Coordinators: Mike Wong and Michael Kramer
Contact: vfpchinaworkinggroup@veteransforpeace.org
Please check out our YouTube channel, "Veterans For Peace with China": https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeGeu_-CIkVXn6s5YMrm83A
Mission:
As members of Veterans For Peace, a humanitarian and educational organization dedicated to the abolishment of war, we seek to apply the commitments in our VFP Statement of Purpose to China, namely:
- To increase public awareness of the causes and costs of war;
- To restrain our governments from intervening, overtly or covertly, in the internal affairs of other nations;
- To end the arms race and to reduce and eventually eliminate nuclear weapons;
- To seek justice for veterans and victims of war;
- To abolish war as an instrument of national policy.
More concretely, our China Working Group will address the following areas:
- Serve a watchdog function for the bi-partisan Congressional Executive Commission on China and other government agencies that spread disinformation about China.
- Consult with our VFP UN representative on issues related to our Resolution on the Pivot to Peace with China and the World.
- Serve an educational function by providing position papers, flyers, speakers, articles, editorials, press releases, webinars, public forums and other materials on China for distribution to our members and the general public.
- Work with peace, justice, and other groups in the Chinese American and other communities on issues pertaining to China
Our group is open to all VFP members who share the concerns expressed in our Mission Statement. You do not need not have any special qualifications or experience, merely a special interest in China and a desire to participate. Many of our members have expertise and experiences to share.
Xinjiang: A personal perspective by Fernando Munoz Bernal.
高舉和平的退午軍人 是一個遍布全美 及歐，亞，拉丁美洲的組織。它有
數千名的退午軍人及其盟友，有活動份子，人道主義者和教育工作者。現時 監於美國對中國發動起冷戰。我們成立了特別工作小組。這就是中國工作小組
中國工作小組的重要任務如下 :
1) 監察美國兩黨國會与行政應對中國的各項政策 ，包括美國與中國經貿，國防審查委員會及各個美政府發放有關中國的假消息
2) 高舉和平的退伍軍人在聯合國的代表
將會與中國工作小組 為与中國共同和平發展而努力。
3) 有教育大眾 的功能 ， 將會發表聲明，新聞稿 ，傳單，社論，組織網路研討會 , 及組織 演講者 ，公衆研討會等等。會採取多種渠道。廣泛的向公眾發放推動與中國和平合作的運動 。
4) 與有和平和正义目標的在美華人及其他團體共同工作， 推動公正客觀的報導 中國。
Webinars
China and Climate Change
In 2020, China pledged to become carbon neutral by 2060, and already has more solar panels, wind parks, and electric vehicles than any other nation. China also has a history of accomplishing its stated economic goals ahead of schedule, such as its unprecedented peaceful economic rise. Please see these brief reports:
2020 - Wall Street Journal analysis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGQQ8fyWJi4
2024 - The Wall Street Journal - China’s Carbon Emissions Are Set to Decline Years Earlier Than Expected (This gets around the paywall): https://archive.ph/VGlWB
China holds the world’s climate future in its hands: https://johnmenadue.com/china-holds-the-worlds-climate-future-in-its-hands/
China is building a truly ecological civilisation - Carlos Martinez: https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/f/china-building-truly-ecological-civilisation
The Veterans for Peace (VFP) China Working Group is also reposting this link to a 2021 statement from the VFP Climate Crisis & Militarism Project, which we support: Veterans for Peace Objects to Militarism in “Eagle Act” and “U.S. Innovation and Competition Act of 2021”
Veterans For Peace National Resolutions on China:
Resolution 2020-2: Pivot to Peace with China and the World(Passed - Yes: 439, No: 7)
WHEREAS, Veterans For Peace is a global organization of Military Veterans and allies dedicated to building a culture of peace by using our experiences to inform the public of the true causes and enormous costs of wars, seeking to heal the wounds of wars, and working to end all wars and hostilities between nations, and
WHEREAS, the so-called Pivot to Asia of 2011 was in fact a pivot toward war and confrontation that that identified China as a competitor and adversary, carrying with it the threat of nuclear war, and
WHEREAS, this dangerous policy has created palpable feelings of fear, animosity and even hatred not only toward the People’s Republic of China but toward Chinese people in general and Chinese-American citizens and other Asian peoples in the United States, and
WHEREAS, humanity now faces multiple crises which threaten the well-being and very survival of our species, crises which demand the cooperation of the two largest and most powerful countries, China and the United States,
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT VETERANS FOR PEACE urges the government of the United States to reject escalation towards global conflict and instead pursue peace, non-intervention, and cooperation with China and the rest of the world.
Submitted by: Eugene Ruyle, VFP Member Co-Sponsored by: VFP Chapter 20 and VFP Chapter 69
Resolution 2022-01: U.S. Hands Off Taiwan and the South China Sea
Election Results: Passed
Approve: 696 (89.69%)
Disapprove: 80 (10.31%)
Abstain: 130
WHEREAS, Taiwan and the South China Sea represent a key area where U.S. policy is likely to lead to nuclear war, whether by design or mistake, and
WHEREAS, the de facto government of Taiwan calls itself the Republic of China but is not officially recognized by the United Nations, the United States, Canada, Australia, NATO, nor over 90% of UN members. It exists solely because of the early military support by the U.S. before and after 1949, continuing to the present in various forms. U.S. arms sales to Taiwan in 2020 alone amounted to $5 billion, and
WHEREAS, in the Shanghai Communiqué of 1972, President Nixon and Chairman Mao agreed that there is only one China and Taiwan is a part of China, and
WHEREAS, the time when the U.S. Navy patrolled the Yangtze River is over. The Eurocentric idea that Asian nations require the United States to defend them has no place in the Twenty First Century, and
WHEREAS, the People's Republic of China does not now, nor has it ever, threatened the territorial security or people's well-being of the U.S., NATO, or any other country allied to the United States,
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT VETERANS FOR PEACE urges the government of the United States to withdraw all military and naval forces from the Straits of Taiwan and the South China Sea,
re-examine U.S. arms sales to the ROC in Taiwan, and remember that the resolution of the status of Taiwan is the internal affair of the Chinese on both sides of the Taiwan Straits into which the United States has no right to intervene.
NOTE: This resolution does not endorse any political party within the PRC nor any internal policy of the PRC, nor does it favor China over any other Asian nation. Our resolution simply grows out of a central part of our mission: to restrain our government from intervening overtly or covertly in the internal affairs of other nations.
Submitted by Eugene E. Ruyle, VFP Chapter 162 – East Bay
Co-Sponsored by:
VFP Chapter 21 – North New Jersey
VFP Chapter 35 – Spokane
VFP Chapter 69 – San Francisco
VFP China Working Group