Covid-19 outbreaks have seen major cities become virtual ghost towns for different lengths of time. 

In Australia the worst effected has been Melbourne in the last two months. However other capital cities in Australia have not returned to pre – Covid-19 levels of activity and people.

The announcement that the Trump administration was increasing arms sales to Taiwan has resulted in further diplomatic tensions with China.

The recent US diplomatic stand-off with China has focused on several regional flashpoints, with the South China Seas being a central concern. The relationship of Taiwan to the South China Seas and their own strategic territorial claims has, however, been quietly pushed down US agendas to avoid unfavourable publicity.

Lukashenko’s bourgeois-reactionary, authoritarian ruling regime in Belarus also using open terror is characterized by detachment and alienation from the masses of the Belarusian people and is justifiably and massively losing popularity. Many citizens believe that it committed violations of democratic procedures and massive election fraud in the August 9 presidential elections. This provoked protests from opposition supporters, claiming the victory of their candidate Tsikhanovskaya. Tsikhanosvskaya is promoted by bourgeois forces.The ...

An escalation of US-led diplomatic tensions toward China in the Asia-Pacific region has seen one aggressive foreign policy initiative launched after another.

Regional allies have already been drawn closer to the US through military alliances. In the lead-up to US presidential elections in November, diplomatic tensions toward China have escalated.

US imperialism’s agents of influence in Australia are whipping up a new Cold War-style hysteria against their imperialist rival China. They are responsible for promoting anti-Chinese racism which threatens all Australians of East Asian and South East Asian origin.
They are creating an atmosphere in which it seems like we are already at war with China, and if we are not careful, we will be.

The wildfires raging in parts of the USA are a reminder of the bushfire crisis in Australia last season.  We have sent the following message of solidarity to US workers:

Rivalry between the long-dominant US imperialism and the rising Chinese imperialism is intensifying.

The US is marshalling its forces and its allies and proxies to resist Chinese encroachment on US dominance. It is upgrading and focusing its military resources and strategies, and roping in allies such as Japan, Australia, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states, and working to entice India into that fold. It has also unleashed an intensifying ideological and ...

Much loved communist, Betty Little-O’Shea, died on August 10. Up to the time of her death at the age of 97 Betty devoted a lifetime of service to working people and the struggle for an independent and socialist Australia.  

The updating of a bilateral security treaty between Australia and Papua New Guinea shows the systematic strengthening of neo-colonial ties for new Cold War diplomatic positions.

The position of Australia has followed US-led regional foreign policy, specifically designed to counter the rise of China. The position taken by Canberra, furthermore, contains a number of dangers which include the likelihood of being drawn into real-war scenarios as diplomatic tensions between the ...

While the nation’s attention is fixed on the Covid-19 pandemic, matters of great environmental significance are being conveniently overlooked.
Just a week ago, the government gagged debate in the House of Representatives on its Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Amendment (Streamlining Environmental Approvals) Bill 2020. 
The Bill is part of its attack on so-called “green tape” which its mining and agri-business backers accuse of delaying project approvals and requiring duplication ...

On September 3 2020 the American Medical Association journal published joint findings by American and Chinese researchers regarding the airborne transmission of Covid 19. 
NSW Health Department also contributed to the findings through analysis of an outbreak of Covid 19 in Randwick in Sydney.

The present drama being played out in the Philippines has revealed the hidden hands of the US-led political forces and their push for presidential power in elections scheduled for 2022. It forms part of a wider US strategy to engage countries as allies across the region in an anti-China coalition; the Philippine drama rests upon Pentagon planning to re-include the country in US regional military and security provision. Australia has ...

The posting of the September online edition of our paper Vanguard on our Facebook page elicited comments from two readers both questioning the way in which we organise.
Founded 56 years ago, our Party has always adhered to what we have called the “iceberg principle”: A few members are seen and open about their membership to allow the organisation to be accessible to the working class, while the membership of ...

SEPTEMBER 2020 VANGUARD EDITORIAL: There is an understandable concern about anti-worker attacks that are being demanded by employer groups as a new, post-pandemic, “normal”.

Then too, there are widespread concerns about the sorts of threats to democratic rights that are put forward by the likes of Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton.

The mass media encourage us to focus on this or that politician, on this or that industry spokesperson as ...

The outbreaks of Covid-19 in Melbourne and Sydney have put residential hotels in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. 

Large corporate owned hotel groups such as Travel Lodge, Rydges, Hyatt and Pullman have been used by arrangements with state governments to quarantine people for 14 day periods or longer in an effort to contain the Covid-19 virus. 

Lebanon has been a land of tears and struggles! In October 2019, starting with the uprising on 17th October a movement built up in Beirut against the government politics. It called for building an independent and democratic Lebanon. It also contains a majority of forces who are opposed to the politics of the USA and Zionist Israel and almost all other imperialist and regional powers which are trying to destabilize ...

The recent visit by a leading Japanese politician to a controversial war-shrine was a calculated and timed attempt to appease the far-right in forthcoming elections in the country and to rally support across the wider region, particularly in South Korea (ROK).

The official visit took place amid wave after wave of US-led militarism, with Japan being the major hub for 'US interests' in the northern part of the region. It ...

Round 13 of the Australian Football League (AFL) from 21 August marked the Indigenous Round of the "Aussie Rules" football season in 2020. 

The game at the top league level has featured many outstanding footballers, especially from the 1960s to present times. Since the 1990s the AFL was taken over by corporate interests with games programmed to maximize the interests of corporate advertising around the grounds, on players’ clothing and ...

Imperialism, the modern system of threat and counter-threat, is depriving people all around the world of funds that could alleviate poverty, provide for better health and education, and help save the planet from global warming and environmental destruction.
Threats and counter-threats are the stuff of holding onto spheres of influence, of areas for investment, of markets for goods and for the cheapest sources of available labour. They are also the ...

The arrival of three US B-2 planes at Diego Garcia reveal a Trump administration preoccupation with Island Chain Theory (ICT) and Taiwan; they are desperate to reassert traditional regional hegemonic positions.

The development has also revealed the strategic importance of Australia for US regional foreign policy with sensitive intelligence facilities.