Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

I express my solidarity and that of International Socialist Alternative with the young protestors in China. In the face of police repression, thousands of young people are protesting against the dictatorship of Xi Jinping by holding up blank A4 sheets of paper, as I am now doing. They are demanding freedom of speech, an end to a rigid and extreme Covid policy and democratic rights. China's capitalist dictatorship is facing its most serious challenge in more than 30 years. One of the groups that is trying to co-ordinate international solidarity, Chinaworker.info, reports that the revolt began with a workers' protest at the world's largest iPhone factory. I agree with the group's argument that a general strike of workers and students would be the most powerful weapon available in the context of protest. Here in the West, capitalist governments have been keen to a fight a new cold war. Socialists stand for a class war against the capitalists, east and west. Will the Taoiseach voice support for the Chinese protests and for the solidarity protests planned at embassies internationally?

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