Difference between revisions of "United Front Work Department"
| Line 9: | Line 9: | ||
===Controlling the narrative=== | ===Controlling the narrative=== | ||
During anti-CCP protests in [[San Francisco]] surrounding the 2008 Olympic torch relay, former U.S. intelligence officials said Chinese security officials monitored and directed counterprotesting blocs of thousands of Chinese students to drown out [[Beijing]]’s critics, which ''[[Politico]]'' called an “operation … by a hostile foreign intelligence service to forcibly suppress [[First Amendment]] activities in a major American city.” U.S. law defines “conspiracy against rights” as conspiring to “injure, oppress, threaten, or intimidate any person … in the free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege secured to him by the Constitution or laws of the United States, or because of his having so exercised the same” or going “in disguise … or on the premises of another, with intent to prevent or hinder his free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege so secured.” The UFWD efforts at suppressing protests on U.S. soil to promote its narrative is as much a problem of [[civil rights]] as it is a problem of [[national security]].<ref>https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/07/27/silicon-valley-spies-china-russia-219071/</ref> | During anti-CCP protests in [[San Francisco]] surrounding the 2008 Olympic torch relay, former U.S. intelligence officials said Chinese security officials monitored and directed counterprotesting blocs of thousands of Chinese students to drown out [[Beijing]]’s critics, which ''[[Politico]]'' called an “operation … by a hostile foreign intelligence service to forcibly suppress [[First Amendment]] activities in a major American city.” U.S. law defines “conspiracy against rights” as conspiring to “injure, oppress, threaten, or intimidate any person … in the free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege secured to him by the Constitution or laws of the United States, or because of his having so exercised the same” or going “in disguise … or on the premises of another, with intent to prevent or hinder his free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege so secured.” The UFWD efforts at suppressing protests on U.S. soil to promote its narrative is as much a problem of [[civil rights]] as it is a problem of [[national security]].<ref>https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/07/27/silicon-valley-spies-china-russia-219071/</ref> | ||
| + | |||
| + | ===Overseas dissident groups=== | ||
| + | Chinese intelligence services have specifically targeted ethnic minorities such as [[Uyghur]]s living overseas, threatening to send their families still in [[Xinjiang]] to internment camps, or keep them there, if the former do not agree to spy for China. According to Uyghurs who have been threatened in this way, this coercion is intended “not only to gather details about Uyghurs’ activities abroad, but also to sow discord within exile communities in [[the West]] and intimidate people in hopes of preventing them from speaking out against the Chinese state.” | ||
==See also== | ==See also== | ||
Revision as of 23:32, June 9, 2021
The United Front Work Department (UFWD) of the CCP Central Committee is the core organization used to advance the CCP's interests with the goal of co-opting organizations that might threaten it. Foreign targets can include the overseas Chinese communities, government officials, education institutions and any persons deemed influential.
The China Association for International Friendly Contact (CAIFC)[1] is a United Front organization run by the Liaison Department of the Political Work Department of the Central Military Commission, active in intelligence collection. The department aims to dampen foreign army morale and break them up.[2]
The CCP's United Front system mobilizes the party's “friends” to strike the party's enemies. The system was greatly energized and expanded by Xi Jinping. It operates inside foreign political parties, diaspora communities, colleges and corporations, all with the goal of promoting the party's interests. The express goals of the United Front system include undermining social cohesion, exacerbating racial tension, and using of psychological warfare (psyops), media warfare (propaganda and fake news), and legal warfare (lawfare).
The CCP uses propaganda and influence operations as a means of projecting its power and weakening its enemies. Chief amongst the targets for these kinds of operations is the United States. These operations are coordinated and directed by the UFWD.[3]
Controlling the narrative
During anti-CCP protests in San Francisco surrounding the 2008 Olympic torch relay, former U.S. intelligence officials said Chinese security officials monitored and directed counterprotesting blocs of thousands of Chinese students to drown out Beijing’s critics, which Politico called an “operation … by a hostile foreign intelligence service to forcibly suppress First Amendment activities in a major American city.” U.S. law defines “conspiracy against rights” as conspiring to “injure, oppress, threaten, or intimidate any person … in the free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege secured to him by the Constitution or laws of the United States, or because of his having so exercised the same” or going “in disguise … or on the premises of another, with intent to prevent or hinder his free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege so secured.” The UFWD efforts at suppressing protests on U.S. soil to promote its narrative is as much a problem of civil rights as it is a problem of national security.[4]
Overseas dissident groups
Chinese intelligence services have specifically targeted ethnic minorities such as Uyghurs living overseas, threatening to send their families still in Xinjiang to internment camps, or keep them there, if the former do not agree to spy for China. According to Uyghurs who have been threatened in this way, this coercion is intended “not only to gather details about Uyghurs’ activities abroad, but also to sow discord within exile communities in the West and intimidate people in hopes of preventing them from speaking out against the Chinese state.”
See also
References
- ↑ http://www.caifc.org.cn/
- ↑ CAIFC was established in 1984 by Deng Xiaoping, and his daughter Rong has been a vice-president of the organization since 1990. CAIFC is subordinate to what was formerly known as the GPD/LD intelligence bureau. A report from the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission described the CAIFC “…a front organization for the former General Political Department, performs dual roles of intelligence collection and conducting propaganda and perception management campaigns…”. It has been described as “…a major platform for the People’s Liberation Army General Political Department Liaison Department (GPD/LD) now subsumbed into the Central Military Commission Political Work Department.
- ↑ https://www.uscc.gov/sites/default/files/Research/China's%20Overseas%20United%20Front%20Work%20-%20Background%20and%20Implications%20for%20US_final_0.pdf
- ↑ https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/07/27/silicon-valley-spies-china-russia-219071/
External links
- China’s Overseas United Front Work Background and Implications for the United States, U.S.-China Economic Review Commission Staff Research Report, Alexander Bowe, August 24, 2018.