Fownhope’s Heart of Oak Society traces its roots to the age of friendly societies, when communities provided their own safety net. Its anniversary celebrations reveal a tradition still very much alive, says MARK SEDDON
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Taiwan is the key to understanding China’s claims to the South China Sea
If you think China’s claims in the South China Sea are irrational, think again: the problem for Britain and the US is that the wrong side won the Chinese civil war. KEITH LAMB examines the historical contradictions at play
Tensions are rising between China and the US, with Britain too now trying to rekindle its past imperial prowess. But utter hypocrisy by the so-called defenders of the free world is never far behind
ANGUS REID explains the significance of Cuba’s egalitarian in letter and spirit Family Code and the pertinent lessons it holds for democracies anywhere in the world
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NICK WRIGHT considers how the isolation of Israel and a new film on the controversial Italian communist leader are creating new reference points for Italy’s left
CARLOS MARTINEZ says Cuba’s achievements in the face of a criminal blockade are startling, but the island’s future if the United States succeeds in crushing it looks bleak
AMNON BROWNFIELD STEIN reports that far-right MPs who mobbed the event organised by Hadash may have helped raise awareness of the brutality of the Israeli right
BRITAIN: do we never learn? We always have a righteous cause to defend, a reason for sending our ships to far-flung corners of the Earth.
The slave trade was justified as a benevolent venture to save Africans from their own savagery — and besides, they would be looked after. They would, so it was rationalised, enjoy a better quality of life than the British proletariat stuck in factories and mines.
China, of course, was not spared by the British navy, suffering two opium wars and the seizure of Hong Kong in the name of free trade.
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STEPHEN BELL reports from a delegation that traced the steps of China’s socialist revolution from its first modest meetings to the Red Army’s epic 9,000km battle to create the modern nation that today defies every capitalist assumption
From 35,000 troops in Talisman Sabre war games to HMS Spey provocations in the Taiwan Strait, Labour continues Tory militarisation — all while claiming to uphold ‘one China’ diplomatic agreements from 1972, reports KENNY COYLE
