ACTION ALERT:
Rahm Emanuel: Stop Stoking War with China!
CODEPINK
(August 30, 2025) — Rahm Emanuel — former congressman, mayor of Chicago, ambassador to Japan, and White House chief of staff under Obama — has begun beating the drums for war on China leading up to the 2028 presidential election. That’s right, he is back at it again, and this time, he wants to run for president!
Like many Democrats, Emanuel uses strategic vocabulary to push for U.S. imperialism in the Pacific to counter China and prepare for war by using “economic, political, and strategic strength.” He refers to China as an “adversary” and a “threat,” saying the U.S. is “a permanent Pacific power and presence, and you can bet long on us.”
Throughout his ambassadorship, Emanuel was greatly supportive of U.S. war exercises in the region, and encouraged U.S.-Japan military alliance to counter China. He claims China is in constant conflict, and that the world is “scared of the Chinese people” — a claim as hypocritical as it is absurd, considering the U.S. has bombed a majority of existing nations. Emanuel also disputes China’s success in alleviating extreme poverty, saying it was the “international system” that allowed them to do that. This is a blatant lie: the international system keeps poor countries poor, and the rich imperial countries rich.
Leaders like Emanuel should be working toward cooperation and peace with China, not pushing us toward war. Painting China as a threat and something to be scared of is not only racist, but justifies more militarization while diverting resources from urgent global challenges like climate change. We need politicians in office committed to embracing dialogue and mutual respect rather than dragging the world into another endless war that nobody wants.
ACTION: Call on Rahm Emanuel to Stop Stoking War With China!
The ongoing escalation toward war with China is occurring at a poignant and symbolic moment in history: this month marks the 80th Anniversary of the War Against Fascism, the end of WWII. Western history informs us that the United States “won the war” with nuclear bombs, but the truth is that in Asia, it was 14 years of China’s resistance that finally broke Japanese imperialism — and it was China that paid the greatest price. Between 35-50 million Chinese people died resisting Japan’s invasion, approximately 7-10% of the population.
The horrors of imperialism were forever seared into Chinese historical memory: during the Nanjing Massacre, over 300,000 people were raped, tortured, and murdered. The true horrors of the war can be seen through the recently released film Dead to Rights, which chronicles a firsthand account of the Nanjing Massacre. Everyone should see this film, including every single U.S. politician, like Rahm Emanuel, who is promoting war on China.
When Japan was finally defeated, its place as the dominant imperial force in Asia was not left empty. The U.S. promptly stepped in to replace Japan, imposing its own military, political, and economic domination across the region. From occupying Japan and South Korea, to backing colonial wars in Southeast Asia and encircling China with bases and fleets, the U.S. sought to secure the very imperial order that millions had died resisting.
Today, U.S. politicians like Rahm Emanuel justify U.S. imperial presence in the Pacific as preparation for war with China. Instead of learning from the tragedies of history, we are repeating them in different ways. Imagine a world where the U.S. and China worked together for the peace and prosperity of the planet, where money was invested into renewable energy and global health rather than drones and nuclear submarines. This is the world we are working to build.
Though Emanuel is not currently in office, he has great political influence as a career politician. And as a potential Democratic candidate for the next presidential election, it’s alarming that his vision rests on militarization and confrontation rather than diplomacy and cooperation
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ACTION: Rahm Emanuel: Reject U.S. Imperialism! We Need Cooperation with China, Not Conflict Escalation!
The dangers of U.S. imperialism are unfolding right now. The United States is actively rehearsing war with China through massive military exercises in South Korea, where tens of thousands of troops practice simulated strikes, amphibious landings, and even nuclear scenarios. These are the types of war exercises championed by Rahm Emanuel that reproduce the same cycle of domination and violence experienced under Japanese imperialism.
The Korean Peninsula itself is a symbol of how the U.S. stepped into Japan’s role after 1945. Rather than allowing Korea to unify and rebuild after decades of Japanese occupation, Washington occupied the South, installed its own puppet government, and turned the peninsula into a permanent staging ground for U.S. power projection.
Today, nearly 30,000 U.S. troops remain on the Korean Peninsula, and annual war games serve as reminders that the U.S. has not come to liberate, but to replace the very imperial order that left scars like the Nanjing Massacre. Just as Nanjing revealed the true nature of war and occupation, U.S. war exercises in Korea reveal that Washington is prepared to repeat history and secure its hegemony at any cost. And Rahm Emanuel’s calls for military buildup in the Pacific display a terrifying willingness to drag the world into another catastrophic conflict. We must demand that U.S. leaders abandon the path of militarization and instead choose diplomacy and cooperation to pave the way to a more peaceful, equitable world.
Peace and solidarity,
Megan, Jodie, and the CODEPINK Team
👉 RSVP to our Anti-Imperialist Campaign Series’s focus on the China campaign for a timely discussion on the escalating U.S. aggression toward China and how our China Is Not Our Enemy (CINOE) campaign is educating and advocating for peace and diplomacy with China.
RSVP to our webinar Palestine, China, & the Fight for Humanity to learn about the deep-rooted solidarity between China and Palestine, and how their struggles have long been intertwined in the fight against imperialism.
Contact megan@codepink.org to learn more. RedNote | Instagram | X
