United front (China)

Political strategy of the Chinese Communist Party

The united front 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). Under CCP general secretary Xi Jinping, the united front and its targets of influence have expanded in size and scope. 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".

The CCP organized the "National Revolution United Front" with the Kuomintang during the Northern Expedition of 1926–1928 and then the "Workers' and Peasants' Democratic United Front" in the Chinese Soviet Republic era of 1931–1937. Mao Zedong originally promoted the "Anti Japanese National United Front"
The united front "assumed its current form" in 1946, three years before the CCP defeated the authoritarian governing party Kuomintang's Nationalist government of Chiang Kai shek. Mao credited the united front as one of his "Three Magic Weapons" against the Kuomintang—alongside the Leninist Chinese Communist Party and the Red Army—and credited the Front with playing a part in the Chinese Communist Revolution. 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.

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, 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. In theory, the united front existed to give front organizations and non Communist forces a platform in society. Historically, the CCP co opted and re purposed non Communist organizations to become part of the united front through tactics of entryism. 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. Scholar Jichang Lulu noted that united front organizations abroad "re purpose democratic governance structures to serve as tools of extraterritorial influence". 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". 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." Nearly all Chinese embassies include staff that are formally tasked with united front work. Embassies and consulates also maintain networks of "consular volunteers" that engage in united front work. Scholar Jeffrey Stoff also argues that the CCP's "influence apparatus intersects with or directly supports its global technology transfer apparatus." 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. According to the Taiwanese Mainland Affairs Council, the united front uses internet celebrities to carry out infiltration campaigns on social media. United front groups have also been linked to organized crime in several countries. 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. 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.

In 1939, Zhou Enlai espoused "nestling intelligence within the united front" while also "using the united front to push forth intelligence". 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."

In 2020, Newsweek identified nearly 600 united front organizations in the United States and 384 in the United Kingdom as of 2023.