Xinhua
May 20, 2015
United Front Work Department Sun Chunlan meets Gyaincain Norbu, the 11th Panchen Lama — as recognized by the Communist Party — in Beijing on Feb. 12, 2015. (Photo/Xinhua)
The 21st national conference of the Communist Party’s United Front Work Department is set to kick off this week. The conference, the first under Xi Jinping as party chief and the first since 2006, will set the direction of the department’s work over the next few years. The party staged 20 national United Front conferences between 1950 and 2006.
Political analysts predict that the focus of the conference will be on driving the “Four Comprehensives” unveiled by Xi in February, which aims to comprehensively: build a moderately prosperous society; deepen reform; govern the nation according to law; and strictly govern the party.
According to the official Xinhua news agency, United Front work has been at the forefront of Xi’s attention. There have been 57 conferences and meetings with non-party elite since the 18th National Congress in November 2012, with Xi personally attending 11 of them.
The main function of the United Front is to manage relations with the non-Communist Party elite, including individuals and organizations holding social, commercial, or academic influence, or who represent important interest groups, both inside and outside China.
The department includes a bureau tasked with handling Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and overseas affairs, and it is believed that Taiwan will be a focus of the conference after the Sunflower Student Movement last year, which saw demonstrators occupy Taiwan’s Legislature in protest against an attempt to force the ratification of an unpopular cross-strait trade agreement without proper review. It is also looking increasing likely that the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party will return to power in Taiwan next year, posing new challenges Beijing following years of strengthening ties under the Kuomintang administration of President Ma Ying-jeou since 2008.
The United Front also plays an active role in managing ethnic and religious minorities. The conference is therefore also likely to zone in on stability in the restive regions of Tibet and particular Xinjiang, which has seen a large number of terror attacks inside and outside the region in recent years stemming from ethnic discontent.
Duowei News, a US-based Chinese political news outlet, says the status of the United Front has clearly been lifted by Xi since his ascension to power. One of the reasons for this is because Xi recognizes the importance of consultation in making decisions, particularly when it comes to executing his plan of a slow and steady approach to stabilizing Xinjiang and Tibet, Duowei added.
This is why Xi has ordered substantial preparation work for the 21st United Front conference, Duowei notes. Sun Chunlan, the incumbent United Front chief, met with the heads of China’s eight minor political parties, the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, and numerous religious leaders at the end of last year. From the end of March to the end of April, she also undertook a tour of Hebei, Yunnan and Shandong provinces to conduct research into democratic, non-economic, religious and civil society organizations in those regions.
Sun remarked that the United Front’s work continues to face emerging new situations and problems as the party implements deepening reforms. To face these challenges, the department has put together the country’s top academics and professionals to become an important think tank for the party and the government in pushing forward the Four Comprehensives, she added.
