Why Is Japan So Bitter About Unstoppable Rise Of China?

Andre Vltchek 

There used to be a pair of beautiful swings for children, not far from an old rural temple in Mie Prefecture, where I used to frequently power walk, when searching for inspiration for my novels. Two years ago, I noticed that the swings had gotten rusty, abandoned, and unkempt. Yesterday, I spotted a yellow ribbon, encircling and therefore closing the structure down. It appears that the decision had already been made to get rid of the playground, irreversibly.

Homeless man at Nagoya station

One day earlier, I observed an old homeless man sleeping right under a big sign which was advertising a cluster of luxury eateries at the lavish Nagoya train station.

And in the city of Yokkaichi, which counts some 350,000 inhabitants, almost all but very few bus lines had disappeared. What had also disappeared was an elegant and unique, shining zodiac, which used to be engraved into the marble promenade right in front of the Kintetsu Line train station, the very center of the city. The fast ferry across the bay, connecting Yokkaichi with Centrair International Airport that serves Nagoya and in fact almost the entire area of Central Japan, stopped operating, as the municipal subsidies dried up. Now people have to drive some seventy kilometers, all around the bay, burning fuel and paying exuberant highway tolls and airport parking fees, to make it to their flight. What used to constitute public spaces, or even just rice fields, is rapidly being converted into depressing parking lots. It is happening in Central Japan, but also as far southwest as the city of Nagasaki, and as north as Nemuro.

Homeless people are everywhere.Cars (Japan now has more cars per capita than the United States) are rotting in the middle of rice fields and at the edges of once pristine forests, as they lose value rapidly, and it costs a lot of money to get rid of them properly. Entire rural villages are being depopulated, in fact turning into ghost towns. There is rust, bad planning and an acute lack of anything public, all over the country.

No more public spaces, just parking lots

Japan is in decay. For many years, it was possible,with half-closed eyes,to ignore it, as the country was due to inertia hanging on to the top spot of the richest nations on Earth. But not anymore: the deterioration is now just too visible.

The decay is not as drastic as one can observe in some parts of France, the United States, or the UK. But decay it is. The optimistic, heady days of nation-building are over. The Automobile industry and other corporations are literally cannibalizing the country, dictating its lifestyle. In smaller cities, motorists do not yield on pedestrian crossings anymore. Cars are prioritized by urban planners, and some urban planners are paid, bribery by the car industry. Many areas can now only be reached by cars. There are hardly any public exercise machines, and almost no new parks. Japan, which prides itself on producing some of the most refined food, is now fully overwhelmed by several chains of convenience stores, which are full of unhealthy foodstuff.

Abandoned houses – south Mie

For generations, people were sacrificing their lives in order to build a prosperous, powerful and socially balanced Japan. Now, there is no doubt that the citizens are there mainly to support powerful corporations or in short: big business. Japanese used to have its own and distinct model, but now the lifestyle is not too different from one that could be observed in North America or Europe. For the second time in its history, Japan has been forced to ‘open to the world’ (read: to Western interests and to the global capitalist economy), and to accept the concepts that used to be thoroughly alien to the Asian culture. The consequences were quick to arrive, and in summary, they have been thoroughly disastrous.

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After WWII, Japan had to accept occupation. The Constitution was written by the US. Defeated but determined to rebuild and join the ranks of the richest countries on earth, Japan began collaborating with the West, first supporting the brutal invasion to Korea (the so-called “Korean War”). It totally gave up on its independence, fully surrendering its foreign policy, which gradually became indistinct from that of the United States in particular, and the West in general. The mass media has been, since the end of the war to now, controlled and censored by the regime in Tokyo. Major Japanese newspapers, as well as the Japanese national broadcaster NHK, would never dare to broadcast or publish any important international news, unless at least one major US or British mainstream media outlet had set the tone and example of how the story should be covered by the mass media in the ‘client’ states. In this respect, the Japanese media is not different from its counterparts in countries such as Indonesia or Kenya. Japan is also definitely not a ‘democracy’, if ‘democracy’ simply means the rule of the people. Traditionally, Japanese people used to live mainly in order to serve the nation, which was perhaps not such a bad concept. It used to work, at least for the majority. However, now, they are expected to sacrifice their lives solely for the profits of corporations.

People in Japan do not rebel, even when they are robbed by their rulers. They are shockingly submissive.

Japan is not only in decay. It tries to spread its failure like an epidemy. It is actually spreading, and glorifying its submissive, subservient foreign and domestic policies. Through scholarships, it is continuously indoctrinating, and effectively intellectually castrating tens of thousands of willing students from the poor Southeast Asian nations, and other parts of the world.

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In the meantime, China, which is literally ‘next door’, is leading in scientific research, in urban planning, and in social policies. With ‘Ecological Civilization’ now part of its Constitution, it is way ahead of Japan in developing alternative sources of energy, public transportation, as well as organic food production. By 2020, there will be no more pockets of extreme poverty on the entire huge territory of China.

And in China, it is all done under the red Communist banners, which the Japanese public has been taught to despise and reject.

Tremendous Chinese determination, zeal, genius and socialist spirit are evidently superior, compared to the sclerotic, conservative and revanchist spirit of modern Japan and of its handlers in the West.The contrast is truly shocking and very clearly detectable even with unarmed eyes.

And on the international stage: while Japanese corporations are plundering entire countries, and corrupting governments, China is helping to put entire continents back on their feet, using good old Communist internationalist ideals. The West does its best to smear China and its great efforts, and Japan is doing the same, even inventing new insults, but the truth is more and more difficult to hide. One speaks to Africans, and he or she finds out quickly what goes on. One travels to China, and everything becomes even clearer. Unless one is paid very well not to see.

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Instead of learning and deciding to totally change its economic and social system, Japan is turning into a sore loser. It hates China for succeeding under its independent policies, and under its Communist placards. It hates China for building new and beautiful cities designed for the people. It hates China even for doing its best to save the environment, as well as the countryside. And it hates China for being fully independent, politically and socially, even academically.

China tried‘playing’footsies with the Western academia, but the game almost turned deadly, leading to ideological infiltration and the near collapse of China’s intellectual independence. But at least the danger was identified, and the Western subversion was quickly stopped, just 5 minutes to Midnight so to speak; before it was too late.

In Japan, submission and collaboration with the Western global imperialist regime is worn as some code of honor. Japanese graduates of various US and UK universities frame their university diplomas and hang them on the wall, as if they’d symbolize great proof of their success, instead of collaboration with the system which is ruining almost entire planet.

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I remember, some fifteen years ago, Chinese tourists would stand on the bullet train platforms all over Japan, with their cameras ready, dreaming. When train would pass, they’d sigh.

Now, China has the most extensive and the fastest bullet train network in the world. Their trains are also more comfortable and incomparably cheaper than the Japanese or French ones; priced so everyone can afford to travel.

Chinese women used to eye, sadly, the offerings of Japanese department stores. iPhones were what the middle class was dreaming of possessing. Now Chinese visitors to Japan are dressed as elegantly as the locals, iPhones are not considered a luxury, and actually, Huawei and other Chinese manufacturers are now producing better phones than Apple.

I also remember how impressed Chinese tourists to Japan were with the modern architecture, international concert halls, and elegant cafes and boutiques.

Now, the cultural life of Beijing and Shanghai is incomparably richer than that of Tokyo or Osaka. Modern architecture in China is much more impressive, and there are innovations in both the urban and rural life of China, that are still far from being implemented in Japan.

While public playgrounds in Japan are being abandoned or converted into parking lots, China is building new parks, huge and small, recovering river and lake areas, turning them into public spaces.

Instead of omnipresent Japanese advertisements, China is placing witty and educative cartoons speaking about socialist virtues, solidarity, compassion and equality, at many arteries, even at the metro trains. Ecological civilization is ‘advertised’ basically everywhere.

Japanese people are increasingly gloomy, but in China, confident smiles are seen at each and every step.

China is rising. It is unstoppable. Not because its economic growth (government is actually not interested in it, too much, anymore), but because the quality of life of the Chinese citizens is going steadily up.

And that is all that really matters, isn’t it? We can clearly improve the life of people under a tolerant, modern Communist system. As long as people smile, as long they are educated, healthy and happy, we are clearly winning!

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Suburban decay all over Japan

Some individuals are still chasing those magic images of pristine Japanese forests and lakes. Yes, they are still there, if you search very hard. Tea rooms and trees, lovely creeks. But you have to work very hard, you have to edit and search for the perfect shots, as Japanese cities and countryside are dotted with rotten cars and weird metal beams, with unkempt public spaces, with ugly electric wires hanging everywhere. As long as money can be saved, as long as there is profit, anything goes.

Japanese people find it hard to formulate their feelings on the subject. But in summary: they feel frustrated that the country they used to occupy and torture, is doing much better than their own. To Japanese imperialists, the Chinese were simply‘sub-humans’. It is never pronounced, but Japan has only been respecting Western culture and Western power. And now, the Chinese ‘sub-humans’ are exploring the bottoms of the oceans, building airplanes, running the fastest trains on earth, and making wonderful art films. And they are set on liberating the oppressed world, through its ‘Belt and Road Initiative’, and through other incredible ideas.

And what is Japan doing? Selfies and video games, idiotic meaningless nihilist cartoons, brainless social media, an enormous avalanche of uninventive pornography, of decorative ‘arts’, pop music and mass-produced cars. Its people are depressed. I have three decades of history with Japan, I know it intimately, still love it; love many things about it, but I also clearly see that it is changing, in fact collapsing. And it is refusing to admit it, and to change.

Oma , Aomori Prefecture

I work with China, because I love where it is going. I like its modern Communist model (I was never a great supporter of the “Gang of Four”and their cult and glorification of poverty)– let all Chinese people be rich soon, and let the entire oppressed world be wealthy as well!

But that is not what Japan wants. For some time, it felt ‘unique’. It was the only rich Asian country. The only Asian country allowed to be rich, by the West. During apartheid, in South Africa, the Japanese people were defined as “honorary whites”. It is because they had embraced Western culture. Because they opted to plunder the world, together with the Europeans and North Americans, instead of helping the subjugated nations. In many ways, it was a form of political and moral prostitution, but it paid well; extremely well, so its morality was simply not discussed.

Now China is getting ahead simply because of its courage, hard work, the genius of its people, and all this, under the wise leadership of the Communist Party and its central planning. Precisely under things that the Japanese people were brainwashed into hating.

This is frustrating. It is scary. So, all that submission, humiliation and bowing to the empire was for nothing?In the end, it is China, it is Communism which will win, and which will be doing the greatest service to humanity.

Yes, Japan is frustrated. These days, polls speak of some 80% of the Japanese disliking the Chinese.

As I interact with people from all corners of Japan, I am getting convinced that the Japanese public subconsciously feels that, for decades, it has been betting on the ‘wrong horse’. It is too proud to verbalize it. It is too scared to fully reflect on it. But life in Japan, at least for many, is clearly becoming meaningless, gloomy and depressing. And there is no revolution on the horizon, as the country was successfully de-politicized.

China is building, inventing, struggling and marching forward, confidently, surrounded by friends, but independently.

Japan is tied up and restrained. It cannot move. It doesn’t even know how to move, how to resist, anymore.

And that is why Japan hates China!

Global Wars and Peace: Insanity against Humanity: What is Next?

Mahboob A. Khawaja

 “The road to hell is paved with good conventions.”  (Bert Rolling, The Law of War and National Jurisdiction since 1945).

The Global Conventions Betrayed the Humanity

The UNO, The Geneva Conventions, The Hague Conventions, The Declaration of Human Rights, The Human Rights Commission and so many other paper-based laws and conventions often are a distraction from the prevalent reality of raging global conflicts needing urgent and forceful action for peace and human security. Workings of the countless international institutions appear to have diminished the hope for systematic global law and order. While the global mankind bleeds, the institutional leadership formulated by a class of people relies on false statements to console the humanity as if all is well.  The institutional culture of governance is no different than the previous century of mediocre politicians. In a 21st century knowledge-based rational society, politics is nothing else except conflict management, protection of human rights, peace, human security and human progress. But cynicism about politicians and their role in societal peace and progress is becoming endemic. Most politicians are like actors, pretension on screen for the good of people. Thomas Paine ( The Rights of Man, 1792), rightly pointed out that “ man is not the enemy of man but through the medium of false system of government – the wisdom of a  nation should apply itself to reform the system – revolution by reason and accommodation rather than convulsion.”  The 21stcentury politicians are detached from the thoughts and concerns of the real world lacking understanding and imperatives of the sanctity of human life. The global order needs a navigational change. Politicians do not view themselves as citizens but a class of people to rule the society. Once elected, their agenda contradicts the principles of human life and priorities.

The Two World Wars devastated the humanity and planet because of the failure of global institutions and leadership. It is estimated that 65 million people were killed during the 2ndWW.  The account of the First WW is not recorded correctly except being several millions lost in the planned savagery – man against man. War negates human nature and societal peace and harmony. H.G. Wells manifested the declaration of human rights in 1939 and wondered “What are we Fighting for?”

1928 Paris General Treaty (Kellog-Brand Pact) signatories renounced the use of force – war as an instrument of national policy and agreed to settle the conflict by “pacific means..” In 1925 Geneva Protocols prohibiting the use of poisonous gases as crime against peace and waging a war of aggression. The commencement of the 2nd WW witnessed betrayal of all the peaceful principles. The 1949 Geneva Convention called for respect of human rights and integrated human rights with the law of war.  Many conventions described the rules but nothing sensible was practiced to support the good conventions. The living history tells how the world was engulfed with the insanity of planned wars and how the European-American advanced killing machines deliberately massacred millions and millions across the global landscape. Have we, the THINKING PEOPLE of the globe learned anything useful from the record of history? Have we taken heed to ensure the practice of the rules and laws of peace and war? In an endless and self-repeating political treachery, the tragic tensions of history are intensifying the global affairs. Unless the global humanity is actively organized for peace, the coming of the Third World War is reasonably predictable.

The Bogus War on Terrorism

For almost two decades, America in alliance with NATO is fighting the war on terror. Why did America invade Iraq and Afghanistan?  Iraq and Afghanistan never invaded America nor posed any threat to its security. There is a critical crisis in THINKING and IDENTITY across the United States.  Frank Scott (“Who Are we?” Media Monitors Networks) offers a rational context to Who Are We?

“Under assault by a consciousness control system that insists we are doing quite well even when evidence shows we’re on the critical list, we have reason to be confused…..If we, the people of these United States, are ever to be a united nation we have to penetrate the lead curtain of misinformation in which we are imprisoned and begin thinking as a population with a collective destiny which demands collective action. We have a serious social identity crisis and cannot save ourselves by making war against ourselves. But if we want a peaceful world and safe environment, we need to break out of the mental prison in which we’ll remain as long as we are kept separate, and unequal, by the controllers of what goes into our minds under the false label of information.”

Americans and most European masses are indoctrinated that Islam and Muslims are their enemies and somehow, the 9/11 attacks have come to revisit the superstitious and unthinkable episode.  In reality, “terrorism” myth was manufactured by the lobbyist-run Western political leaders and groups whereas; it has nothing to do with Islam or Muslims. The myth is self-engineered by the former neo-conservatives of the Bush administration.

History exposes the Europeans transgressors who invaded the morally and intellectually advanced Islamic Civilization and crushed it by military campaigns all their material and scientific progress and public institutions. The colonization scheme of things was not outcome of the Western democratic values to spread freedom, liberty and justice but ferocity of violence and killings of millions and millions of human lives for the European Empires to be built on colored bloodbaths. The European crusaders crossed the channels and unknown time zones to subjugate the much divided Muslim people as part of their superior nationalism perception and values that Muslims were inferior to the European race and could be used as subjects without human identity and raw material to build the new Empires. Centuries later if there was a UNO at the time, it would not have dared to call the European invaders as terrorists because it defied the democratic reasoning as the colonized masses lived in slavery and denial of basic human rights and identity. They were classified as “subjects of conquered race.” In an information age, knowledge–driven global culture of reason, ignorance is no longer a requisite to learn from the living history.

Age of Perpetuated Insanity against the Global Citizens

Too many text books describe historical conventions, laws and rules of engagements but nothing is practiced when it comes to the reality of war.  We are living in an information age, a world of knowledge but ignorance and arrogance rule where sanctity of human life is not a virtue, often incomprehensible to common citizens. All the legal stipulations appear devoid of reason to protect the life and dignity of human life. The protection of human rights is fast becoming a fashionable business exhibited by “goodwill ambassadors”, the movie stars and sportsmen on the screen and nothing beyond that endless deception to human affairs. The vitality of human rights cannot be imagined by media portrayal of few selected movie stars. Wars are continuously raging and millions and millions are displaced, massacred, charcoaled by chemical weapons and  drones but the UNO, NATO, global leaders and other emissaries issue statements of concerns when cold blooded murders are unstoppable in Syria, Yemen, Iraq, Palestine, Somalia, Libya and Kashmir challenging the human conscience – if there is such a thing still in existence. These are unforgivable atrocities and crimes against the innocent mankind. Is there a tangible and reliable global system of accountability to prosecute the perpetrators of wars and crimes against humanity? The ICC is just another name for the few to try relatively less important violators and small nations, certainly not the criminals like George W. Bush, Tony Blair and so many others. All conclusions have consequences and wars are a direct threat and violation of human rights.

Bertrand Russell and Alfred Einstein Manifest (1955) called “a war with H bomb might possibly put an end to the human race.”  In 2017, America tested the Mother of Bombs in Afghanistan. The Human Rights Commission, Geneva is a class of its own, meeting for nine weeks in a year and reading the papers and complaints and doing nothing else. On the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Human Rights, over 12 million people from across the globe asked the UN Secretary General to fulfill the promises envisioned in the 1948 Declaration. The UNO or global leadership lack visionary and intelligent commitment and power to implement anything useful for the protection of humanity.  In a world of reason, we NEED reasoned dialogue and open public discussion on the issues of human rights, protection of civilians in conflict zones and sustainable movement for peacemaking and conflict resolution. It is explicitly connected to the global citizens. There cannot be any secret game of politics to get elected and be accountable to the demands of citizens. The global political leadership desperately needs an inner eye and soul to comprehend the prevalent reality of concerned citizens to ensure freedom from fear and annihilation by the unknown forces of human ignorance and cruelty which held the humanity captive during the Two WW. Political wretchedness requires rational cure. Time is living; its importance must not be ignored. Being rational human being, rationality requires objective reasoning in all of human endeavors complemented by a defined and working system of accountability. Otherwise, history will not remember us as people of knowledge, wisdom and age of enlightenment but people belonging to an age of unending darkness whose viciousness destroyed their own existence.

A century earlier C.E, M. Joad (Guide to Modern Wickedness), captioned the human tragedy in these words:

“….Human nature is at least in part wicked and in part foolish, how can human beings be prevented from suffering from the results of their wickedness and folly? ….Men simply do not see that war is foolish and useless and wicked. They think on occasion that it is necessary and wise and honourable, for war is not the work of bad men knowing themselves to be wrong, but of good men passionately convinced that they are right.”

Felix Tshisekedi declared victor in disputed presidential election in Congo

Eddie Haywood

On Thursday, after a nearly two-week delay in releasing the results of the December 30 poll, Congo’s electoral authority, the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) declared Felix Tshisekedi, leader of the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS), the victor in the hotly contested election to determine the successor to President Joseph Kabila, who has ruled Congo for 18 years.

Ahead of CENI’s announcement Thursday, heavily-armed riot police were deployed outside the electoral commission’s headquarters in Kinshasa.

Speaking on the eve of his victory before a crowd of supporters Tshisekedi gave an indication of a behind the scenes agreement with the Kabila regime, lavishing praise on the outgoing president and declaring Kabila “an important political partner.” Notably, Tshisekedi’s running mate was Vital Kamerhe, a former Kabila campaign manager.

The surprising announcement of a Tshisekedi victory was followed by an outcry from opposition candidate Martin Fayulu, who called the electoral commission’s decision an “electoral swindle.” On Saturday, Fayulu, a former Exxon-Mobil executive, filed a challenge with the Congo Constitutional Court requesting a manual recount of all votes cast in the poll.

Voting data compiled by the Episcopal Conference of Congo (CENCO), a Catholic bishop’s group, who placed 41,000 election observers at polling stations around the country, disputed the result certified by CENI.

In a statement to media regarding its assessment, the bishops declared, “The government’s decision does not correspond to the data collected by our observation mission.” While not publicly naming Fayulu the winner, several diplomats and reporters, as well as the Kabila government, have stated that the CENCO privately informed them that they had determined Fayulu was the victor.

CENI’s declaration of Tshisekedi as the winner raises serious questions regarding the integrity of the poll. According to pre-election poll data, Fayulu had taken a clear lead over all other candidates in the contest. In comparison, pre-election polling placed Tshisekedi far behind. Poll data showed that Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary, Kabila’s handpicked candidate, occupied a distant third place in the contest.

The three candidates, occupying the wealthy social layer comprising the Congolese bourgeoisie, represented a choice between various strategies for advancing the interests of the ruling capitalist elite. Regardless of who won, not one of these parasites could be expected to improve the miserable social conditions experienced by the Congolese masses.

The grotesque affair of the election itself, representing nothing that could be called democratic, was conducted amid the atmosphere of a quasi-police state. A significant presence of armed security forces patrolled city streets, with several mobilized to polling stations in a blatant display of intimidation to voters and poll workers alike. The Catholic Church reported 115 instances in which its election observers were forcibly removed by police at several polling locations across the country.

A young man at a polling station in the town of Walungu in eastern Kivu province was shot to death by a policeman after a brief altercation occurred in which the policeman accused the youth of voter fraud. Several voters who witnessed the shooting retaliated against the policeman and beat him to death.

In addition to the heavyhanded police repression, voters throughout the country were frustrated by long delays consisting of several hours before the opening of many polling stations. There were several reports of ballot box stuffing and tampering, as well as the theft of uncounted ballots in several districts and outright vote buying.

Electronic voting machines were utilized for the first time throughout the country, leaving many voters who had never even used a computer with little instruction in the machines’ use. Additionally, many areas of the country experience frequent power outages, and on the day of the poll, electrical blackouts caused voters to suffer significant delays. Further, the Catholic Church’s election observers noted 544 cases throughout the country of malfunctioning voting machines.

Fitting with the anti-democratic character of the ruling government, ahead of the poll on December 30, the Kabila regime cut off internet access nationwide, under the bogus pretext of “ensuring security and peace.”

Furthermore, the Kabila government explicitly barred 1 million voters from casting a ballot in the North Kivu province, an area facing a renewed outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus. Kabila’s ridiculous claim behind the imposition of the vote restriction was the possibility that afflicted residents could infect voters and worsen the pandemic. Notably, North Kivu province is a base of significant support for Fayulu. Furious protests erupted against the ban in the North Kivu cities of Beni and Butembo.

Angered by the voting restriction, Jacob Salamu, a 24-year old first-time voter and resident of Beni, expressed the widespread contempt felt by the Congolese masses toward the government when he told reporters, “We do not have Ebola. Kabila is worse than Ebola.”

Washington and the capitals of Europe are observing the developments closely in the Congo. At a United Nations Security Council meeting on Friday, Washington, along with France, Belgium, and Germany requested CENI to release its voting data. For Washington’s part, they have kept a watchful eye over the elections, having deployed 80 troops to nearby Gabon for the purpose of “protecting US assets” in the event of political turmoil arising from the elections.

Both France and Belgium challenged the Kabila government regarding the poll’s official outcome, calling the declaration of Tshisekedi inconsistent with election observers’ findings and stating that Fayulu appears to be the true winner.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told France’s CNews television: “It really seems that the declared results ... are not consistent with the true results. On the face of it, Mr Fayulu was the leader coming out of these elections.”

Kabila government spokesman Lambert Mende lashed back at the statement of Le Drian, retorting, “France has nothing to do with the vote in the Congo, and if Mr. Le Drian thinks Congo is a province or colony of France, he just needs to name the president of Congo.”

The Southern African Development Community (SADC), comprising of a collection of southern African nations including the Congo, moved to soothe political tensions by suggesting to the Tshisekedi and Fayulu factions to enter into a power-sharing agreement. Weighing most heavily on the minds of the SADC countries and the Western capitalists in Europe and the United States is their fear that a prolonged election dispute could erupt into a wider political conflict leading to war and, in turn, disrupting their economic interests in the Congo.

For both Washington and Europe, the stakes in the outcome of the election are the Congo’s estimated $24 trillion in untapped raw resources in the form of rare earth minerals, many of which are used in the manufacture of batteries that power smartphones, laptop computers and electric vehicles.

A geopolitical component also figures prominently in the minds of Western imperial strategists, with China perceived by Washington as representing the most significant threat to American dominance in the central African region. China has exercised enormous economic influence with governments across the African continent over the last decade, an arrangement that Washington views as intolerable.

In recent years, the Kabila government has experienced a falling out with Washington over Kinshasa’s cozying relationship with Beijing, with Kabila cementing several economic agreements with Chinese companies, in particular projects in the valuable Congolese mining sector.

New Zealand doctors prepare nationwide strike

Tom Peters

About 3,300 Resident Medical Officers, known as junior doctors, employed at public hospitals across New Zealand, are preparing to strike for 48 hours starting tomorrow. The members of the Resident Doctors’ Association (RDA) also voted last week to hold a second two-day strike on January 29–30.

The strike was called after 10 months of negotiations between the union and the country’s 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) failed to reach a new agreement on pay and conditions. Last-ditch talks mediated by government representatives last week failed to reach a deal to call off the strike.

DHBs are pushing for major attacks on working conditions. In November DHBs reached a sellout pay deal with the recently-formed union Specialty Trainees of NZ (STONZ) covering about 100 doctors. It included pay rises of 2.5 percent and 3 percent over two years, essentially freezing pay against the cost of living. The deal also lengthened the number of consecutive days doctors can be rostered to work from 10 to 12.

The RDA says DHBs also want the power to extend shifts beyond 16 hours and to force doctors to relocate to any hospital in the country, regardless of where they want to work.

The doctors’ strike is part of an upsurge of working class struggle internationally in opposition to brutal austerity measures imposed over the past decade. Last week tens of millions of workers held a two-day general strike in India against privatisation, poverty wages and other pro-business policies. In France, hundreds of thousands of workers have taken part in “yellow vest” protests, which emerged independently of the trade unions, demanding large wage increases and greater social equality. In the US, 33,000 Los Angeles teachers are preparing to strike, following a wave of strikes in several states last year.

In New Zealand 2018 saw major strikes by tens of thousands of hospital workers, teachers, public servants and transport workers in opposition to ongoing wage freezes and other austerity measures under the Labour Party-led government.

The Labour Party-NZ First-Greens coalition came to power in October 2017 promising to resolve the crisis in the healthcare system. Last year’s health funding, however, was not nearly enough to keep pace with the growing and ageing population and address the unmet needs. Thousands of people are unable to access vital surgery and specialist care due to a severe shortage of staff and facilities.

Following two junior doctor strikes, in 2016 and early 2017, DHBs reached a deal with the RDA which both parties claimed would address unsafe work rosters. In reality, however, many doctors are still working lengthy shifts, often over 60 hours a week, in understaffed wards, inevitably putting patients at risk.

According to the Health Quality and Safety Commission, DHBs reported 631 “adverse events” resulting in serious patient harm in the 12 months to June 2018—up from 542 the previous year. Almost half of these incidents were caused by clinical management failures such as delayed diagnosis or treatment.

On December 5, the RDA told the New Zealand Herald that one or two junior doctors were frequently left to run emergency departments unsupervised by senior colleagues. A doctor from Wairarapa Hospital “often worried about someone dying under his watch because he didn’t have the necessary experience.” He told the newspaper “emergency medicine is a speciality of its own, so to be staffing doctors that do not have that training is dangerous and unsafe.”

In September, DHBs reported that nationwide there were 260 junior doctor vacancies—undoubtedly well below the number actually needed to meet patient demand. In addition, a recent survey by the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists, the senior doctors’ union, found a specialist shortage of 20 percent, or about 1,000 specialists.

A health worker who asked not to be named told the World Socialist Web Site the radiology department at Northland DHB was “hundreds of hours behind in reporting X-rays and CT scans. Many of these reports are critical for timely interventions. [The DHB] are neglecting their duty of care for these patients. I shudder to think of the adverse outcomes as a result of these delays.”

On December 30, Radio NZ reported that many cardiac patients in South Auckland had waited almost a year for potentially life-saving ultrasound scans due to a shortage of specialists.

Thousands of doctors and other health workers are determined to fight back against the worsening crisis. The main obstacle they confront is the trade union bureaucracy.

The RDA has limited itself to opposing the major clawbacks to working conditions accepted by STONZ. It has not claimed any increase in staffing or funding to resolve the already existing crisis. The RDA called for a pay increase of just 3 percent per year, the same rotten deal given to nurses last year, and not enough to match the increased cost of living. In the 12 months to October, official price inflation was 1.9 percent, housing costs went up 3.1 percent and transport 5.6 percent.

Workers must learn the lessons of the struggle waged last year by 30,000 nurses and healthcare assistants, which was sold out by the New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO). The union deliberately dragged out the dispute, cancelled one of two strikes, and recommended one sellout offer after another.

The union bureaucracy echoed the Labour-led government’s false claim that there was “no more money” to increase the pay offer and resolve the staffing shortage. The NZNO ignored widespread demands from health workers for a pay increase of 18-20 percent and staffing ratios of one nurse to four patients. Following the sellout, NZNO leaders lashed out at criticism from its members on social media.

Like the NZNO, the RDA is led by highly-paid bureaucrats whose role is to enforce austerity within the health sector by preventing any unified political and industrial campaign against the government. The unions have kept the nurses' and doctors’ disputes isolated from each other and from thousands of anaesthetic technicians, midwives and ambulance workers who took industrial action last year.

New organisations are needed—rank-and-file committees controlled by workers themselves. In opposition to the unions, such committees should break the isolation imposed on workers and unite doctors with other health workers, teachers—who are preparing for a nationwide strike—and other sections of workers.

A real fight against austerity can only be based on a socialist perspective in opposition to the Ardern Labour government and all its supporters, including the unions. The needs of health workers and patients should not be subordinated to what the ruling elite claims it can “afford.” The billions of dollars thrown away on tax breaks for the super-rich, military spending and hiring thousands more police officers must be redirected to hospitals and other essential services.

Macy’s marks worst day ever on Wall Street, will shut eight stores in 2019

Jessica Goldstein

Retailer Macy’s, Inc. marked its worst-ever stock plunge on Thursday as share prices fell by 17.7 percent, the worst day for the company’s stock in its near 27-year history on Wall Street. The stock took another 2.64 percent hit on Friday.

The Cincinnati, Ohio based holding company operates the subsidiaries Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s department store chains, and the beauty store chain Bluemercury, altogether operating 875 stores in the United States, Guam and Puerto Rico. According to Deloitte, Macy’s, Inc. is the world’s largest fashion retailer and 36th largest retailer overall.

Despite a strong start to the holiday season according to CEO Jeff Grennette the retailer’s sales fizzled out in mid-December and never rebounded. The holiday season, from Thanksgiving until Christmas, accounts for a large chunk of all retailers’ earnings during the year due to the increase in consumer spending.

Other major department store retailers in the US also saw stock drops after the holiday season as well, although investors announced early on in the season that retail sales were the strongest of any holiday season in the past six years.

Kohl’s department stores saw a 4.8 percent drop in its stock price, and competitor J.C. Penney lost 4.5 percent. Kohl’s announced that it plans to shut down four stores and consolidate three customer service and operations locations as part of its corporate management’s evaluation program, aimed at reducing inventory and costs. J.C. Penney meanwhile began 2019 by announcing three store closures in 2019 following 146 store closures announced between 2017 and 2018.

Macy’s announced in August 2016 that it would close 100 stores, or about 15 percent of its total base at the time, in order to cut costs. Eight stores will close this year as a part of the planned closures.

The recent stock drops and store closures among the most prominent American department retailers occur against the backdrop of the threatened liquidation of Sears Holding Corp.—once the largest retailer and private employer in the US—as part of the ongoing US “retail apocalypse.”

Brick-and-mortar retailers face competition from online behemoths, particularly Amazon, which recorded a 17 percent increase in holiday sales in 2018, according to Rakuten Intelligence. Because of market competition, hundreds of stores have closed across the US in recent years and thousands of workers have lost their jobs.

Struggling department stores have tried to innovate in order to compete with the growth of online sales, including Macy’s, which has recently begun to shrink store sizes, expand its discount Backstage locations, and expanding into the buy online, pick up in-store business. Still, these programs have failed to stimulate the growth sought after by Wall Street investors.

Some analysts reported being initially puzzled by the large drops in share prices of major retailers, citing that the stage was set for strong sales in 2018 in particular because of the low unemployment level in the US and relatively higher wages compared to recent years, as well as lower gas prices. While department stores faced major losses, discount chains such as TJ Maxx and Target and online retailers like Amazon posted larger gains.

In reality, while official unemployment in the US is at 3.9 percent, any job growth has disproportionately come from low-wage part-time, precarious work and contract jobs—the “gig” economy. Wage growth remains very low when considering the rate of inflation, and a majority of workers in the US do not have enough savings to cover an emergency hospital bill or car expense.

Workers in the US do not have enough disposable income to support the hunger of retail investors for ever greater profits, and in response, corporations close businesses and slash jobs and wages in an effort to make short-term gains for Wall Street.

The capitalist system, which subordinates the entire productive forces of society to the profit interests of a wealthy few, is responsible for the crisis facing retail workers and all sections of the working class in the United States and around the globe. It is not workers in other countries, or other industries, who are the enemies of workers in the US—but the entire capitalist class and its servants in the Democratic and Republican parties and the trade unions.

Those employed in the retail industry are some of the lowest paid and most heavily exploited workers in the United States. According to the website Glassdoor.com, many positions at Macy’s stores start at little more than $9 to $11 per hour. In contrast, CEO Jeff Grennette earned total compensation of $10,760,134 in 2017. Macy’s, Inc. reported gross profits of $9.69 billion for 2018.

With such a massive amount of wealth hoarded at the top, there is no reason that any worker at the Macy’s stores should have to struggle with poverty or face a job loss. Retail workers at Macy’s should take the struggle against store closures, job cuts and poverty wages into their own hands by forming democratically elected rank-and-file workplace committees. These committees must link up with workers at Sears, J.C. Penney, Amazon, and with workers in the auto industry at General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler who also face threats of layoffs and plant closures in the name of corporate profit interests.

Massive campaign to defend Israeli religious students accused of killing Palestinian mother of nine

Jean Shaoul 

Far-right and ultra-Orthodox groups have created a media storm over the arrest of five Jewish youths on suspicion of carrying out “serious terror offenses,” including the killing of a Palestinian woman last October.

The defence of the accused is being used to stoke nationalist tensions in the run-up to the general election on April 9, and to shift Israeli politics further to the right. All the mainstream parties are complicit.

The five boys, students at the Pri Ha’aretz yeshiva (religious seminary) in the Rehelim settlement in the occupied West Bank, are accused of the stone-throwing attack on a Palestinian car October 12 that killed Aisha Mohammed Rabi, 47, a mother of nine, and injured her husband, Yacoub.

The past year saw a threefold increase in racist attacks on Palestinians over 2017, with 482 politically motivated crimes by Jews reported in the West Bank. These included beating and throwing stones at Palestinians, painting nationalist, anti-Arab or anti-Muslim slogans, damaging homes and cars, and cutting down trees belonging to Palestinian farmers.

The murder and its aftermath highlight the utter lawlessness and racism inherent in the Greater Israel project from which the settler movement stems. Speaking to Ha’aretz after the attack, Yacoub Rabi said, “I don’t have any doubt it was the settlers. There were six or seven of them, and it was clear that they were young.”

As is common in such stoning attacks, the police dragged their feet over their investigation, to the extent that few believed any action would be taken.

According to the public broadcaster Kan, the day after the stoning attack, settlers from Yitzhar broke with the strict religious rule of not driving on the Sabbath and traveled to the Rehelim yeshiva. One of those in the car was reportedly Meir Ettinger, a grandson of the extremist Rabbi Meir Kahane, whom the Shin Bet, Israel’s domestic intelligence agency, has accused of being a ringleader of an underground group that spawned the racist filth legitimising attacks on Palestinians.

In 2015, Ettinger spent time in administrative detention, which enables the state to order someone’s arrest without informing the detainee of the reason or providing any evidence of wrongdoing, and to detain him for unspecified periods and interrogate him without lawyers in attendance. Administrative detention orders are routinely used against Palestinians, but rarely against Jewish Israelis.

Ettinger’s arrest followed attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank and churches and mosques in Israel by right-wing Jewish extremists, including the torching of a Palestinian family in the West Bank village of Duma, which killed an 18-month-old baby.

The use of administrative detention orders under the pretext of combating militant Jewish nationalists facilitated the introduction of such methods as part of the build-up of repressive measures to be used against the working class.

On October 13, Ettinger and his companions went to the Rehelim yeshiva to brief the assailants before any investigation, arrest or interrogation, and thereby prevent them revealing the details of the stoning attack.

Two weeks ago, Shin Bet, not the police, arrested three of the suspects on suspicion of murder. They also arrested two others who were taking part in a protest in support of the alleged assailants. A gag order was imposed on the media to prevent any reporting on the details of the investigation, and the youths were banned from seeing their lawyers, the far right activist Itamar Ben Gvir and Nati Rom and Adi Kedar of the Honenu NGO, which provides legal aid to Jewish activists suspected of terrorist attacks.

The police also called all the yeshiva students in for questioning after entering the seminary amid claims from the staff that they did not have a search warrant. By last Thursday, 30 students had been questioned.

The settlers and their supporters, including religious leaders and the suspects’ lawyers, issued statements condemning the arrests and organizing protests outside the homes of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other cabinet members, and later demonstrations outside the court proceedings. Neither Netanyahu nor any member of his cabinet had condemned the attack or demanded that those responsible be brought to justice. Rather, they actively encouraged the protests over the arrests and the investigation.

Following an appeal by one of the families over lack of access to lawyers, Ayelet Shaked, justice minister and leader, along with Naftali Bennett, of the newly formed New Right Party, called the mother of one of boys to say that she had discussed his case with State Prosecutor Shai Nitzan and urged the mother to “stay strong.”

A week after the youths were taken into custody, they were permitted to meet with their lawyers, who claimed the boys were innocent and accused Shin Bet interrogators of “severe manipulation” and causing “serious trauma.”

The Shin Bet was also forced to lift the gag order on part of the case. In response, it issued statements that it had discovered an Israeli flag with a swastika and “Death to Zionists” scrawled on it in the room of one of the suspects, who were now described as radical anti-Zionists. The lawyer for the five youths, Itamar Ben-Gvir, described this as “a spin” by Shin Bet, stating that there was “no real evidence” against his clients who “are good kids that love the State of Israel.”

On Thursday, a judge ruled that four of the suspects should be released and subject to house arrest, while the fifth should be kept in detention because of the nature of the allegations, the evidence against him and concerns over obstruction of justice.

The Shin Bet claimed that it had respected all the suspects’ rights under law, saying, “Claims of their denial are baseless and aim at diverting the discourse from the serious suspicions for which they were detained and at bringing the service in disrepute.”

The increase in violence and murderous attacks on Palestinians are bound up with the encouragement of all forms of extreme nationalism by Israel’s fascistic settler parties, which sit in Netanyahu’s government, as well as from recently elected municipal leaders. As the World Socialist Web Site explained in its statement on January 3: “The ultra-rightwing government of Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel is establishing the closest relations with extreme rightwing regimes and parties throughout the world. These alliances reflect the growing strength of fascist forces within Israel itself.”

The WSWS drew attention to a column in the Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz on December 31, by the Israeli human rights lawyer Michael Sfard, who warned:

“We have to face reality. We are witnessing the flourishing of a Jewish Ku Klux Klan movement. Like its American counterpart, the Jewish version also drinks from the polluted springs of religious fanaticism and separatism, only replacing the Christian iconography with its Jewish equivalent. Like white racism’s modus operandi, this Jewish racism is also based on fear mongering and violence against its equivalent of Blacks—the Palestinians.”

Such obnoxious and abhorrent phenomena mirror similar trends internationally and demonstrate the bankruptcy and reactionary dead-end of the entire Zionist project.

German political parties and media express solidarity with far-right AfD

Ulrich Rippert & Johannes Stern

The recent attack on AfD politician Frank Magnitz has been used by Germany’s parliamentary parties and leading media outlets to organise an unprecedented propaganda campaign on behalf of the Alternative for Germany and declare their solidarity with this right-wing extremist party. Magnitz is the chairman of the AfD in the city of Bremen and was attacked on Monday evening by three unknown persons. He suffered a head injury and was taken to the hospital where he was treated.

The AfD immediately declared the attack an “attempted murder” (according to AfD federal chairman Alexander Gauland) carried out by “left-wing terrorists” (AfD spokesman Jörg Meuthen). In a press release, the party leadership described the attack as follows: “They [the perpetrators] beat him unconscious with a square piece of timber and continued to kick his head when he was on the ground. It is only thanks to the courageous intervention of a construction worker that the attackers could not complete their plan and Frank Magnitz escaped with his life. He now lies seriously injured in hospital.”

It is now known that this account was entirely fictitious. The incident had been recorded by several surveillance cameras, and one day later the police announced that the version given by the AfD was false. What took place was clearly visible from the surveillance camera videos, declared Frank Passade, spokesman for the Bremen prosecutor’s office. On Monday evening Magnitz was pursued on the way to his car by three unknown persons. One of them hit Magnitz on the back or on the head with his elbow.

Magnitz then tumbled to the ground and hit his head as the three suspects ran away. Ten to 15 seconds later two workers attended to Magnitz. One of them made an emergency call. On the basis of the video recordings. prosecutor Passade said that any kicks to the head or the use of a piece of timber or other object could be ruled out. “We assume that the injuries suffered are solely due to his fall,” he said.

The claim made that one of the workers reported hearing footsteps and saw the piece of wood was also false. According to Passade, both of the workers stated to police that they had not even seen the crime. They were only aware that something had happened when they heard screams. They made no mention of a wooden club.

Notwithstanding these facts, during the following days the media printed the lies of the AfD as if they were established facts. Gauland, Meuthen and the already recovered Magnitz were interviewed as key witnesses on the main news programs. The trio raged against an alleged “attack by anti-fascists,” referred to a bloody hate campaign directed against the AfD and a “black day for democracy in Germany.”

In fact, the background to the incident remains unclear. Neither the perpetrators nor their motives have been identified, so it is not clear whether Magnitz was attacked for political, personal or criminal reasons. He is currently under investigation by the Bremen prosecutor on suspicion of embezzling party funds.

The rest of the parties represented in the German parliament (Bundestag) have reacted to the lies of the AfD with a campaign of support. The ruling grand coalition of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Christian Social Union (CSU), and Social Democratic Party (SPD), plus the opposition Free Democratic Party, Greens and Left Party, all published statements expressing their solidarity with Magnitz and the AfD. One has the impression they were all just waiting for the chance to embrace this far-right party.

Minister Heiko Maas (SPD) wrote on Twitter: “Violence should never be a means of political debate—no matter who or what the motives are. There is no justification for that. Anyone who perpetrates such a crime must be rigorously punished.” The CDU general secretary, Paul Ziemiak, stated that there had to be an end to “incitement, contempt, hatred and violence. This seed must not be allowed to grow.”

On Twitter, Green politician Cem Özdemir wished Magnitz to “get well soon” and condemned the “cowardly attack.” It was “a regrettable ground to make clear that violence is never justified, irrespective of the motivation.” The Left Party expressed similar sentiments in an official press release. “The attack on Mr. Magnitz” must be “clearly condemned,” the wrote, “Violence against persons is no way to resolve political or personal differences.” One hopes “that the background of the deed will be cleared up quickly and Mr. Magnitz will completely recover.”

Germany’s social democrat federal president Frank-Walter Steinmeier went so far as to write a personal letter to Magnitz. According to the dpa news agency, he described “any form of violence against elected officials” as “an attack on our constitutional state.” He then issued an appeal to the AfD: “We must unite and resolutely oppose this.”

The solidarity statements with Magnitz and Steinmeier’s approach to the AfD demonstrate how far the German ruling class has shifted to the right 74 years after the fall of the Third Reich. Magnitz is a representative of the extreme (völkisch) nationalist wing within the AfD and maintains close relations with far-right AfD deputy Björn Höcke, who has openly advocated National Socialist (Nazi) views in the past.

Steinmeier’s appeal for defence of the “constitutional state” in alliance with the AfD and other right-wing radicals should be taken as a warning. Steinmeier is clearly not referring to basic democratic rights, which are constantly attacked by the AfD, but rather to the state apparatus, which is constantly being rearmed. As was the case in the 1930s, the ruling class is once again relying on a powerful state apparatus and right-wing extremists to enforce its policy of militarism, social cuts and domestic rearmament against growing resistance from the working class.

All of Germany’s political parties have been collaborating with the AfD behind the scenes. In January 2018, all of the parliamentary groups agreed to allow the AfD to chair the most important committee of the Bundestag, its Budget Committee. The Bundestag Legal Affairs Committee and Tourism Committee are also chaired by the AfD. Especially with regard to refugee policy, the federal government and various state governments are all implementing the program of the AfD.

The domestic intelligence agency (Office for the Protection of the Constitution, BfV) report of the grand coalition was also drafted in close cooperation with the AfD. While the AfD and its far-right milieu feature merely as “victims” of alleged “left-wing extremists,” all opposition to capitalism, nationalism, imperialism and militarism is declared illegal and described as “left-wing extremist” and “anti-constitutional.”

The Magnitz case reveals the extent to which the AfD has been integrated into official politics in order to establish a right-wing authoritarian regime in Germany. Following the latest pro-AfD campaign in politics and the media, it is only a matter of time before the party becomes directly involved in government.

The Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei (SGP) is not prepared to tolerate such a development. It has undertaken legal action against the party’s surveillance by the BfV and is participating in the forthcoming European elections with a nationwide list to arm the massive opposition among workers and youth to the far right with a socialist program.

Mine collapse in northern China leaves 21 dead

Robert Campion

A roof collapse in a small, privately-owned coal mine in northern China on Saturday killed 21 workers. A total of 87 miners were underground in the Lijiagou mine in Shenmu when the cave-in occurred around 4 p.m.

Initial state media reports indicated that 19 workers had been killed and 66 had escaped. Rescue efforts continued through the night in the hope that the missing two would be found alive. Their bodies were found on Sunday morning.

The mine is located in Shenmu in northern Shanxi province which borders Inner Mongolia. Aerial photographs of the mine on Sunday revealed a large number of ambulances and personnel.

The cause of the accident at the mine, operated by the Baiji Mining Company, is still under investigation, according to the state broadcaster CCTV.

According to a government notice, the Lijiagou mine was granted approval in 2016 to produce 900,000 tonnes of coal a year. However, in 2017, as part of a government campaign, its owner was ordered to suspend operations while it “improved safety standards to prevent serious accidents.”

Whether or not the required safety improvements were carried out has not been made public at this stage.

China is the largest producer of coal in the world and notorious for its poor safety record. Information about mining-related tragedies, as well as the outcome of investigations, are heavily censored.

In December last year, seven miners were killed, and three others injured in a coal mine in Chongqing municipality in China’s southwest when the connecting segment of a mining skip broke, plunging down into the mine shaft.

In October, 21 miners died in eastern Shandong province after a rock blast occurred due to pent up pressure causing rocks to fracture and collapse, blocking the tunnel. There were 334 miners working underground at the Longyun coal mine at the time and only one of the 22 trapped workers was rescued.

The mine in Yuncheng County, Shandong, was operated by the Shandong Energy Group, China’s second largest producer. In response, the provincial authorities ordered a halt to production in 41 coal mines for security checks. The exercise was little more than a face-saving device to stem public anger over the deaths.

Similarly, in response to the weekend disaster, Xinhua reported yesterday that the coal mine safety bureau in Shaanxi, a province bordering Shanxi, had announced a six-month safety campaign of all its “high risk” mines. The focus will be on mines more than a kilometre underground, with increased risk of gas leaks or a high number of workers per shift.

In the early 2000s, at the height of China’s economic boom, around 5,000 coal miners were being killed each year.

These figures have dropped considerably. In 2017 there were 375 coal mining-related deaths, down by 28.7 percent year-on-year, according to China’s National Coal Mine Safety Administration. By comparison, the US had 15 coal mine deaths in 2017.

However, this reduction has less to do with improved safety standards than with declining production, mine closures and mass layoffs, and the consolidation of the industry by state-owned companies.

According to the China Labour Bulletin, a rapid rise in coal prices in 2016 led to an alarming spike in coal mine accidents. At the end of the year, there were nine major coal mine accidents in just three weeks, killing at least 86 workers. Some of these occurred at closed mines that were reopened to take advantage of higher coal prices.

In a statement January 2018, the safety watchdog announced it would be closing all coal mines capable of producing less than 90,000 tonnes a year to reduce excess capacity and safety risks at coal mines. In some regions, the limit was set at 150,000 tonnes.

The State Administration of Coal Mine Safety announced last August that it had inspected 59,000 mines nationwide in the first half of 2018. It had suspended production at 746 and issued fines totaling 677 million yuan ($US100 million) for safety violations.

In October 2018, China met its target of cutting annual overcapacity of coal production by at least 150 million tonnes, along with the slashing of its steel capacity by 50 million tonnes. The slowdown in coal production has been particularly felt in Shaanxi, which produces roughly 40 percent of China’s coal.

Last Friday, the National Coal Mine Safety Administration sent notices to major coal hubs in Shandong and Henan provinces and parts of north-eastern China asking them to halt operations for inspections lasting until June, the state-run Shanghai Securities News reported.

There is no guarantee, however, that any discovered deficiencies will be acted upon in order to prevent further tragedies such as Saturday’s roof collapse.

New year sees continuing strike wave in Portugal

Paul Mitchell 

The year 2019 is seeing a continuing strike wave in Portugal protesting the policies of the Socialist Party (PS) government.

The minority government of Prime Minister António Costa is being hit by multiple strikes protesting low wages and poor working conditions. In 2018, over 600 stoppages, some lasting weeks, were recorded, double the previous year.

Portugal’s leading financial paper, Jornal Económico, has warned that the “increased social unrest” that marked the end of 2018 will continue this year “because the problems that inflamed workers in more than 20 sectors persist.”

The paper noted that while Costa had “whistled in the air and said there was no reason for social alarm,” in her Christmas message Health Minister Marta Temido declared that “all the instruments under the law” would be used, including “civil requisitions,” in order “to ensure citizens do not become hostages to workers’ demands.”

Temido’s outburst is proof of the anti-working-class nature of the PS government that the pseudo-left Left Bloc (BE) and Stalinist Communist Party (PCP) put in power.

So far this year strike action has taken place or has been notified in the judicial system, dockyards, oil refineries and food industry and amongst teachers and nurses.

On Monday, workers began a series of rolling strikes in courts and other offices of the judicial system that will continue until the end of the month. They are demanding the unfreezing of 1,400 job vacancies—a third of the total number of jobs in the Ministry of Justice—and renegotiation of the salary scale, promotion system and the retirement scheme.

The action has been called by the Union of Judicial Officials (SFJ) and follows on from partial strikes between November 5 and December 31. The SFJ has also announced new strikes in February, March and April and a national strike April 29 to May 3 if there is “no positive response” from the government. The lack of jobs has delayed trials and led to a backlog of 100,000 applications for citizenship.

The Portuguese Union of Judges has announced that strikes which began last November will be extended until October this year. The Independent Union of Prison Guards Corps (SICGP) has announced that there will be a new strike period between January 16 and February 3 and further strikes during the year demanding salary increases, new shift allowances, a change of working hours and more jobs.

Workers at the state-owned Petrogal oil refineries at Sines and Oporto are on strike until January 31. Hélder Guerreiro from the Sines Refinery Workers’ Commission stated that the workers “do not accept the withdrawal of rights” and the “reduction of wages.”

“The situation of the company is good, every year it records profits and this year will be no exception, according to forecasts … workers should have better working conditions and better salaries, not the other way around,” Guerreiro said.

In Oporto, Fiequimetal union leader José Santos said that 85 percent of workers at the refinery were taking part in the strike and that “No vessel has docked or been refuelled, tanker trucks are still waiting unable to take supplies for distribution, maintenance services are completely paralyzed and production is only at the minimum service level imposed [by the government].”

Teachers, nurses and dockworkers are threatening to resume their militant strikes from last year if the PS government continues to renege on its anti-austerity promises.

The National Federation of Teachers (Fenprof) and other unions are meeting this week to discuss action if the government refuses to fully recompense teachers for the loss of wages that were frozen for over nine years after the 2008 financial crisis.

The Portuguese Nurses Trade Union (ASPE) is threatening to resume strike action scheduled for January 14 to February 28 if the government does not agree a proper career structure that recognises the role of specialist nurses and reduces the retirement age. The union is in talks with the government after it cancelled this week’s strike.

The Stevedoring and Logistics Activity Union (SEAL) has given notice of new strike action in Portugal’s ports from January 16 until July 1. Union president António Mariano has condemned “the growing proliferation of anti-union practices” in the ports, especially at Caniçal (Madeira) and Praia da Vitória (Azores), which includes “harassment, from persecution to coercion, from bribery to discrimination, from threats of dismissal to blackmail.”

Last November, dockworkers at Setúbal went on strike for a month, paralyzing the port and preventing export of cars from the huge Volkswagen Autoeuropa plant in protest at the large number of casual workers.

In its commentary on the continuing strike wave, Jornal Económico also noted the duplicitous role of the BE and PCP, which “support the Socialist government [but] now have to distance themselves from it in order to capitalise on all the discontent at the ballot box.”

Following the 2015 general election, the BE and PCP channelled mass disaffection that was expressed in a record low 57 percent turnout and the ousting of the pro-austerity right-wing Social Democratic Party (PSD) and People’s Party (CSD-PP) coalition behind the PS and its claims that it would “reverse austerity.”

The BE was an enthusiastic partner, giving Costa its support merely “on the condition that he give up some of his programme’s more neoliberal policies.”

All the BE’s pre-election rhetoric about repudiating Portugal’s debt and breaking with the European Union (EU) was abandoned overnight. Instead the PS has fixated on early repayment of the several billions remaining of the 2011 €78 billion (US$101 billion) bank bailout package provided by the “troika” (European Commission, International Monetary Fund, European Central Bank).

This is all money that could have been used to increase wages and improve Portugal’s crumbling public services.

After four years of demobilising working-class opposition, the BE and PCP are now using the strike wave to launch campaigns to present themselves as anti-austerity in advance of EU elections in May and a general election in October so they can continue to do so.

BE leader Catarina Martins, in her New Year’s message, declared that there is “much still to be done” to deal with the “injustices and difficulties that persist” and that 2019 will be “a year of decisions.” She claimed that the limited social measures that the PS has passed (although not fulfilled as the current strike wave proves), including the “recovery of pensions,” “increase of minimum wage,” “effective contracts for thousands of victims of precariousness” and a “moratorium on evictions,” were the result of BE pressure on the PS.

Many of these measures were promised by the PS and even the PSD/CSD-PP in their 2014 election manifestos because they wanted to stimulate consumption and dampen social opposition. The PS was quite prepared to concede some measures in order to introduce others, including the debt repayment. What took place was a pragmatic and unprincipled trade-off with the BE that did not fundamentally affect capitalist relations.

In a similar vein, PCP General Secretary Jerónimo de Sousa declared in his New Year’s message, “2019 will be a time of choices in which the Portuguese people will be confronted with decisive options regarding their future.” He called for party members to be mobilised to build the PCP as a “great national force in defence of national sovereignty” and to make sure “the PS does not have a majority government to implement its own programme.”