'Only those imperialists' view China as a threat

Only for countries that want to control the world's resources and markets is China a threat to their position, said Joti Brar, the vice-chairman of the Communist Party of Great Britain (Marxist-Leninist).

Brar said leaders in some countries have been spreading the notion of a "China threat" because they want to control markets. Such leaders want to ensure their countries keep the revenue from trade that would have flowed to competitors.

China allows free trade between countries and even offers much better terms to poor countries than do China's critics.

With the promotion of the Belt and Road Initiative since 2013, the Chinese government has signed nearly 200 agreements with countries and international organizations, covering financial and infrastructure cooperation, in order to build a global community for a shared future.

It is a global strategy aimed at ensuring all parties gain real benefits. Even poor regions can benefit from the initiative, helping the people in these countries, Brar said.

"China offers much better terms to poor countries than the imperialists offer. So it's been able to edge the imperialist powers out of some of the places where they have considered it their right to be. So they don't like that."

China has implemented a program focusing on poverty reduction and the improvement of public welfare in Africa and East Asia. It is actively helping countries in the Mekong River basin to tackle severe drought by releasing emergency water supplies. It is also providing technological aid for flood control in Thailand and Myanmar.

Brar sees the BRI as making a great contribution to the creation of a multipolar world, one in which people across the world can embark on a life "that isn't controlled by imperialism".

In response to the economic and trade actions that the US imposed has imposed on China since March 2018, the Chinese government has taken forceful measures to defend the interests of the nation and its people, she said.

"The responses that China has made during this period of tension are aimed entirely at protecting itself," Brar said. "And China's ability to defend its interests, to defend its people, is important for the rest of the world."

Recently, the economic conflict between China and the United States has shown some signs of easing. US President Donald Trump on Sept 11 said the US will delay plans to increase tariffs on $250 billion of Chinese goods. In response, China has announced two tariff exclusion lists for some US imports.

Since the economic and trade consultations began in February 2018, they have come a long way, with the two sides agreeing on most parts of a deal. But the talks have had their share of setbacks, Brar said.

Brar, as one of the key members in the CPGB-ML, said the party must always cherish China's revolution. "We cherish all of the achievements that China has made," she said. "We cherish the New China that the Chinese people have built. They built it themselves, rather than by exploiting the rest of the world in doing so."