China Is Not Our Enemy

🇨🇺🤝🇨🇳 The first badge of the 60 thousand tons of rice offered by the People's Republic of China, sets sail towards #Cuba. In response to adversity, the solidarity of true friends prevails and demonstrates that #CubaIsNotAlone.

ANDURIL: the world is watching. Hold Andril founder Palmer Luckey accountable for turning war into profit. Every drone, autonomous weapon, and surveillance system they build leads to violence and human suffering. ✍️ Send a letter now: codepink.org/palmerluckey

Join our webinar to learn about how Michigan has become the ground zero for war on China within the United States. codepink.org/michiganground…

@hasanthehun @codepink We love you! Thanks for helping people understand that China Is Not Our Enemy! ✌️💗🍉

What happens when the world’s largest poverty-alleviation success story looks to the richest country on Earth and finds mass poverty, homelessness, and deepening inequality? Join our webinar to learn more- @codepink codepink.org/killlinewebina…

Sign the petition: Demand the New York Times Stop Inciting War! #ChinaIsNotOurEnemy @codepink codepink.org/china_nyt?recr…

As the U.S. floods the Philippines with advanced weaponry in preparation for war on China, the Filipino government is deploying those weapons against its own people. U.S. militarism only leads to more violence, and civilians always face the worst of it.

One interesting difference I've noticed between the West and China, that few speak about, is the difference in approach when it comes to narrative management. To a large extent the West's approach is to change the narrative in order to change reality, whereas China's approach is almost the opposite: change reality in order to change the narrative. It's basically materialism vs idealism. Take two concrete examples. On the West's side, a fantastic illustration is presidential campaign slogans like Obama's "yes we can" or Trump's "make America great again." Pure narrative stuff, extremely aspirational and grandiose, all about believing change into existence. And what change exactly? These slogans can mean many things to many different people and that's the entire point: it's a blank canvas where everyone can project their own hopes, the goal being to win a battle of words, reality comes later. There are very deep roots to this. In fact John 1:1 (first verse of first chapter of the Gospel of John) states: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God"! Talk about foundational! In Chinese culture, by contrast, talk is cheap, vulgar even. This really surprised me at the beginning with my wife (whom I met already more than 20 years ago!). She was really uncomfortable, even borderline annoyed when I was telling her that I loved her. In her mind, you just don't say those things, rather you should act to demonstrate them. And this is the case in most Chinese family. It's rare to say "I love you". But in exchange the devotion and dedication Chinese parents and grandparents will demonstrate to their offspring is absolutely unparalleled. In Chinese culture it's very much about proving your love. Speaking about love is borderline insulting, or at least seen in a somewhat manipulative light, as if you need to convince someone of something that should be obvious through your behavior. Same thing with the government. Many people think the Chinese government are good at propaganda when in truth they're remarkably unsophisticated at it - they'll lift 800 million people out of poverty but really struggle to articulate a compelling story around it. They'll share statistics and show before/after photos, as if the reality is all the narrative you need. And maybe they're right 🤷 This also probably has a lot to do with why Chinese people find the US-style selection of president so foreign. "You mean you select someone based on what they SAY? But they'll say anything to get elected" is basically the view. To the Chinese, a meritocratic system whereby those who have demonstrated an ability to get things done during years get progressively promoted makes way more sense. This also has very deep philosophical roots. Shen Buhai, a foundational 4th century BCE political philosopher had this famous dictum: "The sage ruler depends upon methods, not on his sagacity. He employs technique, not theory." (philpapers.org/archive/MATHID…) In other words sage rulers shouldn't persuade but focus on methods and techniques that produce measurable results. This is similar to the concept of 无为 (wu wei), which influenced Daoist thought, where effective action comes from aligning with how things actually work. Reality comes first, not the word. This has plenty of concrete consequences, and probably is in no small way a reason why Marx's historical materialism - the idea that material conditions and economic relations form the base that determines the ideological superstructure - did resonate strongly in China, and less in the West. And this translates also, to some extent, to the current change of the world order. As I argued in my new article yesterday (open.substack.com/pub/arnaudbert…) we're currently witnessing a shift where "the map is reasserting itself against the narrative", where geography is starting again to matter more than stories (when, during a long time, being a “democracy” or an “ally” or part of the “rules-based order” determined your place in the world). This, no doubt, is in no small way a vindication that these old 2500-year-old Chinese thinkers might have been onto something.

China Is Not Our Enemy: Campaign Action Series Kick Off Webinar x.com/i/broadcasts/1…

Today we celebrate our co-founder @MsJodieEvans's courageous and tenacious commitment to peace, justice, and liberation! We 💗 you Jodie!!!

he wasn't feeling like this in china

Powerful work by Priti who has been creating embroidery for Palestine for years. Embroidery is deep in the culture of Palestine. She has chosen it to make beauty, touch hearts and deliver, tents, food and water in Gaza. ☮️💕🍉

More than 100 South Korean women forced to work as prostitutes for US soldiers stationed in the country file landmark lawsuit u.afp.com/SdEU 📸 A building slated for demolition that was once called a "monkey house", a clinic for sex workers hired to serve US soldiers

Rahm Emanuel is using his platform to push dangerous war rhetoric against China. We cannot allow another U.S. politician to drag the world into a catastrophic war on account of US hegemony. Demand he stop stoking war with China! codepink.org/rahmchina

China just published its annual Report on Human Rights Violations in the United States. The U.S. constantly tells China what to do and how to do it, so it's only fair China gives some advice back! A short 🧵 of the human rights low-lights in the Land of the Free last year...

Okinawa: Occupation & Resistance Webinar x.com/i/broadcasts/1…

What a fun conversation about cultivating a Culture of Peace for the future of life. Thanks Redneck Gone Green team! ✌️💗🍉

Dana Burton discusses Western misperceptions of China, including air pollution and policy making. #ChinaIsNotOurEnemy

Code Pink's Rising Star, Megan Russell on Tom Cotton's Ignorance about China 2. China is 5,000 years old. 3. You have to travel to China to understand China. 5. China didn’t ruin our economy—we did. 7. China doesn’t want to go to war. Full Article Here: codepink.org/7thingscotton

US proxy wars on Russia & Iran are a purposeful attempt to prevent a potential anti-hegemonic China-Russia-Iran coalition. This quote is from former US National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski: