Here is the second paragraph of Hu Jintaos speech as printed in the Jan. 2, 2008, China Daily:MarxismLeninism reveals the universal laws governing the development of history of human society. It analyzes the contradictions inherent in the capitalist system that it is incapable of resolving internally and shows that socialist society will inevitably replace capitalist society and ultimately develop into communist society.The belief that China is not just after war, but is after a new world, a global China, may inspire some Chinese. According to MarxismLeninism, Chinas world war will not be fought to enslave or exterminate enemies, but to liberate them (hence the Peoples Liberation Army), to make them part of a new worlda global Chinese paradise. [ ]
(F)rom China, I have recently heard The International. Marxism-Leninism is fully alive for domestic consumption in China together with its International so full of military globalism, ruthless bigotry, and self-righteous fanaticism.
Marxism–Leninism reveals the universal laws governing the development of history of human society. It analyzes the contradictions inherent in the capitalist system that it is incapable of resolving internally and shows that socialist society will inevitably replace capitalist society and ultimately develop into communist society. …
We have a more Marxist economy than China. A Chinese family that doesn't work is one that doesn't eat. The welfare state is well-nigh non-existent there.
The party brass need to continue talking up the rhetoric of communism because it's the foundation of their right to rule. The moment the Party formally repudiates Marxism on a de jure (as opposed to merely de facto) basis is the day the Chinese hoi polloi start asking what all that suffering was about and start demanding an accounting, starting with trials for living members of the cohort of party members with blood on their hands. Upon which the Party faces a potential Ceausescu moment, complete with the mass killings of ancien regime members characteristic of Chinese dynastic transitions.
Marxism-Leninism has nothing to do with trade barriers. The Japanese and Koreans have more barriers to American goods than the Chinese. On a per capita basis, Japan and Korea run bigger trade surpluses with the US, in spite of the fact that the Chinese have incomes 1/7 and 1/4 of the Japanese and Korean numbers, respectively. American auto manufacturers own 1/3 of the Chinese market. They are a rounding error in the Japanese one, and a nit in the Korean* one. Most American manufacturers are relatively satisfied with their access to the Chinese market relative to Japan and South Korea, whose governments protect their keiretsu and chaebol conglomerates with the fervor of a lioness defending her cubs. Walmart is the 3rd largest retailer in China. It's an also-ran in Japan, and non-existent in Korea, despite a game attempt at overcoming Korean barriers.
* For a while, the Korean government directed its tax department to obtain lists of buyers of American cars from dealers in order to run tax audits on them. This was merely the tip of the iceberg. The Korean government systematically persecuted Lone Star Funds, a US private equity player that rescued a Korean bank, and attempted to make them cough up their profits. On a commercial basis, the Japanese and the Koreans are hard asses whose relationship with the US is probably worse than the least amicable of the European countries. The only reason these people give us the time of the day is because we give them a free ride on defense and let them nickel and dime us on trade. If they weren't treaty allies, I'd say they're right on the border between friend and enemy.
As a long-time watcher of the full spectrum of American policy relationships, my impression that our only true friends (as opposed to mere allies who show up cup in hand when they're in trouble) are the ABCA members and the nations of Western Europe. The rest are just hangers-on.