His Party Just Pledged to “Defend” China. Where Does He Stand?
A New York Post report published this week found that about a dozen self-described Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) members have signed a public pledge to “support” and “defend” the People's Republic of China.
The pledge, organized by a London-based group called Friends of Socialist China, has more than 900 signatories worldwide and argues that “the continued survival of Chinese socialism is a crucial matter” not just for China, but for “all humanity.”
The DSA members who signed didn't do so quietly.
The pledge frames capitalism as the root of war, poverty, and environmental destruction, and casts China as a leading force for a “multipolar” alternative to American influence.
DSA meeting minutes obtained separately by Newsweek show members have taken repeated trips to Beijing to meet with Chinese Communist Party officials, including one delegation that traveled to China last year to celebrate the 80th anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II, an event also attended by Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong Un, and Narendra Modi.
Not every DSA member is on board. Internal meeting notes show some pushback inside the organization.
That internal fight matters here in Nevada, because Vinny Spotleson, the Democratic candidate for Assembly District 41, has publicly confirmed he's a dues-paying member of the Las Vegas chapter of the DSA.
He said so himself last month – on the Fourth of July no less.
To be clear, there's no evidence Spotleson personally signed the China pledge or took part in any DSA trip to Beijing. Nothing in his public record connects him to that specific effort.
But he has told voters he's a dues-paying member in good standing of a national organization where this kind of activity is happening openly enough that it made international news, and where members of DSA's own leadership are reportedly uncomfortable with how far it's gone.
That raises a fair question for a candidate asking Nevada voters to send him to Carson City.
Does he know what factions and causes his dues support?
Has he seen the pledge, the seminar series DSA has run on “lessons for US socialists” drawn from modern China, or the internal debate happening inside his own organization?
And if he hasn't taken a position on any of it, why not, given how directly it touches the organization he's chosen to publicly stand behind?
Spotleson has been quick to answer questions about his DSA membership when he's been asked before. Nevada voters deserve the same directness on this one.
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