Asia

Pakistan is in danger of defaulting on its payments on foreign debt. It is one of the weak links in the world chain of capitalism. The PPP in government is buckling under the pressure of the capitalists and landlords and is failing to solve any of the fundamental problems facing the masses. In these conditions the role of the Marxists in providing an alternative becomes key.

Communism is suddenly back in fashion in Japan. The reason is not hard to find. 'Lifetime employment' is a thing of the past for young workers, whoface a casualised and insecure future. They have already worked out that, as recession bites, they will be first in the firing line. They are drawing political conclusions in increasing numbers.

Here we provide a day-by-day chronology of how the dispute at Graziano Trasmissioni started and developed over a period of months. What emerges the brutal treatment of workers and the terrible wages and working conditions they have had to suffer. This report is based on an interview with two workers at Graziano Trasmissioni.

The news that a manager at Graziano, an Italian multinational company, had been lynched recently made the rounds of the world media. Here we provide the facts as provided by the workers in India themselves, which shows that the workers were not responsible. They are being blamed as a tactic to break the workers’ struggle. They need the support and solidarity of workers of all countries.

China's urbanization process has reached a critical juncture, inequality between town and country is producing explosive revolts surrounding the cities. The problem of how to contain these revolts is at the core of policy making and is reflected in conflicts inside the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party.

A British Army brigadier recently admitted what we said long ago on the pages of this website: a military victory over the Taliban was “neither feasible nor supportable”. Neither side is winning and this is pushing the more realistic and serious minded strategists of capital to look at other solutions, a deal of some kind. Meanwhile the ordinary people continue to suffer.

From a situation where there was universal healthcare for the whole population, China has become one of the most unequal countries in the world when it come to access to healthcare. The answer to the growing healthcare problems that the leaders of the so-called Communist Party have come up with is more private healthcare!

The scandal of adulterated milk in China continues to spread. Initially they tried to say it was one company and one top manager, and then they discovered that 22 companies were applying the same criminal practices. At least four babies have died as a result and 50,000 made ill. It is not this or that individual that is to blame. It is the profit motive!

The recent tainted milk scandal in China is widening, as more and more irregularities are uncovered. With the introduction of the market come “market methods”, even if this means putting at risk children’s lives.

Protests against US imperialist attempt for military coup against Hugo Chavez were held in 23 cities of Pakistan on Sunday called by the Hands Off Venezuela Campaign and IMT. Protestors raised slogans in support of Hugo Chavez and Evo Morales and against US Imperialism.

In theory, Europe should be a major world power with considerable leverage over Russia and yet the September 1st EU summit on Georgia produced nothing except for clouds of hot air, revealing the complete impotence of "Europe". Meanwhile, the war will have a serious influence on both the domestic politics and foreign relations of Russia for years to come, and will also exacerbate the already festering national question in the region.

After September 11, 2001 the American people were psychologically prepared for a more aggressive foreign policy, severe restrictions on their civil liberties, increased powers of state repression and a further boost to military spending. But seven years later a radically different picture presents itself. Gone is the old confidence of the imperialists.

In the last five months of the new PPP-led coalition government the workers and the already impoverished masses have gone through social and economic suffering yet unforeseen in the chequered history of Pakistan. Under the rule of a rotten, corrupt and degenerate bourgeoisie, Pakistan is now sliding towards the abyss of barbarism. The victory of socialism is now the only solution for this crisis-stricken nation.