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‘US Propaganda Against China Is Not Working in Africa’ w/ Zambia’s Dr. Fred M’membe | BreakThrough News | YouTubeToText
YouTube Transcript: ‘US Propaganda Against China Is Not Working in Africa’ w/ Zambia’s Dr. Fred M’membe
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How do people in Africa see their
relationship with China? Is it a
colonial one? One of forced economic
dependence and debt trap diplomacy as US
media and politicians would have you
believe? We'll discuss this and more on
this week's China Report. [Music]
Welcome to the China Report made in
collaboration with Pivot to Peace. Every
week, we'll be helping you sort through
the propaganda with an independent view
of the country we're taught to hate but
know so little about. I'm your host,
Amanda Yei. These are this week's
headlines. President Xiinping made a
surprise visit to Lassa, Tibet on
Wednesday, appearing before 20,000
people to mark 60 years since the
establishment of the autonomous region.
During the visit, she outlined the
party's vision for Tibet and highlighted
what it views as the region's four major
tasks. Ensuring stability, facilitating
development, protecting the environment,
and strengthening borders, according to
Chinese state media. She noted that
Tibet's economic and social development
had achieved remarkable progress,
leading to profound changes in the
region. At the same time, he noted the
need to promote two-way exchanges in
economy, culture, and personnel between
Tibet and other parts of China and to
guide Tibet Tibetan Buddhism in adapting
itself to socialist society.
She also called on the region to promote
ecological conservation, expand green
development, and pursue economic growth.
China held its dress rehearsal last
Sunday for its upcoming 80th anniversary
celebration of what it officially calls
the victory of the Chinese people
against Japanese aggression or the end
of World War II. The official parade
will take place on September 3rd and
pass through Tianaman Square. There are
varying estimates of those killed by
Japan's invasion and occupation of
China, which lasted from 1931 to 1945,
but some figures estimate around 20
million killed. The Nonjing Massacre of
1937 was one of the largest and most
brutal, claiming the lives of over
300,000 Chinese people. The victory
against the Japanese invasion meant the
end of what the Chinese call the century
of humiliation, which began with the
British attacks in the first opium war
in 1839 and ended with a revolution led
by Mao Dong and the Communist Party of
China in 1949.
The celebration will also allow China to
showcase a series of new gener of new
generation weapons, including the debut
of hypersonic weapons, anti-aircraft and
anti-missile defense systems, and
strategic missiles, which will
demonstrate China's strategic deterrence
capability. The development of China's
defense infrastructure is seen within
the country as a guarantee of Chinese
sovereignty. China's military budget
represents 1.6% 6% of the country's GDP,
well below the 6% of the United States,
according to a survey by the
Trontinental Institute for Social
Research. China has hit back at the US
for discrimination against Chinese
students at the border. In a press
conference on Friday, Maing,
spokesperson for China's Foreign
Ministry, criticized the Trump
administration for detaining students
for over 70 hours when traveling to the
US and questioning them over topics
unrelated to their visit. Mao stated at
the press conference that these
discriminatory practices seriously
infringed upon the legitimate and legal
rights and interests of Chinese
citizens, severely obstructed normal
personnel exchanges between the two
countries, and seriously undermined the
atmosphere for people-to-people and
cultural exchanges. She continued,
"Recently, the US has frequently engaged
in discriminatory, politically
motivated, and selective law enforcement
against Chinese students traveling to
the US. These students are subjected to
unfair treatment, including being taken
into small, dark rooms for repeated and
prolonged interrogations.
Ma then called upon Washington to
thoroughly investigate and correct the
mistakes. China plans to add 660,000
affordable nursery care centers by the
end of this year as part of their
efforts to ease the child care burden on
families. According to the guidelines
the National Health Commission and six
other government departments released in
July, nursery care costs shouldered by
families will be effectively lowered and
the public's demand for affordable child
care services will be largely met.
Expanding accessible and affordable
nursery care services is seen as a
critical measure to alleviate family
financial burdens and encourage child
birth to address China's persistently
declining birth rates in recent years.
Under the latest guideline, the nation's
nursery care system should comprise
comprehensive service centers and a
variety of childare service providers
such as regular nursery care units,
homebased or community facilities,
kindergartens offering child care
services, as well as facilities funded
and managed by employers.
Comprehensive nursery career service
centers will not only provide care slots
but also offer caregiver training,
family child reign guidance, innovative
child care product development and
oversight on industry safety. Also,
under the guideline, medical
institutions are required to offer
infant health management and traditional
Chinese medicine services regularly to
nearby child care institutions. They're
also expected to organize health
lectures and consultations on topics
such as scientific parenting, growth and
development, and the prevention and
treatment of common infant and toddler
illnesses. The guideline aims to
establish China's affordable nur nursery
care system by the year 2030. The US
media likes to frame the relationship
between China and Africa as a colonial
one. China, meanwhile, characterizes it
as one of friendship and solidarity. But
how do people in Africa see Africa China
relations? To discuss this, we are so
honored to have on Dr. Fred Ammbe. He is
an international award-winning
journalist as well as the president of
the Socialist Party of Zombia. Fred,
>> You are.
>> Well, it's so we're so pleased to have
you on. Um, I think I want to get
started with uh a piece of um fairly
recent news, which is that China
recently announced the imposition of
zero tariffs for all 53 African
countries that have diplomatic ties with
China. Um, and in addition to this,
China is Africa's biggest trading
partner. They've built a lot of
infrastructure across the continent
through its belt and road initiative.
Um, I'm just wondering, you know, how
people in Africa, how people in your
country of Zambia, how do they see
China? Because here in the US, China is
extremely vilified and the way that we
characterize um, China's presence in
Africa can is often described as
imperialist or colonialist.
But could you you know give us a picture
of how people in Zambia and Africa in
general see this relationship with China?
China?
>> Our relationship with China is not new.
It has got a history.
It's got roots.
People see our relationship from past,
China in the past helped us to liberate ourselves
ourselves
China helped so many of African countries
countries
in all sorts of ways to liberate
themselves from the colonial yoke. And
who were the colonizers? The colonizers
were the countries of Europe.
They were the colonizers.
It was not China which was a colonizer.
China was a liberator.
That history has not faded from the
memories of our people.
China today is helping us
again in all sorts of ways to defend our sovereignity.
sovereignity.
Defending your sovereignity means
you being able
to engage in economic relationships with others
others
China is helping us to industrialize.
The relationships we have with China are
win-win relationships.
But of course, China is developing
and any developing countries has
challenges. China has got its own
challenges. We have our challenges and
we acknowledge the challenges that we face.
face.
China has got a private sector. That
private sector sometimes, not even just
in Africa, but even in China has to be
reigned in, has to be controlled.
Sometimes our governments are not strong
enough to control Chinese private capital
capital
and bad things do happen.
there's only virtues and no vices.
They are vices but we cannot
let the virtues be dominated by the
minor vices that we have with China.
Certain things have happened that may
not be desirable,
not even in China. But on a scale, this
Western private capital
has done to us.
Western private capital turned us into
commodities. We were bought by Western
private capital as commodities, as
slaves. We were humiliated, exploited
for centuries.
If we had win-win relationships with the
western world, we wouldn't be where we
are today.
If we are even getting 40% or 30% of
what we produced for them, we wouldn't
be where we are today in terms of
So the relationship we have with China,
yes like any other relationship
including social relationships, they
have got ups and downs
but you have to focus on the main things
of that relationship, the main issues of
that relationship. China
China
is like a locomotive to us is pulling us
to develop.
We are benefiting from a developing
China. The prosperity of China is being
shared with us. And this is not a
theory, but it's a practical reality.
Over the last 20, 30 years of engagement
with China, there's infrastructure that
Africa never had.
Infrastructure which our colonizers
never built.
With all the money they took from us,
we cannot industrialize at the pace that
we want, at the speed that we want,
without meaningful cooperation with China.
China.
We need China and China needs Africa.
Africa needs China. China needs Africa.
We are benefiting in a very big way.
China has no colony anywhere in the
world that we know of.
We are dealing with China as free human beings.
beings.
We are free to choose what we want to
get from China and what we don't want to
get from China. China does not force us
to do what we don't want to do. China is
not manipulating us.
We are not in a position to be
manipulated by China anyway.
China has no desire to manipulate. And
if China was to manipulate us, that
relationship was not going to last much
longer. It was going to have the same
reaction that the colonial western world
had with us from the very beginning of
subjugating us. There was resistance.
We resisted from the very beginning and
we continue to resist until China came
China is liberating us also today from
neo colonial bondage that has tied us in
poverty that has tied us to under
development so the relationship we have
with China is very different and there
we have never had it this way in our
history modern history
there's no country that has dealt with
Africa the way China is dealing with
Africa in history
we can judge that fair-minded people can
analyze that and see the difference.
There was no Berlin conference of 1884 1885
1885
for China to cover Africa into its possessions.
possessions.
We are free people cooperating with a
free China. Yes, there's solidarity and
also there's business.
Solidarity has continued from the
colonial struggles.
Business is a new thing. We never had
business with China. Now we are in
business with China. Both public and
private institutions are coming to
Africa. And Africa is also going to China.
China.
It's a two-way thing.
And China knows it that the future of
China is in the global south, not in the
global north.
You can see the tariffs that they
imposing on China. You can see how they
panicking over the development of China
trying to draw China back.
If China does not strengthen it markets
in the south, in the global south,
it will have challenges. But the
leadership of China from 2013
2014 saw that very clearly and started
to push much more to the global south
and that has benefited us a lot. We have
Bangladesh today pushing very highly. We
have Indonesia also joining.
We have India also pushing quite well.
And with these global south countries
doing well, growing at a fast rate, our
chances of developing
become much higher.
We cannot be tied to the history that
reduces to slaves.
Both shackled slaves and unshackled slaves.
slaves.
This is how we see China.
There's a lot that you mentioned that I
I want to unpack further in this
interview, but one thing that you stated
was that, you know, China has its own um
private sector. Sometimes it needs to be
reigned in. Um you know, there I there's
something in the US media that I'd like
for you to address. You know, there's
currently a global race for both
critical and rare earth minerals. Um,
China's mining presence in Africa is
concentrated in a few countries
including the DRC, Zimbabwe, Guinea, and
your own country of Zambia. Um, Zambia
is particularly rich in copper. Um, and
it, you know, we need copper for uh like
green technologies, electronics, the
defense industry.
Um, but there is a tendency for US media
to seize upon the examples of Chinese
private capital mistreating mine workers
in Zambia, for example, and using this
as an example of Chinese colonialism in
Africa. Um, I've seen politicians do it.
I've seen US media do it. you know, can
you address these accusa accusations
and how this may impact uh the US
The business regulatory frameworks in
Africa in most African countries is weaker
weaker
>> and private sector
everywhere drives for maximization of
profits and shortcuts are done
where weaker government controls exist
and we have heard that from Chinese capital
capital
private capital we have also experienced
the worst of it from western private capital.
capital.
If western private capital had dealt
with us the way
Chinese private capital is dealing with
us today would have been if more developed
developed
but there's nothing that stops us as
government African government to stop
the bad practice of Chinese foreign
capital just as much as any other
foreign capital
private capital or even public capital
being imported or being exported to us
needs to work accordance with our own
programs, our own rules.
We cannot blame this on China. China has
never stopped any African country from
taking measures
against Chinese private capital violations.
violations.
What we have seen is the western capital
is highly protected by their governments.
governments.
You touch them, you have touched a raw nerve.
nerve.
A country is invaded. A government is
toppled. How many governments have been toppled
for differing with western private capital?
capital?
How many in history in Latin America and
in Africa? We can even say even in Asia
there's no government in Africa that has
been toppled by Chinese by the Chinese
government because it differed with
Chinese private capital.
So these are our weaknesses which we
have to work on with Chinese private
capital and with the help of China where
it's necessary and we have to learn from
the way China is treating it private capital.
capital.
Look, there's no political class,
business political class of
billionaires, millionaires in in China
that threatened the the governing system
of the country. A good example of that
is the way
Jakma was treated, was handled,
reigned in with billions.
Can western countries do that? No.
>> China is not controlled by billionaires
or millionaires. although it has got a
good number of them now
probably more than any other country.
>> There is also another common popular
media narrative of Chinese debt trap
diplomacy. Um, in late 2020, Zambia
defaulted on its international debt,
making it the first African country to
do so uh since the start of co and ever
since it's been working with China and
other countries as well to restructure
the $6 billion in loans that it owes. I
think a lot of China critics would point
to this example and say, you know, this
is a typical example of China ins
snaring countries in the global south
into debt traps. um and creating
economic dependency. So, I guess I'm
just um I'm curious how you would
respond to these accusations and you
know, would you characterize
um you know, this case as Chinese debt
>> The debt that we owe China or Chinese
entities is far much lower than what we
owe the western entities.
We owe much more to the western entities
than we owe China.
If our debt was only with China would be
We are in trouble not because of what we
owe China. We are in trouble because of
what we owe western entities.
But the problem was the western entities
like in the case of Zambia wanted to
secure their own liabilities and push
everything to China and they wanted to
make China the better be
China to secure their own
private debts with Zambia.
That's not the way things work.
There's no
Zambian asset that has been seized by
China. We are not in any way being
blackmailed by China. And also the money
that we borrowed from China. You can see
what it did.
You can see the airports that are there.
You can see the hospitals that are
there. You can see the schools that are
there. You can see the roads that are
there. You can see the infrastructure
that is backed by there hydrop power
stations and so on.
But what we owe the western entities,
you have difficulties. You need a very
strong microscope to see
where that money went. And the truth is
the money went back to the lenders
without working anything for us.
So the issue really our burden is not
what we owe China.
If all our debts, all our liabilities
were with China would be much more
comfortable. We would have better deals
to resolve those issues. So there's no
dirty trap. Dirty trap about what?
A trap is something that you don't see.
We are seeing everything that we are
walking our way into with China. We are
not cropping in the dark. We are walking
in the light and we cannot be ens snared
when we are walking in the light with
our eyes open.
those who have tied us
to IMF World Bank conditions,
austerity measure that have crippled
our social services that have pushed us
backwards are not with China
and we know that as long as we continue
to borrow
from the IMF, the World Bank and other
Western institutions
will not resolve any of our problems.
And we have been on that path for more
than 60 years now.
We know what it means. That's why today
we are looking for a new bank,
for a new development bank under the bricks
bricks
cuz we can't continue on this road to
Calvary forever. We have been on this
path to Calvary trying to climb Calvary
for a very long time. But whenever we
are making some progress, we roll back
again and again and again. It can't
continue. We have to make a break to
this. And that's what they don't want.
It's not that they worried about that we
getting trapped by debt by China. What
they are worried about is that China is
helping us to move away from their trap.
They have trapped us for centuries.
They don't want us to have our freedom,
not only political freedom, but economic freedom.
freedom.
They are worried about our relationship
with China because it's beneficial to
us. Since when did the same institutions
care about our our plight?
Since when did they care about D trap
for Africa?
How long
have we been under their dirt trap? Even
the current debt debt we have is with
them. They are the biggest
lenders to us. They are the ones who are
continuing to trap us into debt.
If they were to write off their debt
today and we just remain with Chinese
debt, our problems would be over.
But they want China to be the burden
bearer of their debts to guarantee the
repayments of their debts.
China should help us pay their debts
instead of China helping us to pay what
we owe China and the Chinese people.
So we are not forced
to be blinded by that.
That propaganda is too cheap. It's not working.
working.
They better find something else.
What they don't want is China to
progress. Our relationship with China is
a win-win relationship.
China develops by doing business with
the south with with Africa.
Africa benefits and will develop by
doing business with China. Both business
and solidarity engagement are necessary
for us.
And the West doesn't want that.
they don't want it because it is not
beneficial to them.
>> Uh you mentioned this earlier but um
Zambia and China they have like a long
history of solidarity
um and friendship. Um you know Zambia
was the first country in southern Africa
to establish diplomatic relations with
the PRC. Um this relationship was also
symbolized by the Tazaro railway and
actually at last year's uh forum on
China Africa cooperation summit Tanzania
and Zambia signed a memorandum of
understanding to upgrade the Tazara
railway with China pledging around 1
billion toward this. So this railway was
completed in 1975 and China had lent
hundreds of millions of dollars in
interest free loans and even sent
workers to help build this railway.
Um so and and this railway was designed
to help copper rich Zambia access
overseas markets and gain economic
independence from Rhodesia and apartheid
South Africa. So to to this day it's
still the biggest project that China has
implemented in Africa. So I was
wondering if you could speak a little
bit on the Tazar railway, what it
symbolizes in terms of friendship and
solidarity between the two countries. Um
you know both historically and today.
>> Building the Tazar Rail was not a small
feat for China.
The China that built the Tazar rail is
not the China of today with advanced
technology and immense resources.
China did not have the money and the
capac the technical capacity to build
that rail.
But there was a commitment they saw in
it that it was not just an economic
project but it was also a liberating
political project.
Joe and Li the premier of China at that
time put in a lot of effort and
attention to this under chairman Ma.
This ring was completed with the loss of
seven Chinese nationals in Zambia and
they are buried here in Zambia.
They were not repatriated back to China.
They are here. Their graves are here.
Their remains are here.
as a testimony of that solidarity. At
that time, China did not have commercial
interests in Zambia or in Tanzania.
There was no trading with China or
mining Chinese companies mining here.
There wasn't
that came much later. It's a recent
thing. China built this rail for our own
prosperity, for our own well-being.
And it was not a new project. This
project was given to the Americans, was
given to the Europeans, to the UK. They
rejected it as not viable.
They they rejected it. They did not want
to engage in it. China came into it with
huge sacrifices. China gave us what
China did not even have in most of his
territory at that time. They gave us a
rail that most Chinese
h cities did not have. So
So
we will never forget this rail. Of
course it needs upgrading.
Time has passed. It's an old project. It
needs to be modernized and so on. And
it's good our governments and the
Chinese people are cooperating to bring this
this
rail project to a modern state. It's a
project that should not die. Is a
Not only because of its magnitude but
the solidarity that lies behind it. The
human sacrifice that lies behind it. It
was completed
not in an easy way. It was a difficult
project for China.
But also don't forget that the materials
including sleepers, concrete slippers
came from China. They brought in
literally everything including cement
which we could have produced in Africa.
But also
unifies us. It unifies our struggles,
the African struggles and the Chinese struggles.
struggles.
And if we could do that at that time,
what more can we do now with the
capacity China has? And this is why we
are saying China today for us is a
locomotive pulling so many wagons on the
African continent, Latin America and Asia.
Asia.
Why should we oppose that?
Why shouldn't we be part of that?
Look at the road and belt initiative.
Who wouldn't want being given the
situation we are in? Who wouldn't want
to be part of that?
who wouldn't want to benefit from that.
But also ironically, the same people who
are dissuading us from cooperating with
China, they owe China billions and
billions and billions of dollars. They
are the most indebted to China. Look at
what Europe owes China. Look at what the
USA owes China.
Can you compare that to what we owe China?
Anyway, this bond is unshakable. We have
no sensible alternative to Chinese cooperation.
cooperation.
We have to perfect it. We have to work
on it, improve it all the time, make it
more efficient, more effective, more order,
order,
abandoning it never.
It's either we struggle together with
China or we perish alone
I want to ask you a question about
China's socialist process. Um in the US
among especially among uh some people on
the left there are a lot of varying
views of Chinese socialism. um debates
whether it's socialist at all and there
are also a lot of criticisms of uh
China's concessions to capital
you know how would you and your party
the socialist party of Zambia respond to
these criticisms of China and their
relation to private capital um and how
do you see uh socialism with Chinese characteristics
>> there was a lot we didn't understand
about the wake of the communist part of China.
China.
There was a lot we didn't know about
Chinese socialism or ch socialism with
Chinese characteristics.
We were dominated and blinded
by our loyalty to the Soviet Union. Most
of us on the left,
>> we did not know what China was doing.
for the Socialist Party. We have spent
the last maybe I would say seven, eight years,
years,
studying China
and reorienting ourselves,
learning a new some of the principles.
And there's no doubt this is one of the
most successful
revolutions in human history.
This is an irreversible socialist
program. totally irreversible
and also it's not something that just
dropped all of a sudden in 1978
to understand the Chinese revolution you
have to start from 1949
the triumph of the CPC in 1949
then you have to understand also the
and again
You also have to understand the changes
of 2013 2014 under Jin Ping.
This define China and show the continuity
continuity
of this revolution. It's a glorious
revolution, one of the most successful
revolution in human history.
When you come to understand China, you
fall in love with China.
And you don't need to be a communist.
You don't need to be a socialist to
appreciate what China has achieved.
And this achievement would have not been
possible without pursuing socialism.
And this is not me saying this. The
Chinese leadership itself is saying so.
This is a socialist project.
Building ch building socialism with
Chinese characteristics. And the Chinese
characteristics are anchored on
on
a long process of civilization.
Many years,
many centuries, 5,000 years of Chinese civilization.
It is not something that has just
Fidel once said
Chinese are very intelligent people. I
agree with him. What we have achieved is
a product of high levels of human intelligence
intelligence
and extremely hard work.
Whether one agrees or aspires to
socialist principles or does not support socialism,
socialism,
China cannot be ignored.
What they can't stand today is that
China is surpassing
all that we have seen before in human development
development
in human achievement. China today is
leading in many fields of human endeavor
and they can't stand to be surpassed by China
China
for political, ideological and even
We used to say all all roads lead to
Rome. Today we can say all roads lead to Beijing
Beijing
This is an achievement that human
humanity has never seen.
What has been achieved is phenomenal.
Not even the USA revolution achieved
that much.
And also the way it has been achieved
without colonies,
without humiliating other human beings
on this planet, without enslaving other
human beings on this planet,
Let's give it credit where is due.
This is for us communists, for us socialists,
socialists,
this is the best example of a socialist revolution.
And credit goes to the people of China
and their leaders
and outstanding
leadership of Jinping,
I agree with all you said. Um, I think,
uh, you know, to respond to some of the
critics that say, you know, China makes
too many concessions to private capital.
Um, I really like what you said in a
previous interview about the
difficulties of socialist reconstruction
and how, you know, socialism is not a
particular stage in itself. It's a
transitional period
>> and um you know when you are uh
transition transitioning to socialism
you are going to have to make
compromises with capital uh you know in
some way or another and yeah I guess
like could you speak a little bit on that?
that?
Well, socialism including the the
socialism with Chinese characteristics
is a transition so it's a transitional
society. You have to bring in the
principles of the society that you want
A transitional society has to make many compromises.
compromises.
It has to make compromises with capital
and compromises require a lot of intelligence.
intelligence.
You have to have a clear understanding
of things to make the best compromises.
medicines are a compromise.
they may cure your headache and so on.
Two tablets of pain killers can cure
your headache. If you take 100, you die
from a medicine that can cure you, same
chemical composition.
So to know what doses to take of everything
everything
to know how to deal with capital at the
same time building a socialist society
is not an easy undertaking.
That's why
we appreciate
and exalt the intelligence of the
Chinese leadership and the Chinese people.
people.
in the way they have done
to what they
This
is marvelous.
This is something glorious.
This is something admirable.
We admire China.
of course without trying to cop what
they doing but we is a source of inspiration
inspiration
and also
it's a locomotive that pulls us
we stand a better chance to develop with China
China
we stand a better chance to live better
by cooperating with China
presents us what no epoch in history has
ever presented us in the modern about
a chance to break away from poverty, a
chance to break away from underdevelopment
underdevelopment
with China all the way.
>> So, you're running in the 2026 uh
Zombian presidential elections. Uh I'm
just curious, what is the vision uh for
for the country? Uh what is your vision
for the country? What is the vision of
the socialist party of Zambia for the
country? And what does a Zambia with
socialist characteristics look like?
Socialism is a process,
a long historical process
and it takes different times in
different countries
because of differences in culture and
differences in circumstances.
But for us, the most important thing
is to defend our sovereignity.
A country that is colonized, a country
that is dominated by others
cannot develop in the way China has developed.
developed.
China has been able to develop because
it's not dominated by any other country.
China defended this sovereignity from
1949 when the revolution triumphed.
That revolution was about sovereignity
and with the defense of sovereignity
other interests can be defended
Democratization means increased
participation of the people in what is
going on in their countries and in their lives.
lives.
We need to broaden the participation. It
can't be left to a small class of people
to decide everything to do everything.
The participation of the Chinese people
in running the affairs of their country,
in running their lives is very high. The
visits I've had to China have taught me
one thing. There's more democracy in
China than in any other country in the
world today.
I say that with absolute conviction.
And it's not flattering.
There's more democracy in China than
there's democracy in the USA or any
western country. The people and the
protection of the people's rights is
much higher there.
A country of 1.4 billion human beings
cannot be dominated by one person. It's
not possible. No matter how strong that
person is, it can only be dominated by democracy.
democracy.
China in my view is an example of a
democratic country.
There's so much participation.
I've never seen so many research
institutes in my life.
There's a research institute for almost
It's a system that is based on merit.
The quality of leadership of the Chinese
people is much much higher than any
country in the world.
Many of the leaders in the west if they
were in China they do not get anywhere
even to the middle level leadership.
The quality of leadership is much higher
and it's a high high informed leadership
and to me that guarantees China's progress.
progress.
China is unstoppable.
They can make all sorts of provocations.
China knows even how to navigate around provocations.
provocations.
They want wars with China to to slow
down his progress to destroy what is
being done. It won't happen.
So for us
the most important thing is to broaden
the participation
to improve the governance of our country
and to con to to focus on the things
We have to ensure that our people have
got access to education, quality
education, education that they can use
to develop their country and themselves.
access to quality health services
that are free and socialized.
And also we have to pay a lot of attention
attention
to food and nutrition, which means also
paying a lot of attention to agriculture.
agriculture.
And for people to live better, they have
to earn a living, they have to find a
job in that in the economy. So ensuring
that our people have got quality jobs,
decent jobs is a priority. These are not
easy things to to deal with, but this is
the main focus
of our struggle. So right now we are
working to unify
the political opposition in the country
so that we broaden the participation of
our people and also extend to involving
other leaders of our people because the
political leadership is not the only
leadership we have in the country. We
have the traditional leadership. This is
authentic leadership of our people. We
have the religious leadership. This is
authentic leadership of our people. We
have the business group. They also have
to participate. They have to be listened
to and they have to be engaged.
We have the cooperatives. We have the
trade unions and the professionals. All
our people must participate
building together, deciding together and
defending what has been achieved
together. This is the only guarantee for us.
us.
in addition to international cooperation
with the global south.
>> You ran for president in 2021. You're
running again in 2026.
Um, in the time since you've been
arrested multiple times uh in the past
few years, all related to your criticism
of the Zombian government, uh, what do
you think it is about you and your party
that they find so threatening? Are they
afraid that the people will be moved to
>> Well, whenever there's a revolutionary process,
process,
there's always counterrevolutionary
counterrevolutionary activities.
activities.
You cannot have a revolution without counterrevolutionaries.
counterrevolutionaries.
That's what dialectics teaches us.
But also there's a saying
that genuine goodness it is often
threatening to those on the other side
of the moral spectrum.
We have a genuine program.
We have an authentic leadership.
We have an ideology and an outlook
that brings us much closer to the
people. The more closer you are to the people,
people,
the more reactionary forces come for
you. That bond with the people
is threatening to those who exploit the
people, to those who humiliate the people,
people,
to those who undermine the progress of
We cannot do this alone as the Socialist Party.
Party.
We have to do it with others.
We have to do it with the people themselves.
themselves.
And people usually participate through
their leaders.
There are various leaders of our people.
We are engaging with them every day. We
So this is threatening
and if we achieve this which we are
likely to do in the coming year if we
can unite all our forces
we unstoppable
and they know it
this is not the 2021 elections we
participated in that was a rehearsal
this is the real struggle that we are in
and we are pushing for power not power
for the sake of power but power to carry
out a revolution. Well, Dr. Fred MME,
thank you so much for joining us on the
China Report. It was such a pleasure and
an honor to have you on.
>> Thank you very much. Thank you.
>> The 15th Genting World Lion Dance
Championship was held on July 27th in
Malaysia. The 3-day tournament featured
40 competing teams from all over the
world, but it was Singapore's Yiwwayi
Athletic Association that took the top
prize. Yeiwi actually sent two teams to
the competition, and it was this one
you'll see in this video that took home
the championship. The dance is based on
Nuda, the Chinese deity often portrayed
as a child in modern interpretations and
upon which the hit film is based. As a
reminder, if you like this episode,
don't forget to like, share, and
subscribe. And we'll see you next week
on the China Report. [Music]
Woo! [Applause]
Woo! [Applause]
Heat. [Music]
[Music] [Applause]
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