What the Chinese strikes signify about its class character and Political Revolution?

The deepening of workers struggles against Foreign Capital in China; domestic Capitalists; and Stalinist Bureaucrats confirm is a degenerate workers' state and requires a Political Revolution which will have social consequences. If Capitalism had been restored in China the workers social weight would have rapidly declined with tens of millions being driven into lumpen conditions as it would have destroyed the productive forces which predominance of central planning has brought about.


Capitalist restoration would require a historic defeat for Chinese workers because to close down the majority of Chinese industries is necessary to run them on a profitable basis. When sections of the Bureuacracy made concessions to foreign capital during the mid-to-late 1980s millions of workers were laid off. This is why millions supported the 1989 student struggle for democratic rights at Tiananmen Square. Once the Bureaucracy had crushed the students and workers they slowed down redundancies in nationalised industries and moved more resources away from Capitalist firms. This was done to reduce revolutionary threats to their rule and reinforce those Bureaucrats who wanted more resources to nationalised industries/sectors. During 1994 sections of the Bureaucracy pulled back when workers stopped simlar redundancies attempted by state banks cutting back funds to nationalised industries. Imperialism for years has called for Chinese state owned banks to pull the plug on what they saw as unprofiitable industries.


The massive expansion of China's economy has created hundreds of millions of workers which will ultinately threaten Stalinism's contiuned rule by their revolutionary moves in direction of Political Revolution. Due to the Chinese workers' state going forward workers are feeling confident to challenge foreign capital. Workers want the same wages and conditions that exist in nationalised industries. Trotskyists support workers struggles against foreign capital. We raise our Transitional demands for these foreign owned enterprises to be nationalised under workers control.


Despite promising possibilities of Political Revolution beginning to break out in struggles against Stalinism within Eastern Europe during 1989 the concillationist Bureaucratic elements to Imperialism who utilised those upheavals to gain power demoralised the masses by increasing their pillage over them and began to allow Capitalist inroads. In East Germany the beginning of a move into the direction of Political Revolution was turned into a social counter-revolution destroying that workers' state through German reunification in 1990. According to Mandel there was more unemployment in ex-East Germany due to Capitalist restoration than there was in the early 1930s within Germany.


As Mandel argued that the key gains for workers in Eastern Europe was winning democratic rights which are essential to resis Bureaucratic pillage and Capitalist inroads. Trotsky has been vindicated when he wrote "The Revolution Betrayed" and "In Defence of Marxism" that the Stalinist Bureaucracies would during their implosion and decay lead to absolute chaos in Russia. This is what is still happening in Eastern Europe. Bureaucratic pillage and chaos is one thing, Capitalist restoration is a separate process. It is true there have been massive Capitalist inroads into Eastern Europe. That only exists due to being accepted by certain Stalinist Bureaucrats. Capitalist inroads have made Eastern Europe's crisis worse. Under the law of Uneven and Combined Developmen there can be elements of previous modes of production subordinate to Bureaucratic pillage. Only the Political Revolution can halt the decay of Eastern Europe. Russia has been slightly different from Eastern Europe during 2000 to 2008 because with moves back to investing more into nationalised industries/public services that economy started to recover. Even in Russia the Bureaucracy is torn apart by several warring factions who lead to chaos.


Trotskyists call for the Chinese factory committees to be extended across all industries and services. This begins a process of Political Revolution with social consequences because it deepens the struggles against foreign capital; domestic Capitalists; and Stalinist Bureaucrats. To deepen the struggle against Stalinism Trotskyists call for the factory committees to run the nationalised workplaces by kicking out the Bureaucrats. The next stage oof struggle is to fight for the workers and users of public services to set up committees to wage a struggle on every aspect of social life. These struggles by Chinese workers are part of a rise in world revolution.


June 9th 2010.