United Front | |||||||
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Simplified Chinese | 统一 战线 | ||||||
Traditional Chinese | 統一 戰綫 | ||||||
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Socialist United Front | |||||||
Simplified Chinese | 社会主义 统一 战线 | ||||||
Traditional Chinese | 社會主義 統一 戰綫 | ||||||
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Patriotic United Front | |||||||
Simplified Chinese | 爱国(主义)统一 战线 | ||||||
Traditional Chinese | 愛國(主義)統一 戰綫 | ||||||
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People's Democratic United Front (1945–1966) | |||||||
Simplified Chinese | 人民 民主 统一 战线 | ||||||
Traditional Chinese | 人民 民主 統一 戰綫 | ||||||
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Revolutionary United Front (1966–1978) | |||||||
Simplified Chinese | 革命 统一 战线 | ||||||
Traditional Chinese | 革命 統一 戰綫 | ||||||
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Chinaportal |
The united front [lower-alpha 1] is a political strategy of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) involving networks of groups and key individuals that are influenced or controlled by the CCP and used to advance its interests. It has historically been a popular front that has included eight legally permitted political parties and people's organizations which have nominal representation in the National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). [3] Under CCP general secretary Xi Jinping, the united front and its targets of influence have expanded in size and scope. [4] [5] [6]
United front organizations are managed primarily by the United Front Work Department (UFWD), but the united front strategy is not limited solely to the UFWD. All CCP cadres are required to engage in "united front work". [7] CPPCC is considered to be the highest-ranking united front organization, being central to the system. Outside of China, the strategy involves numerous front organizations, which tend to obfuscate or downplay any association with the CCP. [8] [9] [10]
The CCP organized the "National Revolution United Front" (simplified Chinese :国民革命统一战线; traditional Chinese :國民革命統一戰綫; pinyin :Guómín gémìng tǒngyī zhànxiàn) with the Kuomintang (KMT) during the Northern Expedition of 1926–1928 and then the "Workers' and Peasants' Democratic United Front" (simplified Chinese :工农民主统一战线; traditional Chinese :工農民主統一戰綫; pinyin :Gōngnóng mínzhǔ tǒngyī zhànxiàn) in the Chinese Soviet Republic era of 1931–1937. Mao Zedong originally promoted the "Anti-Japanese National United Front" (simplified Chinese :抗日民族统一战线; traditional Chinese :抗日民族統一戰綫; pinyin :Kàngrì mínzú tǒngyī zhànxiàn).[ citation needed ]
In late 1935, the Communist International (Comintern) instructed the CCP to establish the broadest possible anti-fascist united front. [11] : 15 At a meeting in December 1935, the CCP Politburo resolved to reach understanding, seek compromise, and establish relations with all nations, parties, and individuals who opposed imperial Japan. [11] : 15
The united front "assumed its current form" in 1946, [12] three years before the CCP defeated the KMT's Nationalist government of Chiang Kai-shek. Mao credited the united front as one of his "Three Magic Weapons" against the KMT—alongside the Leninist Chinese Communist Party and the Red Army—and credited the Front with playing a part in the Chinese Communist Revolution. [12]
The two organs historically affiliated with united Front are the United Front Work Department and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). According to Yi-Zheng Lian, the organs "are often poorly understood outside China because there are no equivalents for them in the West". [12] Inside China, leaders of formal united front organizations are selected by the CCP, or are themselves CCP members. [13] In practice, united front member parties and allied people's organizations are subservient to the CCP, and must accept the CCP's "leading role" as a condition of their continued existence. [7]
The United Front Work Department is headed by the chief of the secretariat of the CCP's Central Committee. It oversees front organizations and their affiliates in multiple countries such as the Chinese Students and Scholars Association, [14] [15] which ostensibly helps Chinese students and academics studying or residing in the West, enjoining them to conduct "people-to-people diplomacy" on behalf of the People's Republic of China. [12]
The united front is a political strategy that the CCP has used to influence beyond its immediate circles while downplaying direct associations with the CCP. [16] [7] [17] In theory, the united front existed to give front organizations and non-Communist forces a platform in society. [18] Historically, the CCP co-opted and re-purposed non-Communist organizations to become part of the united front through tactics of entryism. [19] However, scholars describe the contemporary united front as a complex network of organizations that engage in various types of surveillance and political warfare for the CCP. [20] [21] [22] Scholar Jichang Lulu noted that united front organizations abroad "re-purpose democratic governance structures to serve as tools of extraterritorial influence". [23] Scholar Martin Thorley states that the united front's "main purposes are to neutralize threats to the party and ensure desirable scenarios for the party". [24] Additionally, many non-governmental organizations in China or connected to China have been described as government-organized non-governmental organization (GONGOs) that are organized under the CCP's united front system. [20] [25]
According to a 2018 report by the United States–China Economic and Security Review Commission, "United Front work serves to promote Beijing's preferred global narrative, pressure individuals living in free and open societies to self-censor and avoid discussing issues unfavorable to the CCP, and harass or undermine groups critical of Beijing's policies." [14] According to scholar Anne-Marie Brady, "united front work is a task of all CCP agencies (some more than others) as well as a basic task of every CCP member." [26] Nearly all Chinese embassies include staff that are formally tasked with united front work. [27] Embassies and consulates also maintain networks of "consular volunteers" that engage in united front work. [28]
Scholar Jeffrey Stoff also argues that the CCP's "influence apparatus intersects with or directly supports its global technology transfer apparatus." [29] [30] In 2019, the united front's aggregate budget across multiple institutions was estimated at over $2.6 billion which was larger than the Chinese Foreign Ministry's budget. [31]
According to the Taiwanese Mainland Affairs Council, the united front uses internet celebrities to carry out infiltration campaigns on social media. [32] United front groups have also been linked to organized crime in several countries. [33] [34]
Starting in January 2020, united front-linked organizations in Canada and other countries were activated to purchase, stockpile, and export personal protective equipment in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in mainland China. [35] [36] In September 2020, the CCP announced that it would strengthen united front work in the private sector by establishing more party committees in regional federations of industry and commerce (FIC), and by arranging a special liaison between FICs and the CCP. [37]
Overseas Chinese hometown associations are often cultivated for united front work. [38] [39] During the APEC United States 2023 summit in San Francisco, united front groups, including hometown associations, coordinated with Chinese embassy officials to instigate violence against Tibetan, Uyghur, and Chinese dissident protesters. [40]
In 1939, Zhou Enlai espoused "nestling intelligence within the united front" while also "using the united front to push forth intelligence". [41] According to Australian analyst Alex Joske, "the united front system provides networks, cover and institutions that intelligence agencies use for their own purposes". Joske added that "united front networks are a golden opportunity for Party's spies because they represent groups of Party-aligned individuals who are relatively receptive to clandestine recruitment." [41] Peter Mattis, head of the Jamestown Foundation, stated, "United front groups are used – very specifically – to hide the Ministry of State Security". [42] According to French journalist Roger Faligot, the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre led to the "growing use of party organizations, such as the United Front Work Department and friendship associations, as fronts for intelligence operations." [43]
In 2020, Newsweek identified nearly 600 united front organizations in the United States [44] and 384 in the United Kingdom as of 2023. [24]
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Civil War against the Kuomintang. In 1949, Mao proclaimed the establishment of the People's Republic of China. Since then, the CCP has governed China and has had sole control over the People's Liberation Army (PLA). Successive leaders of the CCP have added their own theories to the party's constitution, which outlines the party's ideology, collectively referred to as socialism with Chinese characteristics. As of 2024, the CCP has more than 99 million members, making it the second largest political party by membership in the world after India's Bharatiya Janata Party.
The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) is a political advisory body in the People's Republic of China and a central part of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)'s united front system. Its members advise and put proposals for political and social issues to government bodies. However, the CPPCC is a body without real legislative power. While consultation does take place, it is supervised and directed by the CCP.
The United Front Work Department is a department of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) tasked with "united front work". It gathers intelligence on, manages relations with, and attempts to gain influence over elite individuals and organizations inside and outside mainland China, including in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and in other countries.
The Buddhist Association of China is the official government supervisory organ of Buddhism in the People's Republic of China. The association has been overseen by the United Front Work Department (UFWD) of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) since the State Administration for Religious Affairs' absorption into the UFWD in 2018. The association's headquarters are located in Guangji Temple in Beijing.
The Committee of 100 is a 501(c)(3) organization of Chinese Americans in business, government, academia and the arts whose stated aim is "to encourage constructive relations between the peoples of the United States and Greater China." It was founded in 1990 by I. M. Pei. Its current chair is Gary Locke, former U.S. Ambassador to China.
The China Zhi Gong Party is one of the eight minor political parties in the People's Republic of China under the direction of the Chinese Communist Party.
The Chinese Students and Scholars Association (CSSA) is the official organization for overseas Chinese students and scholars registered in most colleges and universities outside of the People's Republic of China. The associations in different institutions share a common name. The stated function of CSSAs is helping overseas Chinese in their life, study, work, and other issues, bringing Chinese students together on campus, serving as a bridge between Chinese and other communities, and promoting Chinese culture. The groups typically host events such as annual Chinese New Year galas, holiday celebrations, academic forums and talent recruitment competitions tied to the Thousand Talents Plan.
The China Association for Science and Technology is a people's organization of Chinese scientists and engineers, which is composed of multiple national professional societies and hundreds of branches at various local and international levels. CAST was formed in September 1958 through the merger of the All-China Federation of Natural Science Societies and the All-China Association for Science Popularization. Its stated goal is to act as a link between the science and technology community and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and government. CAST is a constituent member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). Wan Gang is the current president of the national committee of CAST. He Junke serves as the Chinese Communist Party Committee Secretary for CAST.
The Center for China and Globalization (CCG) is a Chinese think tank based in Beijing. It is registered as a non-governmental organization, though its independence from the Chinese Communist Party has been disputed. It also occasionally suffered attacks and censorship within China.
The China Council for the Promotion of Peaceful National Reunification (CCPPNR) is an umbrella organization, founded in 1988, by the United Front Work Department of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to promote unification between mainland China and Taiwan on terms defined solely by the People's Republic of China (PRC). Unification is couched in a one country, two systems framework, though critics categorize it as annexation. According to scholar Anne-Marie Brady, in addition to promoting unification, "the organization also engages in a range of activities which support Chinese foreign policy goals, including block-voting and fund-raising for ethnic Chinese political candidates who agree to support their organization's agenda." The main council oversees over 200 chapters in multiple countries.
The chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference is the leader of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), which is a political advisory body in the People's Republic of China.
The Political Work Department of the Central Military Commission is the chief political organ under the Central Military Commission (CMC). It was created in January 2016 following the military reforms under CMC chairman Xi Jinping. Its predecessor was the General Political Department of the People's Liberation Army.
The Thousand Talents Plan or Thousand Talents Program (TTP), or Overseas High-Level Talent Recruitment Programs is a program by the government of China to recruit experts in science and technology from abroad, principally but not exclusively from overseas Chinese communities. The original program was replaced by another program called Qiming, administered by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
Cai Xia is a Chinese dissident and scholar of political theory. She has taught high-ranking members and officials of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), including leading provincial and municipal administrators and cabinet-level ministers, and is a retired professor of the CCP Central Party School. She is an advocate for political liberalisation in China and has been critical of CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping. She was expelled from the CCP in August 2020 for criticising the CCP under Xi's rule. Since 2019, she has resided in the United States in exile.
The All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese (ACFROC) is a people's organization of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to influence overseas Chinese. Part of the united front, ACFROC has 27 seats on the national committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.
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