Labour’s persistent failure to address its electorate’s salient concerns is behind the protest vote, asserts DIANE ABBOTT
ON the afternoon of June 29, the international delegation from Britain, Ireland, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, the US, Canada and Australia flew to Beijing to stay at the state-owned and splendidly refurbished Wanshou Hotel, east of the city centre.
Our first meeting on Friday morning was with a long-standing friend, director-general of the CPC international department’s North American, Oceanian and Nordic Affairs bureau, Zhou Rongguo, his deputy Wang Yingchun and younger bureau officials.
They were keen to learn more about how people in developed Western countries live, deal with their problems and fight injustices. How are our communist parties doing, what are their prospects and those for the advance to socialism?
They also welcomed suggestions about how the Communist Party of China (CPC) might counter lies and smears. How could we improve relations between our respective peoples, avoid a new cold war, and strengthen relations between our Communist parties?
Activists from across the world gathered in China for an educational exchange where they witnessed the progress the country has made in building an ecological society and discussed the path to peaceful international relations, reports CALLUM NORRIS



