Eleven members of the Democratic Socialists of America — the same organization that counts New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani among its ranks — have signed a public pledge to "support, defend and build understanding of Chinese socialism." Their names appeared on a document hosted by Friends of Socialist China, a London-based platform, alongside 952 total signatories.
The pledge calls the survival of Chinese socialism "a crucial matter."
A five-person DSA delegation traveled to Beijing in September 2025 for celebrations marking the 80th anniversary of China's victory against Japan. Internal meeting minutes from the DSA's China Working Group date back to 2021, documenting years of organized outreach to Chinese officials under the banner of "anti-imperialism."
The pledge document itself doesn't leave much room for creative interpretation. Signatories committed to backing China as "the most prominent force pushing for the establishment of a multipolar system of international relations and a new international economic order." That's diplomatic language for replacing American global leadership with Beijing's.
NYC DSA member Dee Knight offered a firsthand account of the Beijing trip that could double as a tourism brochure for authoritarian regimes. Knight described the event as "an impressive display of 'unity in multi-polarity' featuring Russian President Putin and Indian Prime Minister Modi, as well as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un." Putin, Modi, and Kim Jong Un. That's not a diplomatic summit — that's a lineup of people who don't hold free elections.
The DSA also launched a monthly seminar on "modern China and lessons for US socialists," which reportedly described China as a "strong democracy." China. Strong democracy. The country that disappeared tennis star Peng Shuai for accusing a government official of sexual assault. The country that welded apartment doors shut during COVID lockdowns. That strong democracy.
Internal communications from the China Working Group show DSA members being advised to avoid sensitive Chinese topics — specifically Taiwan invasion threats, Hong Kong's security law, and conditions in Xinjiang. So the strategy is to pledge loyalty to China's system while carefully never mentioning the parts where it crushes dissent, imprisons minorities, and threatens to invade its neighbors.
This matters beyond internal DSA drama because the DSA isn't some fringe mailing list anymore. Their most prominent member is the mayor of the largest city in the United States. DSA-endorsed candidates hold seats in Congress. Their policy positions — Medicare for All, abolishing ICE, defunding police — are now standard debate topics in Democratic primaries. When eleven members of that organization sign a document pledging to defend the political system of America's chief geopolitical rival, it stops being a curiosity and starts being a question about who these people actually work for.
The DSA's official platform calls for dismantling capitalism. The CCP's official platform calls for displacing American power. One group just signed a pledge saying they'd help the other one do it.
That's not solidarity. That's a merger.
