territorial claims, just 10 days after a similar declaration by the US.
US secretary of state sets out case for conflict with China
By Peter Symonds, 25 July 2020
By ruling out a return to the policy of “containment,” Pompeo’s speech marks a strategy aimed at regime change in Beijing.
US demands even greater support from Australia in confrontation with China
By Mike Head, 25 July 2020
Despite the intensifying COVID-19 danger in the US, Australia’s foreign and defence ministers will personally attend the annual AUSMIN talks in Washington next week.
US indicts Chinese nationals on trumped-up hacking charges
By Jacob Crosse, 22 July 2020
Li Xiaoyu and Dong Jiazhi are accused by the US government of hacking private computer networks with assistance from the Chinese government in order to steal intellectual property, including COVID-19 research.
Letter from a student in China on the COVID-19 pandemic
By a correspondent, 22 July 2020
“People are worried that on top of the hardship they have already gone through, they would face more unknown, long-term, and negative consequences from the pandemic.”
Driver plunges bus into a Chinese reservoir, killing 21
By Lily Zhao, 20 July 2020
The tragedy is a product of the social crisis confronting millions of workers throughout the country.
US escalates economic warfare against Russia and China
By Nick Beams, 18 July 2020
After securing a decision by the UK government to ban the Chinese firm Huawei from its 5G rollout, the US is pressuring the Merkel government in Germany to take the same decision.
US moving to ban China-based TikTok social media app
By Kevin Reed, 18 July 2020
There is bipartisan support in Congress for the Trump administration’s aggressive efforts against the Chinese app.
Facing mounting crisis, US lashes out against China
By Peter Symonds, 17 July 2020
Confronted with an economic and social crisis at home and his own worsening election prospects, Trump is aggressively confronting China across a whole range of potentially explosive issues.
UK excluding Huawei from 5G network
By Thomas Scripps, 16 July 2020
US President Donald Trump was quick to boast of his administration’s responsibility for the UK’s volte face.
US secretary of state denounces China over South China Sea
By Peter Symonds, 15 July 2020
The Trump administration formally adopts the 2016 Hague ruling against Chinese claims in the sensitive, strategic waters, as it ramps up US naval provocations there.
US takes punitive measures against China over Hong Kong
By Peter Symonds, 11 July 2020
Washington’s increasingly shrill campaign is part of a US confrontation across the full range of issues—diplomatic, economic and military—that are leading to war.
New Zealand boosts preparations to join US war against China
By Tom Peters, 11 July 2020
The Labour Party-led government is spending billions on new naval vessels and armoured vehicles, while praising the Australian military build-up against China.
UK set to ban Huawei from 5G network
By Nick Beams, 8 July 2020
The key factor in the decision was the move by the Trump administration in May to ban the use of US software in Huawei’s operating systems.
India takes economic reprisals against China as border frictions continue
By Deepal Jayasekera and Keith Jones, 8 July 2020
Although several rounds of talks have been held, both New Delhi and Beijing continue to maintain an enhanced military presence along their disputed border.
US war drive against China accelerates
By Peter Symonds, 8 July 2020
Confronting crisis at home, with growing opposition among workers to the reckless back-to-work drive, Trump is seeking to divert these immense social tensions outward at an external enemy.
Two US aircraft carriers in war games in South China Sea
By Peter Symonds, 6 July 2020
The “high-end” exercises sought to test US naval capabilities in a conflict with China involving both offensive operations using war planes and the defence of the ships from any counter-attack.
Australian government seeks to place country on war footing
By Mike Head, 4 July 2020
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has identified the Indo-Pacific as the likely arena for another world war, directed against China.
US anti-China campaign intensifies factional conflicts within Canada’s ruling elite
By Roger Jordan, 3 July 2020
Terming China “a real threat to Canada,” former Tory Prime Minister Brian Mulroney has called for the striking of a “blue-ribbon” committee to redefine Canada’s China policy.
British government ramps up campaign against China
By Jean Shaoul, 3 July 2020
The Tories’ aim is to open another front in US imperialism’s economic, diplomatic, and military-strategic offensive that threatens military war against the world’s second largest economy.
Beijing passes anti-democratic security law for Hong Kong
By Ben McGrath, 2 July 2020
While Beijing has concerns about imperialist intrigues in Hong Kong, its chief fear is that unrest in the city over democratic and social rights will spill over the border into the rest of China.
Tens of thousands of Chinese citizens stranded overseas
By Lily Zhao, 2 July 2020
Beijing has offered little or no assistance to the thousands of Chinese students, scholars and tourists trapped overseas by COVID-19 travel bans.
India’s opposition parties back Modi’s bellicose stand in border conflict with China
By Wasantha Rupasinghe, 30 June 2020
The Congress Party and Stalinist CPI and CPM have extolled the military for “defending” India’s borders and pledged their support for the BJP government in confronting Beijing.
Australian Labor Party intent on ousting MP from parliament over “Chinese agent” claims
By Mike Head, 29 June 2020
Labor wants to remove Shaoquett Moselmane despite his denunciation of his “political lynching.”
India-China conflict threatens to undermine Russian foreign policy
By Clara Weiss, 23 June 2020
While the US has intervened aggressively on the side of India, Russia sees the clash as a challenge to its geo-strategy and is seeking to negotiate a resolution to the conflict.
India and China rush troops, weaponry to disputed border region
By Keith Jones, 22 June 2020
India has placed on the “highest alert” the 300,000 troops it has arrayed along its 3,500-kilometer border with China.
COVID-19 flares again in China
By Peter Symonds, 22 June 2020
While still relatively small, the outbreak is a warning that the highly infectious coronavirus can rapidly re-emerge if restrictions are removed.
US stokes India-China conflict, blames Chinese “aggression” for border clash
By Keith Jones, 20 June 2020
Senior US official David Stilwell provocatively told a press briefing that the Chinese army had “invaded” the “contested area” between India and China.
India and China remain on knife edge as war tensions continue
By Shuvu Batta and Keith Jones, 19 June 2020
While proclaiming they want to de-escalate, India and China are each demanding the other stand down and pouring additional troops and weapons into their border regions.
Australian government alleges cyber-attack to ramp-up provocations against China
By Oscar Grenfell, 19 June 2020
Prime Minister Scott Morrison failed to provide any evidence of a cyber-attack, but the media rushed to proclaim that China was responsible.
Dozens die in India-China border clash
By Keith Jones, 17 June 2020
It is the enmeshing of the India-China rivalry with the strategic confrontation between China and US imperialism that makes the border dispute so combustible and incendiary.
US Navy deploys three aircraft carriers to Pacific against China
By Peter Symonds, 13 June 2020
The deployments underscore the strategic shift by the Pentagon from the so-called “war on terror” to great power competition that heightens the danger of conflict between nuclear-armed powers.
Washington steps up strategic bomber flights threatening Russia, China
By Alex Lantier, 12 June 2020
As social anger grows over police brutality and the COVID-19 pandemic, the danger that the ruling elite will try to suppress class conflict with external wars is rising.
Johnson government falls in behind Washington’s economic war with China
By Jean Shaoul, 9 June 2020
The “Get Brexit Done/Global Britain” perspective has been exposed as a chimera.
Chinese doctor’s death rekindles anger over health system
By a correspondent, 9 June 2020
Wuhan City Central Hospital’s website published nothing about Hu Weifeng’s death from COVID-19 and his colleagues were barred from being interviewed by the media.
Trump confers with Modi over explosive India-China border dispute
By Shuvu Batta and Keith Jones, 8 June 2020
Intensifying the US strategic offensive against China, the Trump administration has publicly sided with India, and is goading New Delhi on in its border standoff with Beijing.
Zambia’s bid for IMF rescue deal thwarted by Washington’s anti-China campaign
By Jean Shaoul and Stephan McCoy, 5 June 2020
Zambia has been caught in the crosshairs of US President Donald Trump’s reckless campaign to undermine China, which he views as a threat to US global dominance.
Trump escalates anti-China campaign
By Peter Symonds, 30 May 2020
US President Trump dramatically escalated his reckless anti-China campaign yesterday, making clear that a dangerous confrontation between the two countries is all but inevitable.
White House considers expelling Chinese graduate students and researchers
By Shuvu Batta, 29 May 2020
The Trump administration is reportedly planning to expel some three to five thousand Chinese graduate students and researchers.
Trump intrudes in China-India border standoff
By Keith Jones, 29 May 2020
US President Donald Trump intruded into the tense border standoff between China and India Wednesday with a spurious offer to mediate and even “arbitrate” “their now raging border dispute.”
US sets stage for anti-China sanctions over Hong Kong
By Peter Symonds, 28 May 2020
The determination by the US secretary of state that Hong Kong is not autonomous from Beijing is a further step in the Trump administration’s accelerating anti-China campaign.
Canadian court rules extradition trial of top Huawei executive can proceed
By Roger Jordan, 28 May 2020
Yesterday’s ruling strengthens Washington and Ottawa in their virulent anti-China campaign, which has been ratcheted up still further with mendacious claims that Beijing is responsible for the coronavirus pandemic.
US exploits Hong Kong protests for anti-China campaign
By Peter Symonds, 27 May 2020
Once again, US imperialism is using the banner of “human rights” to advance its economic and strategic interests.
US threatens to “disconnect” Australia if it strays from conflict with China
By Mike Head, 26 May 2020
Pompeo’s bullying intervention is part of an intensifying campaign by Washington to confront China economically and militarily.
Chinese leadership drops economic growth target
By Nick Beams, 25 May 2020
Premier Li Keqiang said the government had refrained from setting a GDP target because foreign markets were so uncertain.
Washington incites India in tense border dispute with China
By Keith Jones, 22 May 2020
Washington’s vocal support for New Delhi is in marked contrast with its stance during the 2017 Indo-China border dispute, and is part of a dramatic escalation of its anti-China offensive.
New Zealand government stokes tensions with China
By Tom Peters, 22 May 2020
New Zealand, a de facto American ally and member of the US-led Five Eyes intelligence network, is integrated into the anti-China build-up.
No to the anti-China campaign! For international solidarity against the pandemic and capitalism!
By Joseph Kishore—Socialist Equality Party candidate for president, 22 May 2020
The SEP rejects the chauvinistic attacks by the Trump administration and Democrats aimed at shifting responsibility for the mass death due to the coronavirus pandemic from the American ruling class.
The Trump administration makes Taiwan latest front in anti-China campaign
By Peter Symonds, 21 May 2020
The US has provocatively hailed the re-election of Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen and pressed Taiwan’s case at the annual World Health Organisation (WHO) ministerial assembly.
Canada’s official opposition attacks Trudeau for “appeasing” China
By Roger Jordan, 21 May 2020
Conservative leader Scheer’s inflammatory comment, likening the Liberal government’s policy towards Beijing to British imperialism’s attempt to reach an accommodation with Nazi Germany, marks a new high point in the Canadian elite’s frenzied anti-China campaign.
US steps up witch hunt against Chinese scientists
By Shuvu Batta, 19 May 2020
The US federal government has arrested researchers and scientists of Chinese descent as part of an accelerated crackdown on alleged participants of China’s “Thousand Talents” program.
As death toll mounts, White House steps up efforts to scapegoat China for pandemic
By Peter Symonds, 18 May 2020
Blaming China not only deflects attention from the Trump administration’s responsibility for the horrific US death toll, but feeds into its anti-China trade war measures.
Australian government heightens trade conflict with China
By Mike Head, 18 May 2020
Successive Australian governments have been in the forefront of imposing tariffs and other restrictions on imports from China.
“They don’t care about the safety of the workers”
As assembly plants reopen US autoworkers speak on premature rush to restart production
By our reporters, 18 May 2020
As workers returned to auto assembly plants across North America workers are speaking out against the premature return to work in the midst of the COVI-19 pandemic and the totally inadequate safety measures in place.
Trump threatens to cut all ties with China
By Peter Symonds, 16 May 2020
The US president’s phony allegations—that China failed to prevent COVID-19 becoming a global pandemic—have been integrated into Washington’s trade war measures.
The drums of economic nationalism are beating louder
By Nick Beams, 15 May 2020
A series of comments published in the New York Times in recent days points to the rise of economic nationalism within the US political establishment the logic of which is war against China.
US agencies drum up allegations of Chinese hacking of vaccine research
By Peter Symonds, 13 May 2020
The claims of Chinese hacking of vaccine research are not only part of the Trump’s anti-China propaganda war but will be used to justify US cyber warfare against Beijing.
Australian intelligence sources alarmed by US “Wuhan lab” claim
By Mike Head, 11 May 2020
The primary fear in these ruling circles is that the assertions are so unreliable that they discredit the US confrontation with China, in which Australia is on the frontline.
New Zealand sees increase in racist anti-Chinese attacks
By Tom Peters, 11 May 2020
Racists are being emboldened as the Labour Party-NZ First-Greens coalition government strengthens its alignment with US imperialism against China.
The COVID-19 pandemic and global imperialist war
By Bill Van Auken, 9 May 2020
For all of the vapid talk about us all being in it together, the US ruling class views the pandemic as an instrument of war.
Blaming China, Trump says COVID-19 “attack” worse than Pearl Harbor and 9/11
By Nick Beams, 7 May 2020
The war rhetoric is being intensified because the Trump administration knows that its return-to-work policy is going to result in tens of thousands more deaths in the US.
European media launches propaganda lies blaming China for COVID-19
By Alex Lantier, 7 May 2020
European governments’ handling of the pandemic shows they place far more value on their strategic aims against China in Eurasia than on workers’ lives at home.
US ramps up COVID-19 propaganda war against China
By Peter Symonds, 6 May 2020
The crude attempt to blame China is aimed at diverting attention from the Trump administration’s criminal negligence in failing to respond to the dangers of COVID-19.
Trump’s Big Lie, accusing China of spreading COVID-19, a prelude to US war against China
By Peter Symonds, 5 May 2020
US efforts to scapegoat China, backed by allies such as Australia, are a crude attempt to deflect attention from its own criminal negligence, amid mounting opposition in the working class.
Trump escalates attacks on China over COVID-19
By Peter Symonds, 2 May 2020
US President Trump has stepped up his propaganda war and threats against China, blaming it for the deadly COVID-19 pandemic that has cost the lives of more than 230,000 people internationally.
Australian government places country on frontline of anti-China witch hunt
By Mike Head, 2 May 2020
Australia unilaterally called for an international inquiry into the COVID-19 pandemic, boosting the Trump administration’s unsubstantiated accusations against China.
New Zealand: Daily Blog ramps up anti-China campaign
By John Braddock, 29 April 2020
The attempt to foist responsibility for COVID-19 on China, recently endorsed by the Ardern Labour government, is a reactionary political lie.
Hong Kong arrests prominent pan-democrat activists
By Ben McGrath, 25 April 2020
Washington is attempting to exploit the arrests to further whip up tensions with Beijing and paint China as a threat.
US propaganda campaign promotes lies blaming China for COVID-19
By Alex Lantier, 24 April 2020
Claims in ruling circles in America and Europe that the coronavirus causing COVID-19 came from a Chinese lab fly in the face of all scientific evidence.
US provocatively dispatches warships to South China Sea
By Peter Symonds, 23 April 2020
As it amplifies its inflammatory rhetoric blaming China for the COVID-19 pandemic, the Trump administration is also raising military tensions in the South China Sea.
Germany’s right-wing Bild newspaper agitates against China
By Peter Schwarz, 23 April 2020
The accusation serves to divert attention away from the ruling elite’s failure to deal with the pandemic, while at the same time whipping up public opinion for war with China.
Erdogan opposes lockdown as Turkey’s COVID-19 pandemic overtakes China
By Ulas Atesci, 22 April 2020
Overtaking China and Iran in terms of the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases, at 90,000, Turkey has emerged as the country in Asia with the most cases.
Australian government joins Washington’s anti-China campaign over pandemic
By Oscar Grenfell, 21 April 2020
The Australian government, backed by the Labor opposition, is positioning itself as the Trump administration’s attack dog, repeating its unsubstantiated claims against China and the World Health Organisation.
As US deaths exceed 40,000, Trump escalates reckless back-to-work campaign
By Andre Damon, 20 April 2020
The government’s overriding concern is to ensure that the pandemic does not interfere with the enrichment of Wall Street and the major corporations.
Biden ads against Trump: Blame China for impact of coronavirus, not the ruling class
By Barry Grey, 20 April 2020
With his new ads, Biden lines up behind Trump's anti-China witch hunt, seeking merely to turn the chauvinist and war-mongering agitation against Trump himself.
Chinese economy contracted by 6.8 percent in first quarter
By Nick Beams, 18 April 2020
The announcement of the plunge in China came just days after the IMF forecast that the world economy will experience a $9 trillion loss of output over 2020-21.
Canadian elite promotes anti-China campaign over coronavirus
By Roger Jordan, 18 April 2020
The campaign aims to divert anger over the Western powers’ disastrous response to the pandemic and further integrate Canada into Washington’s offensive against Beijing.
US ramps up attacks on China over COVID-19
By Peter Symonds, 17 April 2020
Trump’s crude remarks are a transparent attempt to deflect attention from his own administration’s irresponsible actions in allowing the spread of the virus in the US.
France summons Chinese ambassador after embassy criticizes “herd immunity” policy
By Alex Lantier, 16 April 2020
Paris called in Chinese Ambassador to France Lu Shaye on Monday to criticize his embassy’s statements that European countries abandoned “their citizens to face the viral onslaught.”
An interview with four Chinese physicians at the epicenter of the pandemic in Wuhan
By Benjamin Mateus, 3 April 2020
Four doctors who went through the worst of the COVID-19 epidemic in China recently spoke with the WSWS about their experiences and the lessons for the wider world.
China: COVID-19 hospital construction worker’s protest blog goes viral before being deleted
By a correspondent in China, 30 March 2020
The worker described the wage theft and repressive conditions suffered by thousands of construction employees who build hospitals in Wuhan at the height of the coronavirus pandemic.
Chinese worker writes on the coronavirus pandemic: “Disaffection is growing among the masses”
By a correspondent, 23 March 2020
“The working class has made huge sacrifices in the fight against the epidemic. The epidemic has increased the pressure on their lives, and made workers want a more resolute voice for labour rights.”
Working class in China bears brunt of Beijing’s COVID-19 response
By Ben McGrath, 19 March 2020
The police state measures used by Beijing to curtail the COVID-19 outbreak make clear the necessity for the working class to take control of the response of the pandemic.
Global auto industry in downward spiral as coronavirus spreads worldwide
By Jessica Goldstein, 14 March 2020
Even prior to the outbreak, automakers had announced hundreds of thousands of layoffs and many plant closures.
Collapse of quarantine building in China exposes public anger over Beijing’s COVID-19 measures
By Ben McGrath, 14 March 2020
Beijing is attempt to ward off the social discontent in China as well as the aggressive denunciations coming out of Washington.
Italy emerging as the new epicenter for the Covid-19 pandemic
By Benjamin Mateus, 11 March 2020
Italy’s health care system is being overwhelmed by the growing number of serious respiratory illnesses that are filling the emergency rooms and hospitals throughout the Lombardy region.
Washington increases pressure on Beijing over Chinese media
By Ben McGrath, 10 March 2020
The demonization of China by Washington and its allies is part of a broader campaign to deflect social tensions outwards and to prepare for war.
As US coronavirus cases top 500, Italy initiates mass quarantine
By Benjamin Mateus, 9 March 2020
The World Health Organization has emphatically stated that the international community needs to take immediate action to curb the impact of the pandemic.
Modi government leaves millions of Indians vulnerable to coronavirus
By Wasantha Rupasinghe, 9 March 2020
Given India’s high population density and dysfunctional public health system, its population is threatened by any rapid spread of the coronavirus.
Oil price war set to trigger new financial storms
By Nick Beams, 9 March 2020
Trading this week began with a fall in the price of Brent crude from $45 a barrel to $31.52, one of the biggest single-day falls in its history.
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