u/AllHeilWilson - originally from r/GenZhou
I am soon participating in a local seminar discussing whether China is a socialist country or a newly emerging imperialist power. I expect Neo-trotskyist presence to be extremely strong. Their main argument is (predicted to be) as follows:

1. Chinese revolution is not a proletarian revolution, but a national liberation movement led by the non-comprador, national bourgeoisie (Their evidence is that Mao emphasized the Chinese people and his theory of the people’s state outlined in “On the People’s Democracy” contains ideas of bourgeois nationalism)
2. Citing Isabella Weber’s “How China avoided Shock Therapy”, that China supposedly appropriated surplus value from the country-side, exploiting the peasantry and thereby supporting state capitalism under Mao’s rule
3. China is not a socialist country, but a state capitalist one (Whatever that means)
4. Repression of sexual/ethnic minorities (the “Uyghur Genocide”…)
5. Export oriented strategy underscores China’s subservience to the global neocolonial system (Its participation in UN peacekeeping campaigns are attempts at extending its military arm to enforce value transfer into China (!)
6. China’s Belt and Road initiative as an expression of its desire to export finance capital abroad
7. Exploitation of the domestic working class

To be clear, they already understand that US and western imperialism is the leading force of imperialism in the world today. They support the DPRK (whilst denouncing it as a state capitalist country) against US aggression.

Their theoretical line is somewhat similar to the Socialist Worker’s Party in the UK: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialist_Workers_Party_(UK)

https://socialistworker.co.uk/art/52023/Chinas+champions+of+state+capitalism

https://socialistworker.co.uk/art/49999/Imperialist+rivalries+heighten+the+crisis

Please help me out here. They are very sectarian and will bite at anyone who dares to deviate even slightly from their theoretical line. The dominance of their theoretical line will be detrimental for the local movement here. Please provide me with some evidence against their claims. Concrete data (e.g. – calculation of value transfer from Africa to China etc) is always welcome.