About a dozen Democratic Socialists of America activists have publicly pledged to “support” and “defend” China amid an apparent push by the communist nation to court members of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s party.
Friends of Socialist China, a London-based group, touts 952 signatories on its pledge to “support the People’s Republic of China and to promote understanding of Chinese socialism.”
Eleven self-described DSA or DSA International Committee members are among those that “resolve to support, defend and build understanding of Chinese socialism,” The Post found.
The Times of London first reported on the DSA signatories.
The pledge argues that “the global advance to socialism is indispensable if humanity is to survive and to flourish,” while decrying capitalism as “totally incapable of solving the problems of poverty and inequality” and being “ inextricably linked with war, empire, racism, misogyny, alienation, and environmental destruction.”
“Why China?” the pledge continues. “We support all states building or aspiring to socialism, and we favour the highest level of unity and friendship between them. We foreground China in particular because its size and level of development give it an objectively critical role in the global transition to socialism.”
The document lauds China as “the most prominent force pushing for the establishment of a multipolar system of international relations and a new international economic order” and “a global leader in the struggle to avoid climate breakdown.
“As such, the continued survival of Chinese socialism is a crucial matter not only for the Chinese people but for all humanity.”
The Post previously reported that in order to meet a rising interest in the Chinese Communist Party, the DSA launched a monthly seminar last year about “modern China and lessons for US socialists.”
Among the wild claims made during the DSA’s first CCP seminar was that China has a “strong democracy.” There was no mention of China’s tight restrictions on freedom of expression.
A few weeks before the launch of the seminar series, a five-person DSA delegation flew to Beijing to celebrate China’s 80th anniversary of the victory against Japan.
“It was an impressive display of ‘unity in multi-polarity’ featuring Russian President Putin and Indian Prime Minister Modi, as well as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un,” wrote NYC DSA member Dee Knight. “Beijing buzzed with excitement.”
DSA meeting minutes dating back to 2021, obtained by Newsweek in January, show that members have openly discussed repeated trips to China to meet with CCP officials under the banner of “anti-imperialism.”
The minutes, however, also show that there is internal division about how close the DSA should be to the authoritarian communist country.
“This isn’t what I signed up for and I imagine it’s not what a majority of members signed up for,” an outraged member of the DSA’s International Committee said in one meeting.
“There’s no way you can be a part of the organization and promote the things they’re doing.”
The DSA did not respond to The Post’s request for comment.
