Tribute to Jude Woodward

We are saddened with the news that one of our speakers, Jude Woodward, at the first China workshop passed away due to cancer. Below is a tribute from a co-ordinator of the China Working Group for Jude.

I came to know Jude through her writings and was first drawn to her by her compelling arguments in In Defence of China. After reading her new book The US vs China: Asia’s New Cold War?, I took up the courage to write to her and invite her to be the speaker for the China and Contemporary Imperialism session in the first IIPPE China Workshop on 5 June 2018 in London. I was thrilled that she accepted the invitation.

Not only delivering an informative and passionate speech, Jude participated in the Q&A sessions throughout the workshop and stimulated vigorous debate. It was a memorable event where an alternative leftist analysis on China was introduced and fiercely defended. As one of the organisers, I am hugely in debt to Jude for her contribution. As a researcher in political economy, I am always thankful for her courageous, uncompromising and serious research in this probably the most important socio-economic subject in our times.

Through the moving tributes from Jude’s close friends and publisher one can understand what a huge loss it is, not only an integral intellectual but also a loving person. No doubt Jude’s passing brought an insurmountable void to her friends. Jude started her research in midst of scepticism and criticism but is triumphantly vindicated with ongoing political developments. Jude will be sorely missed but her legacy will surely outlive her. It is incumbent on us to take the present and real danger of a possible new Cold War Jude had warned seriously, and like Jude, always stand on the side for human liberation, for socialism.

Sam-Kee Cheng

Coordinator of IIPPE Political Economy of China’s Development Working Group

27 April 2020