I put the whole speech through DeepL and found the second part of the speech to be the interesting part:

Well, I’d like to tell you this: my ministers have quoted all the figures they could quote, so I’m not going to tell you. I’m just going to give you one thing. Just one thing for you. This country has spent four years. In fact, since the coup against President Dilma, this country has been like an old truck going downhill without control. This country stopped making social policy. How many houses were built after we left government? How many houses for the poor? Today we build houses for the poorest people and people on Bolsa Família and BPC don’t pay for the house, because the state has the right to guarantee people the right to housing. It’s in the Federal Constitution of this country. If we want to make a revolution in this country, Pacheco, we don’t have to read a book by Marx. We don’t have to be Leninists. We don’t have to be Mao Zedong. We don’t have to be Fidel. Read the Brazilian Constitution and let’s regulate all the rights of the Brazilian people that are there. And that’s what we’re doing.

I’ve found hundreds and hundreds of paralyzed hospitals in this country. Hundreds and hundreds of paralyzed UPAs. Almost 6,000 kindergartens paralyzed in this country. I found 87,000 Minha Casa, Minha Vida houses abandoned. The other day I went to Ceará to inaugurate a house that should have been inaugurated in 2018. Because this plague of locusts that has swept through this country in recent times has only come to destroy, not to build anything.

When we came into government, they sent away the More Doctors that Dilma had brought in. They sent them away. Do you know how many doctors there were when we arrived in this country? Anyone who works in healthcare here should know. There were only 12,500 doctors. Today we have 26,000 doctors covering the health of the poor people of this country, in cities that often can’t even afford a doctor, because doctors are expensive. So I said to you: I want to be president again. I had already been president. I had already been, you know, it was like, but I wanted to come back to teach a lesson to the people who don’t like us.

This country has always been governed by only 35% of the population. It never reached 40%. It has always been governed. The poor were only seen at election time, because at election time, every candidate speaks ill of bankers and embraces the poor. When the elections are over, to hell with the poor and they go and look after the bankers they despised during the elections. And I wanted to prove that politics can be different. I, for example, think that bankers have to make money, because if they don’t, the government is obliged to do what Fernando Henrique Cardoso did with PROER. Twenty-something billion to save the banks. I want businesspeople to earn money, because if businesspeople earn money, they’ll invest, they’ll hire workers, they’ll pay wages, wages will turn into consumption, consumption will go to commerce, commerce will grow, stores will buy more things, industry will produce and people will eat more. That’s the country I want to build. And it can be built.

Now, as this country was governed with only 35% of the population in mind, we decided to include the people in this country. In other words, the people have to be taken into account, because the people who are poorer are not poorer because they want to be poor. Nobody chooses to be poor. I choose to be a doctor, I choose to be an engineer, I choose to be a lawyer, I choose to be a teacher. The only thing we don’t do is “I want to be poor, I want to eat badly, I want to live badly, I want to dress badly”. There’s no such thing. We want to eat well, we want to dress well, we want to live well. We want to have the latest television, we want to have good cell phones, we want to go on vacation, we want to go to the beach, we want to eat meat like people who eat meat. Why do we have to be trampled on all our lives?

Then someone asks me, a journalist: "But, Lula, don’t you think they’re spending too much? The minimum wage has already been increased twice. Good heavens, the minimum is the minimum. The name says it all. There’s nothing lower than the minimum. Now, how can I discuss, make a fiscal adjustment, over the minimum of the minimum. What I wanted to do was make a fiscal adjustment to the profitability of this country’s bankers, who make money speculating on the stock exchange, speculating, you know, every day. I’m not going to touch the humblest people. The humblest people, the state has to take care of them, because a middle-class citizen doesn’t need the state. The guy who has a house, the guy who has a car, the guy who is well married, the guy who has a family, his children studying at a good school, he doesn’t need the government. The government needs to look at those who need it, like a mother. I always say this: governing is about putting a mother’s heart in our heads so that we learn to take care of everyone, on equal terms, and to take more care of the most fragile, the most dependent. This is the country we’re going to build, people. This is the country I’m proving it’s possible to build.

I’d like to say to the deputies and senators. I wanted to say something to you. I’d like to say to the vice-governor, to my companion who is perhaps the oldest person here, apart from me. I want to say the following: I doubt, and the press is here, there must be a lot of intellectuals here, I doubt that there was a day in the state of Minas Gerais that a President of the Republic came to announce the number of things that I came to announce here. I doubt it. I doubt it.

And we’re going to build the BR-381, because we’ve already tried to hold an auction once, and the auction was empty. There’s a stretch near Governador Valadares that’s very complicated. So I said to my minister: “Minister, here’s the deal: whatever the businessman doesn’t want to do, which is to gnaw on the bone, the government will gnaw on the bone and we’ll make this road”. That’s what’s going to happen in Minas Gerais.

And so I forgot to tell you, but there’s going to be an institute in Barreiro. There’s going to be an institute. All that’s left is for the mayor to sign the document. I hope that Camilo and the mayor agree to sign it, because what I want is to educate these people, because people who are well educated, people who have a profession, go ahead and nobody needs the state. And that’s what I’m going to build. And I’ll say it again, I said it here: I want to be president again to prove that we can take care of poor people. And I want you to know: I’m going to take care of you the way I take care of my son, the way I take care of my granddaughter, the way I take care of the things I love, because I’m only where I am, I’m only what I am, an illiterate northeasterner who’s only trained as a lathe operator, to become president of the Republic. There are two things: the work of God and the work of the courage of those of you who had the pleasure of electing me.

Video subtitles:

If you want to make a revolution in this country, Pacheco, we don’t have to read any book by Marx, we don’t have to be a Leninist, we don’t have to be a Mao Zedongist, we don’t have to be Fidel. Read the Brazilian constitution and we will regulate all the rights of the Brazilian people.

For reference: Brazil’s constitution

Did some searching and found the full speech: https://www.gov.br/planalto/pt-br/acompanhe-o-planalto/discursos-e-pronunciamentos/2024/pronunciamento-do-presidente-lula-durante-anuncio-de-investimento-do-governo-federal-para-minas-gerais

Here’s the entire paragraph that includes the part shown in the video at the end:

Bem, eu queria dizer para vocês o seguinte: os meus ministros citaram todos os números que poderiam citar, então não vou dizer, não. Vou apenas dar uma coisa para vocês. Apenas uma coisa para vocês. Esse país passou quatro anos. Na verdade, desde que deram o golpe na presidenta Dilma, esse país parecia um caminhão velho descendo ladeira abaixo, sem controle. Esse país deixou de fazer política social. Quantas casas foram feitas depois que nós saímos do governo? Quantas casas para o pobre? Hoje a gente faz casa para as pessoas mais pobres e as pessoas do Bolsa Família e o BPC não paga a casa, porque o Estado tem o direito de garantir o direito de moradia para as pessoas. Está na Constituição Federal desse país. Se a gente quiser fazer uma revolução nesse país, Pacheco, a gente não tem que ler um livro de Marx. A gente não tem que leninista. A gente não tem que ser Mao Tsé-Tung. A gente não tem que ser Fidel. Leia a Constituição Brasileira e vamos regulamentar todos os direitos do povo brasileiro que está lá. E é isso que nós estamos fazendo.

(DeepL translate) Well, I’d like to tell you this: my ministers have quoted all the figures they could quote, so I’m not going to say it. I’m just going to just give you one thing. Just one thing for you. This country has spent four years. In fact, since the coup against President Dilma, this country has been like an old truck going downhill, with no control. control. This country has stopped making social policy. How many houses were after we left government? How many houses for the poor? Today we build houses for the poorest people and the people on the Bolsa Bolsa Família and BPC don’t pay for the house, because the state has the right to to guarantee people the right to housing. It’s in the Constitution of this country. If we want to make a revolution in this country, Pacheco, we don’t have to read a book by Marx. We don’t have to Leninist. We don’t have to be Mao Zedong. We don’t have to be Fidel. Read the Brazilian Constitution and let’s regulate all the rights of the Brazilian people that are there. And that’s what we’re doing.

Press Statement of Vice Department Director of C.C., WPK Kim Yo Jong http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2024/202405/news29/20240529-13ee.html

Pyongyang, May 29 (KCNA) – Kim Yo Jong, vice department director of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea, issued the following press statement under the title “The ROK is not entitled to criticize the freedom of expression of the people of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea” on Wednesday:

As already warned by the DPRK vice minister of National Defence, a large amount of waste paper and rubbish are being scattered in the border and deep areas of the ROK from the night of May 28.

According to the ROK media, waste paper and rubbish were found not only in the border area with the DPRK but also in Seoul and other parts of the ROK.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff of the ROK puppet army said that the DPRK is scattering a large number of balloons over the ROK from last night. It urged the DPRK to stop such an act at once, claiming that it is a clear violation of international law, an act of seriously threatening the security of ROK people and an unethical and lowbrow act.

We have tried something they have always been doing, but I cannot understand why they are making a fuss as if they were hit by shower of bullets.

After all, they hoisted a white flag just one day after they themselves have been exposed to the despicable article-scattering which the DPRK has called into question and demanded a stop for years.

I doubt whether those in the ROK could only see the balloons flying southwards without catching sight of the balloons flying northwards.

Scum-like clans of the ROK are now blatantly claiming that their leaflet-scattering towards the DPRK is “freedom of expression” and that the corresponding act of the DPRK is an “obvious violation of international law”.

Are the “freedom of expression” and “international law” defined according to the direction in which balloons fly?

It is the height of impudence.

It is an opportunity to reconfirm how clumsy and brazen the ROK clans are.

The ROK clans must be subject to due pains as they tried to scatter leaflets, the political agitation rubbish slandering the idea and system of the DPRK regarded by all its people as sacred, and inject their mixed ideas raised at cesspools to the DPRK, and made a serious mockery of our people by scattering the cheap money and trifles which even mongrel dogs wouldn’t like.

If they experience how unpleasant the feeling of picking up filth is and how tired it is, they will know that it is not easy to dare talk about freedom of expression as to the scattering near border area.

Today, I will get the following stand into shape:

“As the leaflet-scattering to the ROK belongs to our people’s freedom of expression and provides the people in the ROK with the right to know, there is a limit for the government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to immediately stop it. I courteously seek the ROK government’s consent. …”

The ROK clans cannot deprive the DPRK people of their righteous “freedom of expression”.

They should continue to pick up rubbish scattered by our people, regarding them really as “sincere presents” to the goblins of liberal democracy who are crying for the “guarantee for freedom of expression”.

We make it clear that we will respond to the ROK clans on case-to-case basis by scattering rubbish dozens of times more than those being scattered to us, in the future.

the professor explains that a party reportly bluntly states that development in china has been rather uneven, unbalanced and lopsided. There are significant issues with party loyalty and corruption. Gaps between rural and urban areas are large. Many cadres don’t promote scientific innovation well and so on. It might not be correct to pin all of this on rightist errors by one man, but these are errors.

Maybe you could further explain how uneven development or any of the other issues are “rightist errors”, there is a fundamental divide between people who outright reject Deng Xiaoping’s policies and those who accept them with criticism. The policy of 一国两制 (One China, Two Systems) is probably the most suitable example that can be viewed as “rightist”, letting Hong Kong and Macao continue to operate their capitalist system. Other less “egregious” examples are 经济特区 (Special Economic Zones) like Shenzhen and Hainan, there’s also the “infamous” 社会主义市场经济 (socialist market economy).

once a country has been made independent of imperialists, nationalism becomes an obstacle to socialist development

China’s policy of peaceful coexistence would be helped by promoting a more internationalist stance in culture.

From Mao era’s 世界人民大团结万岁 (Long live the great unity of the people of the world) to Xi era’s 人类命运共同体 (community of shared future for mankind), China has always been advocating for internationalism.

Nationalism’s call to unity is collectivism at the national-level, I agree that collectivism at different levels can be in conflict with each other, for example when family interests conflict with national interests. There is a Chinese saying “舍小家、为大家”, which means something like “for the greater good”, to describe putting the interests of the greater collective (nation) before the smaller collective (family/self).

Similarly, national interests and international interests can also be conflicting, but China doesn’t choose nationalism or internationalism exclusively, it depends on the situation. When assisting the development of Global South countries, is that not internationalism at work? When handling disputes in the South China Sea, China defends its legitimate claims to the islands for national interests.

Nationalism can be reactionary when used at the expense of other nations (invasion, chauvinism, xenophobia), internationalism can be reactionary when used in disregard of legitimate national interests (like contributing to underdevelopment of the current nation, sounds familiar? That’s what some people say when China provides cheap goods at the detriment of Chinese workers). Until world communism has been achieved, there’s no simple “choice” between nationalism or internationalism, even then there will be new problems in the new world order.

China before Xi’s reforms was pretty much a capitalist hellhole. Corruption, environmental degradation and poverty were rampant

Those issues do not justify calling China during that period a “capitalist hellhole”.

even the CPC’s official stance is that Deng made some rightist errors

Could you provide the source for this?

The CPC has also made errors in recent years by becoming more nationalistic and has moved slower on LGBTQ rights than is expected of a socialist country.

China’s nationalism is controversial to some, probably because they think it’s like the toxic “America First”, or that it is not a very communist stance, but I do not see it as a mistake. Nationalism is fundamental for the survival of any nation that wishes to be independent and not controlled or invaded by foreign powers.

LGBTQ rights are important in the sense that they are treated as normal people, not “special” people. China is certainly lacking some LGBTQ rights that are available in other countries like same-sex marriage.

Globes’ “report”: https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-chinese-shipping-giant-cosco-to-stop-visiting-israeli-ports-1001467115

Chinese state-owned shipping giant COSCO Shipping has stopped visiting Israeli ports, “Globes” has learned.

That’s all the details it gives, the rest is just analysis. Learned from who, no clue, not even “anonymous sources” or “officials who declined to be named”.

I think the state of the internet is currently telecom landlords providing the basic hardware infrastructure like cables and routers for a fee, big tech corporations and traditional news outlets dominating mainstream websites/apps, and finally other groups doing things like maintaining technical standards, improving FOSS ecosystem, and building decentralized platforms to combat mainstream centralized platforms etc.

The pervasive anarchist “freedom” mentality on the internet brought by the US, that it shouldn’t be regulated by the government, has led to an anarchist-style landscape that is instead regulated by private entities. Sure there are still some restrictions on what corporations can do like privacy laws, but the bigger problems are that relating to “free speech” and valid information.

Note that although we are on Lemmygrad, one of the many decentralized platforms in the Fediverse, this doesn’t mean that decentralized platforms are a good alternative to centralized capitalist platforms. For starters anyone can setup a platform for their own reactionary groups. Without clear guidelines for development, decentralization is nothing more than chaotic anarchy that capitalists can take advantage of. The internet is already decentralized on the lower physical/link/transport layers (OSI model), the fact that we now have to “re-decentralize” it on a higher layer for applications like social media and file sharing is why I think this model is not sustainable for socialism on the internet.

From The Militant’s about page: https://themilitant.com/about/

It fought the Stalinist counterrevolution in the Soviet Union

Their latest issue (Vol. 88/No. 1) has an article which says: Defend Israel’s right to exist! Fighting Jew-hatred is union question. Israel battles to stop new Hamas pogroms https://themilitant.com/2023/12/23/defend-israels-right-to-exist-fighting-jew-hatred-is-union-question/

They certainly don’t ask about Hamas’ brutal dictatorship since taking over Gaza in 2006 and its arrest, torture and assassination of political opponents, crushing of union struggles and oppression of women.

They list articles about their position here: Defend Israel’s right to exist as haven for Jews! Condemn Jew-hating pogrom! Call for cease-fire is support for Hamas (The record of the ‘Militant’ and the Socialist Workers Party) https://themilitant.com/2023/11/25/defend-israels-right-to-exist-call-for-cease-fire-is-support-for-hamas-2/

The list includes this bizarre statement from the Socialist Workers Party, which seems counter to reality: Defend Israel’s right to exist as refuge for Jews! Oppose US rulers’ moves to force Israel to give up battle to defeat Hamas. Fight against Jew-hatred! https://themilitant.com/2023/12/02/defend-israels-right-to-exist-as-refuge-for-jewsoppose-us-rulers-moves-to-force-israel-to-give-up-battle-to-defeat-hamasfight-against-jew-hatred/

The U.S. imperialist rulers do not share the inescapable situation of Israeli capitalist rulers, much less Israeli working people, who must crush Hamas if their country is to continue to exist as a refuge for Jews.

London, Paris and the other democratic imperialist powers act for their capitalist rulers’ interests too, as do Beijing and Moscow. But they are much weaker than Washington. In the eyes of all these predators, the peoples of the region are bargaining chips. Workers cannot rely on these capitalist powers to protect Jews from the assaults of Tehran and Hamas, any more than to safeguard the interests of the working class.

Washington is part of a growing chorus pressing Israel to back off its efforts to eliminate Hamas as a military and terrorist threat to the Jewish people and accept a cease-fire, sure to be violated with new brutality.

There is a daily barrage in the liberal media about deplorable conditions in Gaza, with no explanation that this is exactly what Hamas long planned and intended in carrying out the Oct. 7 bloodbath. This coverage is aimed at ramping up pressure on Israel to end its efforts to destroy Hamas and yield to the imperialist-dominated United Nations. U.N. bodies are among Hamas’ most prominent cheerleaders.

Basically they

• are against Jew-hatred
• defend the right of Israel to exist
• view Hamas as anti-Palestinian
• parrot the US’s pro-Israel talking points while claiming that the US is pro-Hamas
• lump China with other “democratic imperialist powers”
• ignore how the US vetos UN Security Council resolutions that call for cease-fires.

As for how they ended up in this pro-Israel position, it’s not uncommon to find the position of a party changing over time, maybe you could find something if you look through their history, but I would say that it’s a waste of time to analyze this paper, opinions are a dime a dozen, lousy opinions more so.

I think you may have misremembered what Marx said because this is in the preface of the Communist Manifesto: https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1848/communist-manifesto/preface.htm

that this struggle, however, has now reached a stage where the exploited and oppressed class (the proletariat) can no longer emancipate itself from the class which exploits and oppresses it (the bourgeoisie), without at the same time forever freeing the whole of society from exploitation, oppression, class struggles

This means you have to liberate others before liberating yourself.

There’s a scifi TV series called Severance where memories at work and memories of personal life can be severed, I won’t spoil the story but this news of writing code in their sleep sounds just like that.

where would I go for a good primer on Chinese constitutional law/governance?

I don’t know, do you mean introduction to laws related to the constitution? The NPC does have a list of all current 299 laws in China (in Chinese): http://www.npc.gov.cn/npc/c2/c30834/202311/t20231102_432724.html, and the first category is a list of 52 laws related to the constitution. The NPC also provides English translations for the various laws here: http://en.npc.gov.cn.cdurl.cn/laws.html

From https://president.gov.by/en/statebodies/belarusian-people-s-congress

According to the Constitution of the Republic of Belarus that was amended and supplemented at the national referendum on 27 February 2022, the Belarusian People’s Congress has become a constitutional body. The responsibilities, the order of formation, and the actitives of the Belarusian People’s Congress are specified in Chapter 31 of the Constitution and the law.

The Belarusian People’s Congress is the highest representative body of people’s power of the Republic of Belarus, which determines the strategic areas of development of society and the state, ensures the inviolability of the constitutional system, the continuity of generations, and civil accord.

The delegates of the Belarusian People’s Congress include:

• President of the Republic of Belarus;
• President of the Republic of Belarus, who has ceased to exercise his powers (expiration of the term of office, early resignation);
• representatives of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches;
• representatives of local Councils of Deputies;
• representatives of civil society.

Delegates from local Councils of Deputies and civil society are elected from each oblast and the city of Minsk in the manner determined by law.

The maximum number of delegates of the Belarusian People’s Congress is 1,200 people.

The term of office of the Belarusian People’s Congress is five years.

The meetings of the Belarusian People’s Congress are held at least once a year.

The Belarusian People’s Congress is empowered to approve the main guidelines of the domestic and foreign policy, the military doctrine, the national security concept; to approve the social and economic development programs of the Republic of Belarus; to receive the Prime Minister’s report on the implementation of the social and economic development programs of the Republic of Belarus. The Belarusian People’s Congress has the right of legislative initiative.

The resolutions of the Belarusian People’s Congress are mandatory for execution and can revoke the legal acts, other resolutions of government bodies and officials that contradict the interests of national secutrity, except for the acts of courts.

Some more info from a reactionary article: https://constitutionnet.org/news/belaruss-upcoming-referendum-lukashenka-stacks-deck

The ABPA would be given wide-ranging competences and significant powers, including the following: appointing and dismissing judges of the Constitutional and Supreme Courts, as well as the Chairperson and members of the Central Electoral Commission; proposing constitutional amendments and referendums; giving binding instructions to state bodies and officials; introducing a state of emergency or martial law; and approving the main directions of domestic and foreign policy, military doctrine, and national security (Section 3). Further, and ominously, the ABPA can impeach the president (currently the prerogative of the parliament), has “the right to consider the question of the legitimacy of elections” and can “annul legal acts and decisions of other state bodies and actors which run counter to the interests of national security…”

So it looks like the All-Belarusian People’s Assembly (ABPA) or Belarusian People’s Congress went from being a CPPCC to NPC in terms of China’s political structure.

As a comparison, here are China’s NPC powers: https://english.www.gov.cn/archive/lawsregulations/201911/20/content_WS5ed8856ec6d0b3f0e9499913.html

Article 62 The National People’s Congress shall exercise the following functions and powers:

• (1) amending the Constitution;
• (2) overseeing the enforcement of the Constitution;
• (3) enacting and amending criminal, civil, state institutional and other basic laws;
• (4) electing the president and the vice president of the People’s Republic of China;
• (5) deciding, based on nomination by the president of the People’s Republic of China, on the successful candidate for the premier of the State Council; deciding, based on nominations by the premier of the State Council, on the successful candidates for vice premiers, state councilors, ministers of ministries, ministers of commissions, the auditor general and the secretary general of the State Council;
• (6) electing the chairperson of the Central Military Commission and deciding, based on nominations by the chairperson of the Central Military Commission, on the successful candidates for other members of the Central Military Commission;
• (7) electing the chairperson of the National Commission of Supervision;
• (8) electing the president of the Supreme People’s Court;
• (9) electing the procurator general of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate;
• (10) reviewing and approving the plan for national economic and social development and the report on its implementation;
• (11) reviewing and approving the state budget and the report on its implementation;
• (12) changing or revoking inappropriate decisions of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee;
• (13) approving the establishment of provinces, autonomous regions and cities directly under central government jurisdiction;
• (14) deciding on the establishment of special administrative regions and the systems to be instituted there;
• (15) deciding on issues concerning war and peace; and
• (16) other functions and powers that the highest state organ of power should exercise.

Article 63 The National People’s Congress shall have the power to remove from office the following personnel:

• (1) the president and the vice president of the People’s Republic of China;
• (2) the premier, vice premiers, state councilors, ministers of ministries, ministers of commissions, the auditor general and the secretary general of the State Council;
• (3) the chairperson of the Central Military Commission and other members of the Central Military Commission;
• (4) the chairperson of the National Commission of Supervision;
• (5) the president of the Supreme People’s Court; and
• (6) the procurator general of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate.

I think Marxism is not mainly about how much you know, but more about putting what you know into practice to help the oppressed class.

Remember when it was only rich people who could afford the time and money for decent education, or any education at all (still applies in some areas of the world)? What did most of those people do with all their knowledge? Sure some of them furthered the wealth of human knowledge, by just being the only people who could afford to be in that position.

I suggest reading this short essay by Karl Marx: Reflections of a Young Man on The Choice of a Profession. It is about choosing a profession but really you can apply it to choosing what to learn or do.

Some quotes:

Those professions which are not so much involved in life itself as concerned with abstract truths are the most dangerous for the young man whose principles are not yet firm and whose convictions are not yet strong and unshakeable. At the same time these professions may seem to be the most exalted if they have taken deep root in our hearts and if we are capable of sacrificing our lives and all endeavours for the ideas which prevail in them.

But the chief guide which must direct us in the choice of a profession is the welfare of mankind and our own perfection. It should not be thought that these two interests could be in conflict, that one would have to destroy the other; on the contrary, man’s nature is so constituted that he can attain his own perfection only by working for the perfection, for the good, of his fellow men.

If he works only for himself, he may perhaps become a famous man of learning, a great sage, an excellent poet, but he can never be a perfect, truly great man.

History calls those men the greatest who have ennobled themselves by working for the common good; experience acclaims as happiest the man who has made the greatest number of people happy; religion itself teaches us that the ideal being whom all strive to copy sacrificed himself for the sake of mankind, and who would dare to set at nought such judgments?

If we have chosen the position in life in which we can most of all work for mankind, no burdens can bow us down, because they are sacrifices for the benefit of all; then we shall experience no petty, limited, selfish joy, but our happiness will belong to millions, our deeds will live on quietly but perpetually at work, and over our ashes will be shed the hot tears of noble people.

This refers to commercial maps like Baidu or Amap, not official maps provided by the Ministry of Natural Resources.

From https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/eng/xwfw_665399/s2510_665401/202310/t20231031_11171195.html

Reuters: It appears that the Baidu and Alibaba Gaode maps do not immediately show Israel unless people search for the country on those maps. Is there a reason that these platforms don’t identify Israel on their maps? Has China asked these platforms that provide map services to remove Israel? Also, does China still recognize Israel as a sovereign state?

Wang Wenbin: I believe you are aware that China and Israel have a normal diplomatic relationship. As for your questions, the relevant country is clearly marked on the standard maps issued by the Chinese competent authorities, which you may refer to.

Ministry of Natural Resources https://map.tianditu.gov.cn/ (English labels added by me)

Baidu https://map.baidu.com/

Suicide can have revolutionary forms, when revolutionaries do so in dire situations to avoid being captured and interrogated for intel. But suicide can also be a cover story for murder, or an abrupt end to the narration of your own story, or an easy way out.

There is no revolutionary act in suicide by someone who says “long live the revolution” and then chooses to end their life under no immediate threat. I will not call you selfish, but hypocritical. Mental illness is not an excuse to pretend to be revolutionary.

Just yesterday I watched the opening ceremony of the Hangzhou Asian Para Games, but I do not want to start comparing which disabilities are worse than others. Physical and mental disabilities are not something you can just wish away, that is why fighting to live, and trying to live a colourful life is more of a revolutionary act than suicide, because you can prove that your disabilities don’t diminish your being.

The bourgeoisie will be glad to hear of potential revolutionaries killing themselves, one less person to worry about, but as fellow comrades, it is us who will share the burden of a loss life.

We cannot just dismiss an intentional suicide by saying “if that’s what they really wanted”.

Marxists want to change the world into a better place for the masses, not end their own life as some sort of “revolutionary act”, that would be a death cult. If you can justify ending your own life, imagine how easy it is for the bourgeoisie to justify killing all the impoverished and ill.

To live is not just a biological instinct, it is also to defy those who wish you dead!

According to the news last year: https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202209/1274861.shtml

China would pay Gazprom for its gas based on a 50-50 split between the ruble and yuan

I’m not sure about the immigration process in any of the countries you mentioned, but I think you do need to come up with a good reason other than just being communist, how would the immigration office even vet your claims? Even if it sounds like your education experience doesn’t look good, there’s still your work experience to consider.

How did you “message the Chinese government” anyway, through their embassies or something? There are less than a million foreigners living in China according to the 2020 census: http://www.stats.gov.cn/english/PressRelease/202105/t20210510_1817193.html

IV. Purposes of Staying in Chinese Mainland

Of the above population, 77008 persons came for business, 444336 persons came for employment, 219761 persons came for study, 419517 persons came for settlement, 74735 persons came to visit relatives, and 195338 persons came for other purposes.

How about this, why doesn’t it mention the October 28th 2013 terrorist attack? https://baike.baidu.com/item/10·28暴力恐怖袭击案/12022667

On 1989 Political Disturbance: https://lemmygrad.ml/post/1252700

Thanks for the ping @[email protected] .

Chinese in China here, I think a better question than “Do you support your government” would be: “If the US government were to replace the CPC and current government tomorrow, would you approve?” Sorry to folks in Nordic countries (another stereotype propelled by liberals) because the US is the “beacon” that liberals use mainly.

If people from any country have no experience with living in other countries, they might be more inclined to topple their own government if their living conditions aren’t great and someone were to advocate for the toppling. Even if people read about how bad some foreign governments are in the news, some people would just brush it off as “propaganda”, they would have to see it for themselves to believe. This goes both ways for both the people of the US and China.

Comparison is a powerful tool, but some people whip out the “whataboutism” card when you try to do that, they tell you to address the problem instead of finding worse examples from other places. Indeed it’s always better to address the problem at hand, but people who scream “whataboutism” in relation to China’s issues are really saying “don’t look at worse places to make yourself feel good, overthrow the SEE-SEE-PEE regime now!”

Do I support the CPC and Chinese government? Yes and yes.

Does China have problems. Yes.

Do I need to hear from egotistical maniacs in other countries on how to handle issues in my country? No.

The international bourgeoisie has a weakness for capital gains, some of them think ideologies different from capitalism are just facades for other forms of capitalism, so when China opens up foreign investment and trade, they’ll happily join in. Any hype around “anti-China” and “anti-communism” is just to appease local liberal and fascist sentiments, no self-respecting capitalist will stop investing in China just because of “moral obligations”.

Both international and local bourgeoisie in China are under close scrutiny by the people. Chinese liberals think they are helping the bourgeoisie when they complain of government regulations and restrictions, but it only helps to focus more attention on the bourgeoisie and their actions.

As for dogmatic or uninformed people who refuse to acknowledge that China is socialist, I would say that the international bourgeoisie controls a lot of technology and expertise around the world, you can’t expect to develop the productive forces by shutting them out. Self-sufficiency is an admirable spirit but it’ll only get you so far, most countries don’t have the resources to do what China has accomplished in the field of science and technology even if they’re not sanctioned or isolated by the international bourgeoisie.

It is the workers who do all the work, but to reach the workers you have to go through the capitalists, such is the dilemma of living in the real world. There are two ways to develop the productive forces, either do-it-yourself or through exchange of information. I’m going to use the example of open source vs closed-source software for this:

When working on non-core components of closed-source software, programmers could be repeating work already done by other programmers from other companies, but due to the closed-source nature it is hard for to find out if this is the case. If open source software is used for those non-core components instead, programmers can benefit from the maintenance by a larger community, and managers can benefit from reduced time and costs. This is a double-win for both managers and workers, which is why large software corporations also embrace and contribute to open source software.

If you can see how exchange of information the above example helps to facilitate the development of productive forces, this is the same logic as to why a socialist country needs to do business with the international bourgeoisie. Now we know that it’s not all positive outcomes when you invite the international bourgeoisie to invest and trade, ideological, societal and economical problems are also part of the package, which is part of the reason why some Marxists don’t acknowledge China as socialist.