Tom
Nathan Newman wrote:
> I agree that Becker's speech was pretty revolting but to summarize the
> rally with the worst speech is pretty distorting. I'd agree the whole
> thing was more nationalist than I'd like, but your whole post ignores the
> denunciations of "predatory capitalists" and the betrayal of workers by
> the "capitalist" and "market system." For those who dislike Clinton,
> there were strong denunciations of him and the Republican leadership
> selling out the working class of America and of the world.
>
> The focus of most speeches were on the ways human rights and workers
> rights are suppressed in China, with a pretty good argument repeated by
> multiple speakers that human rights in China have not improved since
> Tiammen in 1989, despite promises that more trade rather than sanctions
> was the best route to dealing with human rights abuses.
>
> The Chinese regime may not be the enemy of the US government or of US
> business, but it is acting like the enemy of its own workers and of the US
> working class. Some may not feel that the rally denounced the US
> government enough (although they did), but why so many people are so
> forgiving of the Chinese regime's mass jailing of labor activists is
> beyond me.
>
> Rakesh has his complicated argument that the capitalists, who actually
> are for ending the yearly review of China's MFN status, benefit from that
> yearly review. I don't buy his argument, but it's worth emphasizing that
> all the labor leaders were demanding is that the US continue to have a
> yearly review of China's human rights and workers rights record. They
> were not demanding new sanctions against China or the end of trade. All
> they were demanding is a yearly vote in Congress where they have a chance
> to raise these concerns and maintain pressure on China.
>
> Those who are opposing the position of the AFL-CIO, Friends of the Earth,
> and its various other allies on this issue are basically arguing that it
> is better to have less democracy, less debate and less grassroots say over
> our trade relations. I am all for pushing for a less nationalist line out
> of the AFL-CIO, although they also had plenty to say about debt relief and
> support for workers globally, but a lot of people seem to be siding with
> the big corporations in wanting for that reason to shut the labor unions
> up by preventing the MFN vote each year.
>
> -- Nathan Newman
>
> =======================================
>
> The anti-China rally yesterday has to stand as a low point in US labor
> history. It is appalling to see the likes of Buchanan, Sanders, Sweeney,
> Becker, Hoffa et. al. denounce China as a rogue nation and declare America
> as the only country that can drag the poor third world into the light of
> democracy and freedom. Most disturbing to me was Becker's speech praising
> the American soldiers who fought China during the Korean War and surround
> China now. He of course didn't mention the bases in Okinawa and Korea
> where these forward deployed soldiers are stationed - bases that rob the
> Okinawan people of their land and human rights and have been used in Korea
> to back evil military regimes that in the name of anti-communism
> suppressed Korean human and labor rights until the Korean people
> themselves (with no help from the US or American labor) got rid of the
> generals. The massive US intervention in Korea in 1950 (rooted in the Cold
> War meddlings in Korea of the late 1940s) rejuvenated the!
> !
> !
> Japanese economy, brought back the right-wing Japanese war criminals to
> power and solidified a US-Japanese military alliance that persists to this
> day and has coddled dictators like Ferdinand Marcos, Park Chung Hee, Chun
> Doo Hwan, Suharto and too many others to mention. Is the AFL now going to
> back the Clinton-Republican proposals to create an anti-missile defense
> against China, wasting trillions of dollars? Why not - after all, Becker
> denounced China's nuclear missiles and its support for North Korea. Are
> they going to continue backing the deployment of 100,000 US troops in Asia
> forever, as the Clinton administration has done? China has serious human
> rights problems but is NOT our enemy as many of the leading lights in the
> Republican party and the CIA seem to believe. This kind of rally appeals
> to the most base anti-communist, anti-Asian instincts in America. Why not
> get John McCain on the stage to blast 'the gooks'? I'm sure that would get
> a rousing cheer just as Buchanan's!
> !
> !
> sneering reference to Chinese chopsticks did. I grew up in Japan and
> Korea during the Cold War. I saw first hand the terrible impact of
> American militarism, particularly on Korea, and that experience changed my
> life and brought me into a life of activism starting with opposition to
> the Vietnam War in 1965. This China rally yesterday could have taken place
> 50 years ago. To those who think the revolution has arrived (and some
> comments on this list in recent days make that assumption) please take
> your rose colored glasses off. This is scary stuff.