A cluster of Democratic Socialists of America activists has publicly lined up behind Communist China, pledging to “support” and “defend” the regime as Beijing appears to be finding a warm audience inside the political orbit of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, as reported by The New York Post.

The pledge comes through Friends of Socialist China, a London-based organization that says 952 people have signed on to “support the People’s Republic of China and to promote understanding of Chinese socialism.”

According to reporting by The Post, eleven people who identify as DSA members or members of the DSA International Committee are among the signatories. They pledged to “resolve to support, defend and build understanding of Chinese socialism.”

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That is not exactly a subtle position. It is one thing for the socialist crowd to complain about rent, billionaires, and the usual villains in their political cartoon version of America.

It is another thing entirely to openly cheerlead a communist state known for censorship, repression, surveillance, and crushing dissent. But for some on the far left, that apparently counts as inspiration.

The pledge declares that “the global advance to socialism is indispensable if humanity is to survive and to flourish.” It also claims capitalism is “totally incapable of solving the problems of poverty and inequality” and is “ inextricably linked with war, empire, racism, misogyny, alienation, and environmental destruction.”

That is quite a list, and conveniently it leaves out the familiar track record of communist experiments. History has a way of getting very inconvenient when the revolutionaries start selling the brochure.

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The document then asks, “Why China?” before answering its own question with the kind of ideological language that sounds like it was printed fresh from a party office.

“We support all states building or aspiring to socialism, and we favour the highest level of unity and friendship between them. We foreground China in particular because its size and level of development give it an objectively critical role in the global transition to socialism.”

The pledge also praises China as “the most prominent force pushing for the establishment of a multipolar system of international relations and a new international economic order.” It further calls China “a global leader in the struggle to avoid climate breakdown.”

Then comes the big line. “As such, the continued survival of Chinese socialism is a crucial matter not only for the Chinese people but for all humanity.”

For Americans watching the modern left drift from bad economic ideas into open admiration for authoritarian systems, none of this should feel shocking anymore. Still, the casual comfort with China among some socialist activists deserves serious attention.

The Post previously reported that the DSA launched a monthly seminar last year about “modern China and lessons for US socialists.” That series reportedly came as interest in the Chinese Communist Party was rising within the organization.

During the first seminar, participants reportedly floated the claim that China has a “strong democracy.” There was, apparently, no real focus on China’s tight restrictions on speech, political opposition, or the basic liberties Americans are still old-fashioned enough to value.

A few weeks before that seminar series began, a DSA delegation of five people traveled to Beijing to mark China’s 80th anniversary of victory against Japan. New York City DSA member Dee Knight wrote that the scene included Russian President Vladimir Putin, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

“Beijing buzzed with excitement,” Knight wrote. That sentence tells voters plenty about the mindset at work here.

Newsweek also obtained DSA meeting minutes dating back to 2021 showing members discussing repeated trips to China to meet with Chinese Communist Party officials. The conversations were reportedly framed under the banner of anti-imperialism, a favorite slogan for excusing almost anything as long as America is cast as the villain.

To be fair, not everyone inside the DSA appears thrilled about the romance with Beijing. The minutes reportedly show internal disagreement over how close the organization should get to the authoritarian communist power.

“This isn’t what I signed up for, and I imagine it’s not what a majority of members signed up for,” one outraged member of the DSA’s International Committee said during a meeting.

“There’s no way you can be a part of the organization and promote the things they’re doing.”

That dissent is notable because it suggests even some socialists understand the political and moral disaster of embracing Beijing. The problem is that the louder ideological faction seems determined to treat China not as a cautionary tale, but as a model.

The DSA did not respond to The Post’s request for comment. Silence is an interesting strategy when members of your movement are publicly pledging to defend Chinese socialism.

For voters in New York and across the country, this is not some fringe academic debate tucked away in a campus lounge. These are activists tied to a movement with growing influence in urban Democratic politics, including the political ecosystem around Mamdani.

The American left keeps insisting its socialism is friendly, democratic, and perfectly harmless. Then its activists keep admiring regimes that jail dissidents, police speech, and crush individual freedom.

At some point, voters are allowed to believe what they see. When radicals tell you their global socialist dreams run through Communist China, maybe take them seriously the first time.

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