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“Sovereignty, independence and new international relations are the key demands of our times and represent the main trend of the present epoch, despite the obstruction and last-ditch resistance of the imperialist and hegemonic forces,” states Keith Bennett in a speech to an international seminar on the occasion of the 76th Anniversary of the Foundation of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

A delegation of the Academy of Marxism of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences recently visited London, and on 1 September, a meeting was held between the delegation and the Secretary of the Institute’s Xi Jinping Study Group.

“Since fairly early in the past century, … the most advanced revolutionary theory largely emanates from the Global South”, Keith Bennett pointed out, citing the work of Mao Zedong, Amilcar Cabral, Xi Jinping, and others, at the launch of a book published by Iskra Press by the Iraqi communist Ibrahim Allawi at the Marx Memorial library on 21 August 2024.

80 guests thronged London’s newly-opened Palestine House on Saturday 3 August to celebrate Keith Bennett’s 66th birthday, including representatives of socialist countries and of progressive organisations and other comrades and friends.

On behalf of all those in Britain who uphold the ideal of independence of countries, nations and peoples, the Institute has sent a message extending heartfelt congratulations to President Maduro, and through him to the Venezuelan people as a whole, on his re-election as President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

Despite these almost nine months of genocidal aggression, imperialism and Zionism have only tasted the bitter fruits of defeat. Of unprecedented international isolation and an absence of any lasting results on the battlefield.

In an article entitled “The Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence have only become more relevant and necessary”, Keith Bennett reviews the historic significance of the principles signed in Bandung in 1954 on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of their signing.

Speaking at an international webinar on the theme of ‘Black Liberation and People’s China: Rediscovering a History of Transcontinental Solidarity’, Institute Patron Keith Bennett spoke on the historic significance of the visit to China by Dr W E B Du Bois, on the occasion of its 65th anniversary.

Speech by Keith Bennett to a meeting of the Brighton Morning Star Readers and Supporters Group on March 24.

President Xi Jinping’s three major Global Initiatives, on Development, Security and Civilization respectively, set out China’s view of the world as it should be, and the West should gain a better understanding of them, states Keith Bennett in an interview in China Daily.

Speaking on behalf of Friends of Socialist China at a symposium at China’s London Embassy, Keith Bennett outlined Xi Jinping’s concept of the ‘two integrations’, showing that it is underlines and reinforces the position of Xi Jinping Thought as Marxism for the twenty-first century.

In an article for China Today, Keith Bennett writes: “British people from all walks of life and backgrounds have been increasingly taking Chinese New Year to their hearts. It has become part of our culture and calendar. This is one more reminder that Cold War hostility and bellicosity do not represent the interests of the people of any country and are therefore destined to fail.”

“By letting the pictures do the talking, Ford does much to humanise the DPRK and its people, and in so doing refutes much of the lurid conjecture and racial stereotyping that all too often passes for reporting on or analysis of the country”, writes Keith Bennett in an article for the Morning Star.

“President Xi Jinping’s New Year address presents a profound, comprehensive and touching panorama and survey of China’s present situation, achievements and perspectives”, writes Institute Patron Keith Bennett in a comment featured by China Daily today.

Writing in Beijing Daily online, Keith Bennett comments that the ‘clash of civilisations’ concept “provides an intellectual and ideological fig leaf for the weaponisation of immigration, Islamophobia, a new cold war, and wars of aggression against countries of the Global South.”

On 17 December 2023, Friends of Socialist China (FOSC) held a meeting in London to celebrate the rapid advance of their work during the past year. Presiding over the event were the organisation’s Co-Editors, Institute Patron Keith Bennett and Carlos Martinez. Attending the event were individuals, supporters and representatives of many organisations. A report on the work of FOSC in 2023 was delivered by Keith Bennett.

On 29 November 2023, Institute Patron Keith Bennett delivered a speech to the 13th World Socialism Forum hosted by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing.

Contrary to a recent BBC comment that China is in a “vulnerable negotiating position” in its relationship with the US, it is actually the US which is increasingly isolated internationally, argues Keith Bennett in an article in Morning Star.

In his concluding speech to an international webinar marking ten years of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, Keith Bennett, speaking on behalf of Friends of Socialist China, who co-hosted the event, shows how the BRI represents the 21st century inheritance and expression of the long history of Marxist theory and practice, marking a new stage when “today it is becoming a material force that is progressively uniting and mobilizing the majority of humanity”.

In an article published in China Daily, Keith Bennett greets the recent meeting on the BRI, noting that it is in the interests of “countries and peoples with whom China has shared weal and woe for many decades, going back to the days of mutual national liberation struggles against colonialism and imperialism and for independence”. The British government’s disdain for the initiative is all the more reprehensible in that it rejects cooperation with China that could benefit the interests of Britain’s own decaying infrastructure.

On 23 September 2023 a meeting was held in London to commemorate Comrade Tongogara (born Danny Morrell), who passed away on 11 May 2023. Institute Patron Keith Bennett delivered a speech in which he paid tribute to Comrade Tongogara’s lifelong dedication to the cause of socialist anti-imperialism. Institute Director Hugh Goodacre also addressed the meeting.

On September 20, Institute Patron Keith Bennett addressed the 2023 China-Europe Seminar on Human Rights, which was co-hosted by the China Society for Human Rights Studies (CSHRS) and the Faculty of Law at Sapienza University of Rome in Italy.

On 3 September 2023 Institute Patron Keith Bennett addressed an international seminar on “Independence, sovereignty and social development” which took place in Rome to mark the 75th birthday of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, under the sponsorship of the DPRK and the International Institute of the Juche Idea (IIJI).

Speaking on behalf of the organisation Friends of Socialist China, Institute Patron Keith Bennett made a speech at the London Embassy of the People’s Republic of China on 22 August 2023, at a symposium on the theme “The Communist Party of China and the Building of a Community with a Shared Future for Mankind”.

On 6 July 2023, Institute Patron Keith Bennett, who is Vice Chairman of the 48 Group Club, was among those attending a reception to mark the 70th anniversary of the “Icebreakers” visit of business people to China.

“Humanity has a history of civilization dating back millennia. Civilizations arose and developed on different continents and at different times. But they prospered and innovated through mutual exchanges and mutual learning. The ancient Silk Road, which began in China, is one of the greatest examples of this.”

On 30 May 2023 Keith Bennett chaired a panel discussion among on the Global Security Initiative (GSI) put forward by President Xi Jinping hosted by the Society for Anglo-Chinese Understanding (SACU), an organisation of which he has been a member for 45 years, and was at one time a staff member.

“China’s path to modernisation is fundamentally different from the path pursued in former eras by countries in Western Europe, the US and Japan. It is a path towards common prosperity for all…”, states Keith Bennett in an interview by People’s Daily.

“Conditions are maturing for the final defeat of neo-colonialism”, said Keith Bennett, in a speech he delivered on behalf of Friends of Socialist China to a Global Conference on Multipolarity jointly convened by organizations from China, Türkiye, Russia, Brazil and elsewhere.

On Thursday 27 April 2023 Keith Bennett delivered a speech at an event at the Marx Memorial Library, London, on the occasion of the launch of the book Capitalism, Coronavirus and War: a geopolitical economy, by Professor Radhika Desai.

On 15 April 2023 Institute Patron Keith Bennett delivered a speech at a meeting to celebrate the 111th anniversary of the birth of the great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung and other important anniversaries, including the 45th anniversary of the founding of the International Institute of the Juche Idea (IIJI). The meeting was convened by veteran Juche advocate, Dr Dermot Hudson.

In a paper delivered to the Valdai Discussion Club on 16 February, Institute Patron stated that the struggle against neo-colonialism is a central question of contemporary global politics, and can only be finally resolved through the creation of a truly multipolar world.

Institute Patron Keith Bennett and Director Hugh Goodacre send messages of condolence to the comrades and friends of the Indian communist politician and trade unionist Suneet Chopra, who has passed away on 4 April, stating that he will be deeply mourned not only in India, but also in Britain, where he was a well-known student activist during the 1960s and early 1970s.

“Imperialist triumphalism in 2023 will prove to be short-lived.” So writes Institute Patron Keith Bennett in a New Year article for the Turkish newspaper Aydinlik, in which he illustrates the further disintegration of the old world order dominated by US-led imperialism and the steady progression towards a new multipolar world order.

Interviewed by China Daily reporter Xing Yi, Keith Bennett assesses the current prospects for relations between Britain and China, following Rishi Sunak’s declaration that China represents a “systemic challenge” to the values and interests of the UK.

The Institute’s Patron attended the Congress of the Vatan Party in Ankara and had a wide-ranging discussions with its President Dogu Perincek.

On November something 2022, General Secretary of Vatan Party (Homeland Party) of Turkiye Ozgur Bursali met and had extensive discussions with IIS Patron Keith Bennett in London. The discussions covered a wise range of international issues. Concluding the meeting, Comrade Bursali presented an invitation to Comrade Keith to attend the forthcoming Congress of the Vatan Party in Ankara, date.

On Wednesday 25 2022, Keith Bennett, speaking on behalf of Friends of Socialist China, addressed an online meeting organised by the International Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China organised with comrades in Britain around the theme ‘My Impression: the CPC in the new era’.

At a gathering of Ivor’s family, comrades and friends to commemorate and celebrate his life, held in London after his private funeral, on July 1 2021, Keith Bennett delivered a memorial speech commemorating his lifetime of dedication to socialist internationalism.

Institute Secretary Hugh Goodacre’s talk delivered at the online meeting and dialogue between the International Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and Friends of Socialist China. 10 December 2022