Yu Weihai and Shu Huiqian: Exploration and Latest Developments in the International Maoist Movement's Unification
Influenced by the "Mao Zedong craze" of the 1960s, a group of political parties emerged across various countries taking Mao Zedong Thought or Maoism as their guiding ideology. These parties attach great importance to Mao Zedong’s contributions to the development of Marxism, identify with the theory of the New Democratic Revolution [1], and adhere to the principle of violent revolution. In the ensuing decades, these Maoist parties held high the banner of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism, engaging in tenacious struggles to explore and realize socialism. On a global scale, upholding internationalism, opposing international monopoly capitalism and imperialism, and promoting the development of world revolution are also goals pursued diligently by Maoist parties. Since the 1980s, world Maoist parties have undergone several rounds of explorations toward unification, forming a certain momentum of aggregation. However, these efforts toward international solidarity and union were undermined by various factors, leading to the successive dissolution of two important unified organizations: the Revolutionary Internationalist Movement (RIM) and the International Conference of Marxist-Leninist Parties and Organizations (International Newsletter) [ICMLPO (IN)]. To restore and strengthen the union among Maoist parties, more than ten Maoist parties, after a period of deliberation and preparation, established a new international Maoist organization—the International Communist League (ICL)—on December 26, 2022, the 129th anniversary of Mao Zedong’s birth. The founding of the ICL is a significant event in the international Maoist movement and the latest result of the long-term efforts toward unification by world Maoist parties. Tracking and researching this event is of practical significance for grasping the latest trends in the international Maoist movement and assessing the role of Maoist parties within the current international communist movement.
I. Early Overview of World Maoist Parties and Their Unification efforts
Since the 1980s, world Maoist parties can roughly be divided into three categories: first, Maoist parties engaged in armed struggle, such as the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), the Communist Party of India (Maoist) [CPI (Maoist)], the Communist Party of Turkey/Marxist-Leninist (TKP/ML), and the Communist Party of Peru (Shining Path); second, numerous Maoist parties still active in many parts of the world that have not yet launched armed struggles but persist in taking Marxism-Leninism-Maoism or Marxism-Leninism-Mao Zedong Thought as their guiding ideology; third, Maoist parties that once carried out armed struggles but later pivoted to the parliamentary road, such as the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist). Maoist parties in various countries have made multiple attempts at unification, successively producing two major international organizations: the Revolutionary Internationalist Movement founded in 1984, and the International Conference of Marxist-Leninist Parties and Organizations (International Newsletter) founded in 1998.
(1) Maoist Parties: The Mainstay Forces in the World Maoist Movement
Due to the nature of Maoist party activities, it is difficult to fully account for the exact number of such parties worldwide. Viewed as a whole, foreign Maoist parties are characterized by their large number but relatively weak political and social influence. Among them, the Maoist parties already engaged in armed struggle, such as the CPP, CPI (Maoist), and TKP/ML, are the important forces of the current international Maoist movement. The Communist Party of the Philippines is active in most provinces across the Philippines; its membership has grown from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands. The New People’s Army (NPA) operates on more than 110 guerrilla fronts across 73 provinces, covering 18 regions of the Philippines, and has established regional operational commands in 17 regions, possessing over 5,600 high-powered rifles. The influence of the CPI (Maoist) has declined to some extent but remains active. According to 2019 and 2020 data, 80% of CPI (Maoist) activities were concentrated in only four states—Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, and Maharashtra—with its scope and degree of activity being much smaller than before. 2021 data showed that the CPI (Maoist)’s sphere of influence had contracted to 41 districts, a significant decrease from 96 districts across 10 first-level administrative regions in 2010. In 2023, Maoist forces in Odisha were greatly weakened; almost all high-level leaders, including Gajarla Ravi (alias Uday), fled to the safer state of Chhattisgarh. On April 16, 2024, at least 29 Maoist fighters were martyred during a clearance operation by the Chhattisgarh government targeting the CPI (Maoist) in the Kanker region. In April 2024, the TKP/ML marked the 52nd anniversary of its founding. Over the past 52 years, thousands of its members have been wounded in armed struggles or imprisoned by the government, yet the party continues to adhere to the line of armed struggle and violent revolution.
Several Maoist parties that have not yet launched armed struggles are mainly distributed in Europe and Latin America, including the Marxist-Leninist Party of Germany (MLPD), the Maoist Communist Party (Spain), the Communist (Maoist) Party of Afghanistan, the Communist Party of Australia (Marxist-Leninist), the Revolutionary Communist Party of Canada [PCR-RCP] (dissolved in November 2021), the Communist Party of Ecuador – Red Sun, and the Maoist Communist Party of Italy. Most of these Maoist parties are relatively weak with small memberships, though the MLPD possesses a certain degree of influence. Founded in 1982 with Marxism-Leninism-Mao Zedong Thought as its guiding ideology, the MLPD has established contact points in over 450 German cities and publishes its official organ, Rote Fahne (Red Flag). In the 2017 German federal election, it received over 30,000 votes (0.1%), nearly a tenfold increase compared to its 1994 vote count.
(2) Major Early Unified Organizations of Maoist Parties
Since the 1980s, Maoist parties have made several attempts to establish international organizations. In 1980, the first International Conference of Marxist-Leninist Parties and Organizations was convened, after which the Declaration to the Marxist-Leninists, the Working Class, and the Oppressed Peoples of the Whole World was issued, signed by 13 parties and organizations. In March 1984, at the second International Conference, the Revolutionary Internationalist Movement (RIM) was officially proclaimed, with 19 Maoist parties and organizations from 13 countries joining; the Communist Party of Peru (Shining Path), the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA, and the Communist Party of Nepal (Masal) were key members. The Shining Path adopted Maoism as its guiding ideology in 1982, defining "Marxism as founded by Marx, Leninism as founded by Lenin, and Maoism as founded by Mao Zedong as the first, second, and third stages of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism respectively." The Shining Path subsequently promoted this idea within the RIM. On December 26, 1993, the RIM officially declared in its document Long Live Marxism-Leninism-Maoism! that "Maoism is the third stage of the development of Marxism, a higher and newer stage of Marxism." This expression, "Maoism," differed from the term "Mao Zedong Thought" used at the organization's inception, further clarifying the contribution of "Mao Zedong's qualitative development of Marxism-Leninism." The RIM took violent revolution as the means to transform capitalism and seize political power, utilized democratic centralism as its organizational principle, and emphasized that all parties within the organization should be equal rather than subordinate to the leadership of a "center party." From its founding until its dissolution, the RIM continuously provided guidance and solidarity to the revolutionary struggles of its member parties, critiqued voices within the Shining Path calling for the abandonment of revolution, and long supported the revolutionary movement of the CPN (Maoist). Due to deepening line deviations between the CPN (Maoist), the RCP USA, and the RIM, the organization dissolved in 2006.
In 1998, under the organization and promotion of the MLPD, the International Conference of Marxist-Leninist Parties and Organizations (International Newsletter) was established. With Marxism-Leninism-Mao Zedong Thought as its guiding ideology, it convened conferences every two or three years. Attendance often reached over 20 member parties, with the seventh conference in 2004 attended by as many as 29 parties. In 2017, the ICMLPO (IN) and the International Coordination of Revolutionary Parties and Organizations (ICOR) jointly held an international seminar in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the victory of the October Revolution. That same year, the ICMLPO (IN) was dissolved.
In 2010, ICOR was established, attracting numerous Maoist parties through its principles of proletarian revolution. Although the organization’s internal ideology is heterogeneous—Maoist parties comprise only a portion of its 60 members, such as the MLPD, the Maoist Communist Party (Colombia), and the Russian Maoist Party (RMP)—it remains an "important platform for promoting communication, exchange, and cooperation among Maoist parties in the world today."
In addition to these major unified organizations, Maoist parties have also established or participated in other international or regional unified organizations and mechanisms, such as the Coordination Committee of Maoist Parties and Organizations of South Asia (CCOMPOSA), the International Communist Seminar, and the International Seminar on Mao and People's War. These unified organizations and mechanisms played a certain role in strengthening the unity and union of Maoist parties; however, most became unsustainable due to excessive internal divisions. Some parties played a vital role in the establishment and development of these organizations, and changes within those parties themselves would, in turn, affect or even dictate the development of the unified organizations.
(3) Main Substance of the Unification Efforts of Maoist Parties
The establishment of Maoist international organizations laid the foundation for advancing the development and unification of the Maoist movement. Since the establishment of the Revolutionary Internationalist Movement in the 1980s, Maoist parties have launched a series of international unified actions. Entering the 21st century, these Maoist parties have continued to carry out various forms of unification movements, such as issuing joint statements on International Workers' Day (May Day) to analyze the world situation and the developmental state of capitalism, organizing commemorative activities and mobilization efforts on important anniversaries of the International Communist Movement, and convening regional and international conferences. Furthermore, Maoist parties have opened new media fronts, utilizing the internet to build platforms for communication and exchange, and establishing "debate forum" sections in an effort to eliminate differences and forge consensus.
First, the issuance of major joint statements, including May Day joint statements, Women's Day joint statements, joint statements commemorating important events in the history of the International Communist Movement, and joint statements regarding major international events and hot-button issues. Since 2012, Maoist parties have issued a May Day joint statement every year, with dozens of parties and organizations signing each time; in 2016, as many as 30 Maoist organizations participated. The 2022 May Day joint statement analyzed the objective situation and subjective conditions of the world revolution, emphasizing that Maoist parties should strengthen their unity: "The objective conditions for revolution are gradually maturing, and the subjective conditions are being actively prepared. Therefore, communists—that is, the Marxist-Leninist-Maoists of today—must shoulder the tasks set before them in the new situation... and march toward the establishment of a new international organization of the proletariat." The statement was translated into multiple languages and disseminated by various parties within their respective countries. The May Day joint statements have greatly enhanced the cohesion of international Maoist parties and have become a banner for the unified action of international Maoist parties in recent years. Maoist parties recognized that under the new situation, it was necessary to hold an Unified International Maoist Conference to begin the formation of a new international proletarian organization.
Maoist parties use the issuance of joint statements to commemorate important anniversaries in the International Communist Movement. On key historical occasions—such as the 100th anniversary of the victory of the October Revolution, the 200th anniversary of the birth of Marx, the 200th anniversary of the birth of Engels, the 150th anniversary of the birth of Lenin, and the deaths of Abimael Guzmán Reynoso [2] and Jose Maria Sison [3]—many Maoist parties issued joint statements of commemoration. These statements analyze the international situation, explore the modes and methods of socialist revolution, and express a firm belief in the realization of socialism. For example, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the victory of the October Revolution in 2017, nine Maoist parties, including the Communist Party of Peru (Shining Path), issued a joint statement titled "100th Anniversary of the October Revolution: Everything is an Illusion Except Power!" They argued that unity should be strengthened, revolutionary violence upheld, and the struggle against the opportunist line maintained. They further noted that the October Revolution should not be viewed merely as a revolution "within the scope of one country"; it was first and foremost international and global, marking the fundamental transition of human history from the old capitalist world to the new socialist world. Such joint statements issued by Maoist parties not only summarized major historical experiences of the International Communist Movement and expanded the influence of Maoist parties, but the joint statements themselves also functioned as an important form of achieving new international unity, objectively promoting the unification of the Maoist movement.
Maoist parties also use joint statements to analyze the latest changes in the world situation and expound upon the concept of "people’s war"—that is, the building of armed forces under the leadership of the Communist Party that integrate the united front, production, and propaganda within base areas, using people’s war to lead national liberation movements and proletarian revolutionary struggles. In 2019, several Maoist parties issued a joint statement boycotting the European Parliament elections, proposing the slogan "Revolution, Not Elections." In early 2022, several Maoist parties again issued a joint statement focusing on and supporting the protest movement in Kazakhstan, arguing that the imperialist plunder of Kazakhstan’s natural gas and mineral resources led to the deterioration of the domestic masses' lives, and proposing the launch of "people’s war" to achieve the ultimate goal of the armed seizure of political power.
Second, the convening of regional and international conferences. In the past decade, Maoist parties have held multiple regional and international conferences, issuing joint statements and conference resolutions to analyze new changes in the world situation and calling for strengthened unity among Maoist parties. For instance, the "Resolution of the Seventh Meeting of European Marxist-Leninist-Maoist Parties and Organizations," adopted in 2021, pointed out: "The new situation makes us understand that we are one class with a common banner and a common ideology... there is an urgent need to establish a new international organization of the proletariat, and it is necessary to convene an Unified International Maoist Conference to achieve this goal." In August 2022, ten Maoist parties and organizations held an international anti-imperialist conference. The main topics of the meeting included the formation of an anti-imperialist front, the defense of the right to national self-determination, and support for the anti-imperialist struggles of various countries.
Third, the handling of differences and promotion of unity through public debate. In January 2022, the Coordinating Committee for the Unified International Maoist Conference (CUMIC) officially released the "Proposal on Issues Worth Debating within the Current International Communist Movement and its Political Line," inviting all Marxist-Leninist-Maoist parties to offer supplements and feedback. The goal was to reach an ideological consensus for the convening of the First Unified Maoist Conference and the establishment of the International Communist League on December 26, 2022. Multiple Maoist parties participated in this Grand Discussion, debating a series of formulations and contents within the proposal. For example, the Communist Workers Union (mlm) of Colombia opposed the formulation that "Maoism" occupies the primary position within "Marxism-Leninism-Maoism," arguing that this contradicts the principles of the continuity, development, and integrity of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism. The Communist Party of Turkey/Marxist-Leninist disagreed with the analysis of basic world contradictions in the proposal, arguing that the proposal’s general categorization of the current world’s three major contradictions ignored the specific conditions of various countries and hindered the proletariat of different nations from independently assessing their own revolutionary processes. The CUMIC maintained that such debates, based on the principle of "unity-struggle-unity" [4], were productive because "current differences are the starting point for the emergence of new unity."
II. Theoretical Propositions and Development Overview of the International Communist League
On December 26, 2022, on the occasion of the 129th anniversary of Mao Zedong’s birth, through the unified efforts of multiple Maoist parties, the Unified International Maoist Conference was successfully held. The International Communist League (ICL) was proclaimed established at this meeting, with 15 Marxist-Leninist-Maoist parties and organizations from over 10 countries joining the organization. The member parties are mainly distributed across Europe and Latin America.
(1) Theoretical Propositions and Goals of the International Communist League
The ICL expounded the reasons for its establishment and its theoretical propositions from two perspectives: changes in the objective situation and the subjective conditions of party organization. The ICL believes that the current general crisis of imperialism and the rise of the wave of world proletarian revolution constitute the realistic basis for establishing a unified international organization. Under the scientific guidance of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism, the establishment of the ICL will greatly strengthen the links between Maoist parties and promote the development of the world socialist movement.
- Imperialism is currently in a state of general crisis Various documents of the ICL point out that imperialism is currently mired in an increasingly serious general crisis. Widespread poverty, frequent wars and conflicts, environmental destruction, and social decadence are all specific manifestations of the intensification of this general crisis. The ICL believes that the moribund and decadent nature of imperialism has greatly deepened: "Imperialism is on its last legs, intensifying the exploitation and oppression of the working class and the masses, attempting to re-divide oppressed nations in preparation for an imperialist world war... these are all manifestations of imperialism falling into a deep political crisis. The world situation is complex, and all basic contradictions, especially the contradiction between imperialism and oppressed peoples and nations, are intensifying."
The ICL points out that the intensification of the three main contradictions in the current world is the source of the general crisis of imperialism. The first contradiction is between imperialist superpowers and powers and the oppressed nations; this is the primary contradiction among the three. The world is divided into a majority of oppressed nations and a minority of imperialist countries, with the United States as the sole hegemonic superpower. Imperialist countries transfer world crises to oppressed nations through military threats and economic colonization, legitimizing their interests through various "agreements" and "peace accords." Therefore, the ICL believes that the vast number of oppressed nations in Asia, Africa, and Latin America constitute the base of the world proletarian revolution. The second contradiction is between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat, present in all countries of the world. In oppressed nations, this contradiction manifests as the contradiction between the proletariat and the bureaucratic-comprador bourgeoisie [5]: "These semi-feudal and semi-colonial countries have correspondingly developed bureaucratic capitalism and its corresponding political and cultural ideologies, which exploit the proletariat, the peasantry, and the petty bourgeoisie while fettering the national bourgeoisie, systematically hindering the development of these countries." In imperialist countries, "the contradiction between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat within imperialist countries, as well as all other contradictions, are intensifying." After the 2008 international financial crisis, in order to achieve economic recovery, imperialist states over-exploited their own proletariats while using chauvinistic and racist policies to divide the proletariat into local and migrant workers, attempting to destroy and prevent the unity of the working class. The third contradiction is among the imperialist countries themselves. The ICL believes that among imperialist countries, competition is absolute and alliance is relative. As the world's sole hegemonic superpower, the United States uses a "divide and rule" strategy to deal with other imperialist countries, while other second-rate imperialist countries also harbor ambitions to develop into new superpowers, competing with the US for world hegemony to re-divide the world.
- The establishment of the International Communist League will promote the wave of world proletarian revolution The ICL believes that a wave of proletarian revolution is rising in the world today, and the world is entering a new revolutionary period: "The international communist movement and the national liberation movement are experiencing a decisively important moment; the turning point between revolutionary struggle and counter-revolutionary struggle is approaching, and a new period of world proletarian revolution is arriving." Regarding the specific manifestations of the proletarian revolutionary wave, the ICL believes that under the leadership of Maoist parties, armed struggles are being carried out in four countries—India, Peru, Turkey, and the Philippines—while various struggles and resistance movements are surging in other countries. "In oppressed nations, peasant movements continue to develop on a large scale. In areas where the proletariat plays a leading role, the peasants' role as the main force in the anti-imperialist, anti-feudal, and anti-bureaucratic-capitalist New Democratic Revolution is very evident. With the ongoing Palestinian national resistance movement, the Palestinian struggle for freedom and self-determination has not only entered a new stage, but its spirit of struggle has also inspired anti-imperialist struggles worldwide."
Based on the judgment of the rising world proletarian struggle and revolutionary wave, the ICL believes that the urgent task is to promote and lead the wave of world proletarian revolution—that is, to implement the political line of Maoist parties, ignite the sparks of revolution in various countries, and launch people's wars to advance the current world's proletarian struggle and revolution, thereby realizing socialism and communism.
- Marxism-Leninism-Maoism is the guiding ideology and guide to action for revolution and struggle
The International Communist League (ICL) maintains that Marxism-Leninism-Maoism is the guiding ideology for the struggles of Maoist parties and a manual for action to advance the new revolution. "We communists have three great swords—our founder Marx, the great Lenin, and Chairman Mao Zedong. Our great task is to uphold, defend, and apply Marxism-Leninism-Maoism as the guiding ideology and manual for action for the world revolution." The ICL posits that Marx and Engels expounded the philosophical principles of dialectical materialism, systematically analyzed the characteristics, operations, and laws of development of capitalism, and revealed the scientific theory that capitalism must inevitably be replaced by communism. Lenin proposed the theory of a new type of party under violent arms, asserting that the proletariat must establish an organized vanguard to complete its primary task of changing the world. Mao Zedong proposed theories such as "political power grows out of the barrel of a gun" and the "three magic weapons" [6] of revolution—the united front, armed struggle, and Party building—the core of which is Party building.
- The unification of Maoist parties will overcome the fragmented state of the International Communist Movement The ICL believes that the newly established international organization has its own historical mission, and its founding is the result of over forty years of continuous attempts to unite and overcome divisions since the founding of the Revolutionary Internationalist Movement (RIM) [7]. As a fighting tool for the international proletariat and all the oppressed exploited by imperialism, the formation of the ICL will allow Maoists to once again advance as a "single world army." Only through unification can the solidarity of communists worldwide be won and the historical mission of Maoists be completed—namely, "the historical mission of the proletariat, under the leadership of the Communist Party, acting as the gravediggers of the bourgeoisie along with all bureaucratic capital and feudal forces," ultimately realizing socialism and communism.
The ICL points out that the primary problem currently facing the international communist movement is that its forces are too dispersed. It argues that only through struggle can this fragmentation be overcome, thereby promoting the unification of Maoists. To overcome this dispersion, the ICL proposes that there must be a struggle against revisionism, using struggle to promote unity and advance the international communist movement.
(2) Major Practical Activities of the International Communist League Since its inception, the ICL has held hundreds of celebrations and demonstrations in more than 20 countries, issued over a dozen declarations and resolutions, and launched multiple solidarity actions. Compared to the evolution of the Maoist movement since the start of the 21st century, the ICL has made significant progress in planning and coordination. The frequency of its activities has increased markedly. Through organizing solidarity campaigns, conducting a series of commemorative actions and demonstrations, and issuing joint declarations, it has built a new international platform for the development of the Maoist movement.
Regarding celebrations and demonstrations, on the occasion of the 129th anniversary of Mao Zedong’s birth and the founding of the ICL, Maoist parties in over 20 countries organized activities including flag-raising, hanging banners, posting posters, distributing leaflets, and holding large-scale displays. For instance, the Communist Party of Turkey/Marxist-Leninist (TKP/ML) and others distributed the ICL’s "Political Declaration and Principles" to the masses during the January 2023 LLL demonstration [8]. On December 26, 2023, the 130th anniversary of Mao Zedong’s birth, the ICL called on member parties to hold various forms of commemorative activities. In Colombia, over 150 representatives from more than ten countries responded to the ICL’s call, participating in commemorations where they collectively studied Mao Zedong’s works and emphasized the contemporary relevance of the Theory of New Democratic Revolution [9]. Maoist participants in the United States, Germany, Brazil, and Denmark took part in a series of offline commemorations, painting and posting posters on major city streets; multiple Maoist media outlets promoted and reported on these events. In April 2024, as part of the 130th-anniversary commemorations, Umut Publishing in Turkey held an International Maoist Seminar, reading "messages from the ICL and comrades from Spain, India, and imprisoned guerrillas."
Regarding declarations, the ICL issued a 2023 International Workers' Day joint statement, noting that the establishment of the new international organization was a significant leap: "The formation of the new organization of the international proletariat is a significant and far-reaching leap realized in the process of our struggle to reconstruct the Communist International. We stand unswervingly united under the banner of Maoism and have begun to gradually halt the fragmentation of the international communist movement." On May Day 2024, the ICL issued another joint statement, claiming that the comprehensive crisis of imperialism has intensified all fundamental contradictions in the world. It stated that a revolutionary situation is brewing worldwide and that contradictions between imperialists will ultimately lead to the outbreak of a world war. This sharpening of contradictions has triggered a new wave of anti-imperialist movements and a high tide of struggle supporting the international proletariat, oppressed peoples, and nations, reaching new levels in frequency, scope, and scale.
Furthermore, the ICL launched solidarity actions for the Palestinian people, calling on progressive organizations worldwide to mobilize the masses to support the Palestinian national resistance movement and urging "all Communist parties and organizations, all democratic and revolutionary organizations to broadly mobilize the masses to defend the armed struggle of the Palestinian national resistance."
III. Analysis and Evaluation of the International Communist League The establishment of the International Communist League is a major event in the Maoist movement and the latest result of decades of efforts to unify international Maoist forces. Therefore, its founding and subsequent theoretical and practical explorations hold significant international importance.
First, the ICL is a vanguard and important force in the global struggle against imperialism and hegemonism. The ICL takes a clear stand against imperialist forces represented by the United States, considering the U.S. the world's only hegemonic superpower. It argues that current global tensions are caused by U.S. imperialists' plans for aggressive war. By forming alliances with Germany, France, and Britain, and through colonial penetration in oppressed regions, the establishment of global military bases, launching wars, and manufacturing regional political conflicts, the U.S. is held responsible for tensions everywhere. Simultaneously, the organization believes imperialist powers continue to oppress their own people, striving to support war and expand military spending while ignoring domestic economic decline, high inflation, and poverty. Consequently, even before its formal establishment, international Maoist parties held anti-imperialist conferences and issued numerous declarations, uniting and mobilizing parties to prepare and grow their strength to face the threat of war.
Second, the ICL plays an important role in strengthening the solidarity of international Maoist parties. As the "changes unseen in a century" accelerate, Maoist parties have shown a new trend toward unification, "invisibly condensing into a 'socialist community' around the world, collectively lighting the 'spark' [10] of the contemporary international communist movement." Adhering to the principles of "unity-struggle-unity" and "criticism and self-criticism" [11], the ICL promotes and consolidates international solidarity through meetings, activities, forums, and debates. Although the individual member parties are relatively small, by establishing a league of over ten parties and concentrating their voices, they have amplified the momentum of the Maoist movement. "The founding of the ICL is a 'major peak in the effort to overcome the split among communists and unite under the banner of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism over the past 40-plus years,'" and it "will change the face of the world proletarian revolution."
Finally, the founding and rise of the ICL will further enrich the struggle practices of the contemporary international communist movement. Today, the guiding ideologies of foreign Communist parties differ significantly, resulting in various types of parties guided by Marxism, Leninism, MLM, Trotskyism, or Hoxhaism, which makes the international movement more fragmented and diverse. As a Maoist-type organization, the ICL believes that "imperialism is moribund" and a "wave of world proletarian revolution is imminent." It proposes the theory of People's War and organizes national liberation movements and proletarian revolutionary struggles. While many Communist parties have abandoned this revolutionary line, the Maoist movement and the ICL have reunified this consensus, pointing out a path for the contemporary movement that differs from the parliamentary electoral path taken by most parties in European and American capitalist countries, thereby facilitating the multi-dimensional development of the international movement.
At the same time, it must be noted that in the two years since its founding, the ICL has also exposed several problems, such as erroneous perceptions and evaluations of China, internal sectarian tendencies and disagreements, and the idealization and hollowness of its theoretical propositions. These are chronic ailments within the Maoist movement, and their negative impacts warrant vigilance.
First, the ICL holds erroneous perceptions of the current state of world socialism. It denies the practical achievements of various countries in independently exploring the Sinicization and modernization of Marxism, mistakenly believing that no socialist countries exist today. Clearly, this understanding does not conform to objective reality and violates the general principles of scientific socialism. It rigidly and dogmatically applies the assertions of classic Marxist writers, failing to advance with the times by integrating Marxism with actual conditions, and denies the efforts and great achievements of socialist countries in independently exploring socialist paths.
Second, sectarian tendencies exist, and the effectiveness of unification remains to be improved. In handling relations with various Maoist parties, the ICL exhibits sectarian leanings. Before its founding, its political declaration was submitted as a proposal for discussion and revision. Parties such as the Communist Party of Nepal (Revolutionary Maoist), the Revolutionary Communist Party of Canada, and the Communist Party of Afghanistan (Maoist) held differing opinions and did not agree with certain expressions and theoretical claims. Furthermore, the founding of the ICL triggered a split in the Communist Association of Sweden (Kommunistiska Föreningens). In November 2022, the newly formed Communist Workers' Union split from the Association due to opposition to the ICL, claiming that "Gonzaloites" [12] held a dominant position within the ICL and that the organization essentially follows a "Left" revisionist line, undermining the unity of the international communist movement. Even today, several Maoist parties that have not joined the ICL continue to believe it has sectarian tendencies, arguing its members represent only a fraction of Maoist viewpoints.
Since its founding, the ICL has issued multiple declarations calling for MLM parties and organizations to join. However, the number of member parties has not increased over the past two years. Influential parties like the Communist Party of India (Maoist) and the Communist Party of the Philippines have chosen not to join. The "International Coordination of Revolutionary Parties and Organizations" (ICOR) also has significant theoretical differences with the ICL. The road toward a "Great Union" of world Maoist parties remains fraught with difficulties.
Finally, the idealization and hollowness of its theoretical propositions make it difficult to adapt to the national conditions of various countries. At present, the strength of most Maoist parties remains relatively weak, and the theoretical blueprint drawn prematurely by the International Communist League (ICL) for these parties does not correspond to their respective national realities. For example, the ICL maintains that people’s war is the only path to revolution, believing that regardless of the stage of development in which a country finds itself, it should advance the struggle through the means of people’s war. However, the ICL has failed to clarify the specific strategies and programs of people’s war, failed to explain how to carry out people’s war in developed capitalist countries, and failed to conduct a "concrete analysis of concrete conditions" [13] regarding the situation in each nation. The Communist Party of India (Maoist) believes that "all propositions regarding people’s war are only applicable to semi-colonial and semi-feudal societies in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, and are not applicable to developed capitalist countries; if imposed on the Maoist parties of all countries, it will not only fail to benefit the ICL but will instead become an obstacle to its future development." The Communist Party of the Philippines considers the establishment of the ICL to be untimely and argues it will stifle the independent exploration by various countries of Marxist developmental paths suited to their own national conditions: "We do not currently see the conditions for establishing an international central organization that assumes the role of the vanguard of the world proletariat... We believe that the most urgent task currently facing Communist parties and communist organizations around the world is to apply Marxism-Leninism-Maoism to conduct class analysis and social investigation [14] of the different conditions in each country in order to formulate specific development strategies and tactics... However, subordinating oneself to a specific international central organization will counterproductively cause various parties and organizations to lose their independence and initiative in carrying out revolutionary work."
(Author affiliations: Center for the Study of Foreign Marxist Parties, Central China Normal University; School of Politics and International Relations, Central China Normal University) Web Editor: Zhang Jian Source: World Socialism Studies, No. 2, 2025.