BANNEDTHOUGHT.NET

Restrictions of Freedom of Speech in China, and
Suppressed Documents About China, Past and Present

      China is a country that has very strong restrictions on the freedom of speech, especially with regard to revolutionary ideas. With the overthrow of people’s power after the death of Mao Zedong, China became a bourgeois state. There are two main types of bourgeois state: bourgeois democracy and fascism. China is definitely not a bourgeois democracy! However, it is also not quite a fascist state of the Nazi type, but rather what might be called “soft fascism”. That is, the people are mostly not persecuted unless and until they do anything to try to change the social system. No publications are allowed which try to educate and organize the people in the necessity of retaking power from the new bourgeoisie. The Internet is severely censored, as are foreign publications, films, etc. Even mild reformist criticism of the ruling class and its policies is usually suppressed. Moreover, the Chinese rulers also try to prevent information about injustices in China from being made known in other countries.

      In dealing with a country so devoid of a free press and free communications as China, it is hard for BANNEDTHOUGHT.NET to even know where to start. We will simply have to post news of specific outrages, big or small, as we learn of them. We will also attempt to post information about social struggles and rebellions of the Chinese masses; about the beginning developments of a new Maoist revolutionary sentiment in China; and about the development of Chinese capitalism into a new imperialist power.

      For suppressed or difficult to find information about China during the Maoist (socialist) era see our separate page at: http://www.bannedthought.net/China/MaoEra/index.htm

      Contact us at: freespeech@bannedthought.net

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Suppression of News and Ideas in China

• “In Support of Young Leftwing Activists Detained and Wanted for Organizing a Reading Group on November 15, 2017”, by the Borderless Movement, March 2018, 5 pages.   PDF Version (253 KB);   MS Word Version (.docx) (390 KB)
• “Internet Censorship and China’s New Online Publication Law”, by Dezan Shira & Associates, May 17, 2016, 3 pages.   PDF Version (156 KB);   MS Word Version (63 KB)
  Although this article focuses on the ramifications of this new censorship law for foreign corporations operating in China, it also has information of a more general character. It notes for example that in recent years under the regime of Xi Jinping China has expanded the fraction of the web sites in the world which it blocks from 14% to 25%. It says:

  “The [new Chinese Internet censorship] law stipulates that an internet publication cannot include any content that opposes the principles of the constitution, threatens national unity, sovereignty or territorial integrity or security, divulges state secrets, damages the reputation or interests of the state, incites ethnic hostility or discrimination, endangers social morals or ethnic cultural traditions, advocates heresy or feudal superstition, disseminates rumors, disturbs social order and stability, disseminates obscenity, pornography, gambling, violence, or incites crime or insults others or infringes on their legal rights and interests.” [In other words, the Chinese rulers openly state that they will block anything and everything that they disapprove of, and that there will be no such thing as free speech on the Internet in China.]

• “China’s Xi Calls for Cooperation over Internet Regulation”, AP, Dec. 16, 2015, 2 pages. Quotes one commentator as saying: “Under the guise of sovereignty and security, the Chinese authorities are trying to rewrite the rules of the Internet so censorship and surveillance become the norm everywhere.”   PDF Version (49 KB);   MS Word (33 KB)
• “China is Leading Jailer of Journalists, Group Says”, New York Times, Dec. 15, 2015, 1 page.   PDF Version (99 KB);   MS Word (32 KB)
• “China’s Defiance Stirs Fears for Missing Dissident”, New York Times, Feb. 3, 2010, 3 pages. About the arrest and disappearance of human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng.   PDF Version (142 KB);   MS Word (47 KB)
• “Google, Citing Attack, Threatens to Exit China”, New York Times, Jan. 13, 2010, 3 pages.   PDF Version (137 KB);   MS Word (47 KB)
• “Furious Google Throws Down Gauntlet to China Over Censorship”, Ars Technica, Jan. 12, 2010, 4 pages.   PDF Version (325 KB);   MS Word (247 KB)
• “Trial in China Signals New Limits on Dissent”, New York Times, Dec. 24, 2009, 3 pages. About the trial of Liu Xiaobo, an advocate of bourgeois democracy.   PDF Version (153 KB);   MS Word (45 KB)   [A follow-up NY Times article reporting the harsh 11-year sentence handed down by the court is available at: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/25/world/asia/25china.html?th&emc=th.]
• “Filmmakers Barred From Chinese Festival”, New York Times, Sept. 2, 2009.   PDF Version (121 KB);   MS Word (33 KB)

Chinese Capitalist-Imperialism

• “China is Turning Ethiopia Into a Giant Fast-Fashion Factory”, by Bill Donahue, Bloomberg Businessweek, Asia Edition, March 5, 2018, 12 pages. About the export of Chinese capital to Ethiopia and the effects it is having there.   PDF Version (1,567 KB)
• [Book:] “Is China an Imperialist Country?”, by N.B. Turner, et al. An extensive essay on the growth and development of China as a major contending imperialist power, together with discussion of the nature and changes within the current world imperialist system and of the contradictions within it. Red-Path.net, March 2014, 129 pages.   English: PDF format (A4 paper size) (1,932 KB);   English: PDF format (8.5" x 11" paper size) (1,489 KB)
• “How China Became Capitalist”, by Ronald Coase and Ning Wang, CATO Policy Report, January/February 2013. [This article is from a deeply reactionary bourgeois perspective, and suffers from all the usual capitalist biases, but is still of interest. It shows how the ideologists of the Western capitalists themselves have long ago recognized that China is no longer “socialist” in any way, shape or form. —Ed.] Online at: http://www.cato.org/policy-report/januaryfebruary-2013/how-china-became-capitalist
• “Billions in Hidden Riches for Family of Chinese Leader [Wen Jiabao]”, by David Barboza, New York Times, Oct. 25, 2012, 12 pages. [In reaction to this article, the Chinese government blocked access to the New York Times website.]   PDF Version (231 KB);   MS Word Version (141 KB)
• “‘Princelings’ in China Use Family Ties to Gain Riches”, New York Times, May 17, 2012, 5 pages.   PDF Version (144 KB);   MS Word Version (45 KB)
• “May Day Means Pay Day for University Student Swindlers in Lanzhou, China”, by Jerry Leonard and Xie Yingjun, May 4, 2012, 7 pages. A telling little personal story illustrating how the once very militant workers’ holiday in Mao’s China has changed into just a vacation period, and one in which you might very well get swindled by the new class of “entrepreneurs”!   PDF (285 KB)
• “The Chinese Communist Party’s Capitalist Elite”, an article about the huge number of members of the National People’s Congress who are capitalist billionaires, Bloomberg Businessweek, March 1, 2012, 2 pages.   PDF Version (118 KB);   MS Word Version (33 KB)
• “The Rise of China and Its Implications”, by Fred Engst, University of International Business and Economics, Beijing. This is the edited and approved version of this important essay, parts of which were presented at the ILPS 4th International Assembly in the Philippines on July 9, 2011. 15 pages.   PDF Version (204 KB);   MS Word Version (60 KB)
• “China’s ‘State Capitalism’ Sparks a Global Backlash”, Wall Street Journal, Nov. 16, 2010, 7 pages.   PDF Version (284 KB);   MS Word Version (972 KB)
• “Chinese Military Seeks to Extend Its Naval Power”, New York Times, April 23, 2010, 5 pages.   PDF Version (211 KB);   MS Word Version (481 KB)
• “China Emerges as a Major Exporter of Capital”, by John Chan, World Socialist Web Site, May 19, 2009, 3 pages. [Note: While this article is from a Trotskyist publication, it seems accurate and quite useful to us.]   PDF Version (191 KB);   MS Word Version (38 KB)
• “China-India Maritime Rivalry”, by Cdr. Gurpreet S. Khurana, Indian Defence Review, Oct.-Dec. 2009, 8 pages.   PDF Version (369 KB);   MS Word Version (90 KB)
• “The Realities of China Today”, by Martin Hart-Lansberg, Against the Current, #137, Nov.-Dec. 2008, 15 pages. Though the author is not a Maoist, and makes at least one very unsupported and unjustified criticism of Maoist economic policies, overall this article strongly debunks the notions of some people on the “left” today that China is still a socialist country, or that it at least is supposedly advancing the welfare of the Chinese masses. It shows that nothing could be further from the truth!   PDF Version (183 KB);   MS Word Version (81 KB)
• “China’s Emerging Role in the International Financial System”, speech by Chen Yuan, Governor, China Development Bank, Shanghai, Nov. 10, 2008, 9 pages.   Searchable PDF format (25 KB)
• “China Offers India Help to Defeat Maoists”, UPI Press report, Oct. 27, 2005, 1 page.   PDF format (25 KB)

Mass Struggles in China

• “Workers, Police Clash in China’s Yanan; 100 Injured”, Hong Kong Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy (via BBC), May 7, 2010, 2 pages.   PDF Version (65 KB);   MS Word (29 KB)
• “They’re Not Going to Take It: China’s women, facing pervasive discrimination, decide to fight for their rights”, Newsweek, Aug. 1, 2009, 3 pages.   PDF Version (161 KB);   MS Word (39 KB)
• “Chinese Workers Beat Manager to Death; Farmers Block Highway”, Asia News, July 27, 2009.   PDF Version (131 KB);   MS Word (29 KB)
• “A New Revolution? Chinese Working Classes Confront Globalized Economy”, by Robert Weil. Policy Brief, Summer 2006.   http://www.oaklandinstitute.org/node/2468

Pro-Maoist Sentiment in Contemporary China

• “Seven Maoist Students Detained in Beijing After Talking to Foreign Media”, from the website of the so-called Radio Free Asia, Jan. 25, 2019, 3 pages.   PDF format (147 KB)
• “Marxist Students Detained, Manhandled by Security Guards at Peking University”, from the website of the so-called Radio Free Asia, Dec. 28, 2018, 3 pages. This is a follow-up to the report below.   PDF format (152 KB)
• “Chinese Police Detain Marxist Student Leader on Mao’s Birthday”, from the website of the so-called Radio Free Asia, Dec. 26, 2018, 3 pages. This student leader at Peking University was on his way to a meeting he organized on the 125 anniversary of the birth of Mao Zedong.   PDF format (137 KB)
• “Police Detain Maoist Labor Activists on Campuses Across China”, from the website of the so-called Radio Free Asia, Nov. 12, 2018, 3 pages. This is about the further spreading of Maoist struggle by youth which was originally sparked by the Jasic Workers’ Solidary Group in Guandong.   PDF format (151 KB)
• “Cornell University Cuts Ties With Chinese School After Crackdown on Students”, by Javier Hernández, New York Times, Oct. 29, 2018, 2 pages. In connection with support by students at Renmin University in Beijing for the Jasic Workers’ struggle.   PDF format (131 KB)
• “Maoists Call on China’s Official Union to Stand Up for Workers”, follow-up report on the Jasic Workers’ Solidarity Group, from the website of the so-called Radio Free Asia, Oct. 25, 2018, 2 pages. One of the prominent activists in the JWSG, Yue Xin, has not been seen in more than 60 days. She has apparently been arrested or exiled to the countryside. Other JWSG workers are also still detained in what can only be viewed as an attempted fascist suppression of the working class struggle.   PDF format (149 KB)
• “China’s Government Censors Shut Down References to Mao-Inspired Labor Movement”, further report on website of the so-called Radio Free Asia, Aug. 21, 2018, 3 pages.   PDF format (74 KB);   MS Word format (.docx) (42 KB)
• “Maoist Labor Campaigner ‘Kidnapped,’ Believed Detained, in China’s Guandong”, report on website of the so-called Radio Free Asia, Aug. 13, 2018, 4 pages. (The Maoist woman referred to is Shen Mengyu. This is a follow-up to the next item below.)   PDF format (74 KB);   MS Word format (.docx) (42 KB)
• “Dozens Detained Amid Maoist-Led Rights Campaign at Chinese Factory”, report on website of the so-called Radio Free Asia, July 30, 2018, 4 pages.   PDF format (113 KB);   MS Word format (.docx) (96 KB)
• “Hong Kong’s May 16 Demonstration Commemorating the 52 Anniversary of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution”, May 2018, 8 pages.   香港“五一六”游行，纪念无产阶级文化大革命52周年 Chinese Original: PDF Version (3,728 KB);   Improved English Translation: PDF format (78 KB);   Improved English Translation: MS Word format (.doc) (48 KB)
• “Maoist Writer Jailed for Subversion”, report on website of Radio Free Asia, Jan. 19, 2012, 3 pages. About a 10-year prison sentence handed down to self-identified Maoist, Li Tie.  PDF format (107 KB);   MS Word format (72 KB)
• “Yu Quan-yu, A Truly Unforgettable Committed Revolutionary in Our Era”, by Li Zhen-cheng. A remembrance of a Maoist revolutionary who was falsely labeled as a “rightist” back in the 1950s, but who remained a revolutionary nevertheless. In both Chinese and English translation. Aug. 17, 2010, 11 pages.   PDF format (763 KB);   MS Word format (52 KB)
• “A Memorial Meeting for Chairman Mao and Other Martyrs”, at Luoyang City, Henan Province. Posted on the “Utopia” website (www.wyzxsx.com) on April 14, 2010. Includes a link to the video of the original memorial speech in Chinese.   PDF format (133 KB);   MS Word format (30 KB)
• “Economic Bust is Big Boom for Mao”, an article in the Toronto Star about the Utopia Bookshop in Beijing, a center for Maoist books and magazines. March 25, 2009, 4 pages.   PDF format (115 KB);   MS Word format (95 KB)
• “Some Thoughts Regarding Our Future Revolution, by a Revolutionary Old Guard”, by Wei Wei, 5 pages. This article was distributed on the Maoist Revolution email list in the U.S. on Nov. 9, 2008, along with the notice that it was translated from Chinese from the www.hongqiwang.com web site. The author seems to take a fairly strong nationalist line, and views the current regime as that of a bureaucrat and comprador bourgeoisie (rather than a national bourgeoisie). But he also is a strong supporter of Paris Commune style democracy.   PDF format (81 KB);   MS Word format (46 KB)
• “China: Signs of Ultra-Leftist Support to Maoists of India and Nepal”, by D. S. Rajan, Oct. 5, 2005.   PDF format (164 KB);   MS Word format (43 KB)
• “On December 24, 2004, Maoists in China Get Three Year Prison Sentences for Leafleting: A Report on the Case of the Zhengzhou Four”, Monthly Review, Jan. 2005, 5 pages.   PDF format (299 KB);   MS Word format (45 KB)
• “Without Rejection, There can be No Rebirth”, My Declaration of Withdrawal from the Party, by Zhang Lushi, an old Chinese Communist Party member, July 19, 2001, 5 pages. A very powerful and touching letter.   PDF format (180 KB);   MS Word format (42 KB)

Contemporary Journals and Publications

• Made In China, A Quarterly on Chinese Labour, Civil Society, and Rights. (From a foreign bourgeois perspective, but exposing a lot of the exploitation and mistreatment of workers in China.) Its home page online is at: http://www.chinoiresie.info/made-in-china-quarterly/
  • 2016:
    • Number 1, January-March, 36 pages.   PDF format (6,435 KB)
    • Number 2, April-June, 44 pages.   PDF format (2,882 KB)
    • Number 3, July-September, 47 pages.   PDF format (4,955 KB)
    • Number 4, October-December, 40 pages.   PDF format (2,217 KB)
  • 2017:
    • Number 1, January-March, 57 pages.   PDF format (5,843 KB)
    • Number 2, April-June, 61 pages.   PDF format (5,417 KB)
    • Number 3, July-September, 87 pages.   PDF format (6,424 KB)
    • Number 4, October-December, 77 pages.   PDF format (5,394 KB)
  • 2018:
    • Number 1, January-March, 121 pages.   PDF format (4,551 KB)
    • Number 2, April-June, 109 pages.   PDF format (7,085 KB)
    • Number 3, July-September, 122 pages.   PDF format (5,262 KB)
    • Number 4, October-December, 122 pages. The article about the Jasic Workers Mobilization is especially noteworthy.   PDF format (5,173 KB)
  • 2019:
    • Number 1, January-March, 162 pages.   PDF format (8,598 KB)
    • Number 2, April-June, 175 pages.   PDF format (11,669 KB)
    • Number 3, July-September, 173 pages.   PDF format (4,864 KB)

Chinese Government and Official Functions — Documents from the Capitalist-Imperialist Era

• Centenary Meeting on the Revolution of 1911:
  • “Speech at the Centenary of the Revolution of 1911”, by Liu Jun, chairman of the All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese, Oct. 9, 2011, 6 pages.   Searchable PDF format   (1,232 KB)
  • “Speech at the Centenary of the Revolution of 1911”, by Zhou Tienong, Vice-Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress and Chairman of the Central Committee of the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang, Oct. 9, 2011, 6 pages.   Searchable PDF format   (1,216 KB)

China’s Economy in the Capitalist-Imperialist Era

• Trade
  • “The Facts and China’s Position on China-US Trade Friction”, “White Paper”, by the Information Office of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China, Sept. 25, 2018, 72 pages.   Searchable PDF format   (845 KB)

China’s Military in the Capitalist-Imperialist Era

• Navy
  • “The People’s Liberation Army Navy: A Modern Navy with Chinese Characteristics”, by the U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence, August 2009, 51 pages.   Searchable PDF format   (21,770 KB)

Communist Party of China — Documents from the Capitalist-Imperialist Era

• 19th Party Congress: 2017
  • “Constitution of the Chinese Communist Party”, adopted at the 19th Party Congress, Oct. 24, 2017, 28 pages.   Searchable PDF format   (285 KB)
• 17th Party Congress: 2007
  • “Resolution of the 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China on the Amended Constitution of the CPC”, adopted Oct. 21, 2007, 8 pages.   Searchable PDF format   (1,654 KB)
  • “Resolution of the 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China on the Report of Its 16th Central Committee”, adopted Oct. 21, 2007, 9 pages.   Searchable PDF format   (2,243 KB)
  • “Resolution of the 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China on the Report of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection”, adopted Oct. 21, 2007, 3 pages.   Searchable PDF format   (481 KB)
• Other Documents:
  • [Book:]   “A Concise History of the Communist Party of China”, Hu Sheng (chief editor), on the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Party in 1921, (Beijing: FLP, 1994), 885 pages. [While this huge book contains considerable information, it must never be forgotten that it is written from the point of view of the lying capitalist-roaders who seized power in a coup d’état after Mao’s death and proceeded to transform socialist China into its present capitalist-imperialist system. As such, it simply cannot be viewed as reliable and trustworthy in anything it says, though it is especially untrustworthy for the period from 1959-1976. The work is of value mostly as a reference for the views as of 1994 on Party history by the new National Bourgeoisie in China which is centered in the CCP.]   Searchable PDF format   [Enormous file: 131,487 KB]  

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