United Front: China’s ‘magical weapon’ entangled in espionage controversy

According to the founding leader of the People’s Republic of China, Mao Zedong, and its current president, Xi Jinping, the People’s Republic of China possesses a “magical weapon”.

It’s called the United Front Work Department – ​​and it’s raising the same concerns in the West as Beijing’s growing military arsenal.

Yang Tengbo, A prominent businessman who is linked to Prince AndrewThe latest foreigner to be investigated and sanctioned for his ties to the UFWD is a Chinese national.

The existence of the department is far from a mystery. A decades-old and well-documented branch of the Chinese Communist Party, it has been mired in controversy in the past. Investigators from the US to Australia have cited the UFWD in numerous espionage cases, and often accuse Beijing of using it for foreign interference.

Beijing has denied all allegations of spying and described them as ridiculous.

So what is UFWD and what does it do?

The united front – originally referring to a broad communist coalition – was praised by Mao as the key to the Communist Party’s victory in the decades-long Chinese Civil War.

After the war ended in 1949 and the Party ruled China, United Front activities took a back seat to other priorities. But in the last decade, under Xi, the united front has seen a renaissance of sorts.

According to Mareike Ohlberg, a senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund, Xi’s version of a united front is broadly in line with earlier incarnations: “building the broadest possible coalition with all relevant social forces”.

At first glance, the UFWD is not obscure – it even has a website and reports many of its activities on it. But the extent of its work – and its reach – is less clear.

While a large portion of that work is domestic, Dr. Ohlberg said, “a major target defined for the United Front work is overseas Chinese”.

Today, UFWD seeks to influence public discussion on sensitive issues ranging from Taiwan – which China claims as territory – to the repression of ethnic minorities in Tibet and Xinjiang.

It also seeks to shape narratives about China in foreign media, target critics of the Chinese government abroad, and impersonate influential overseas Chinese celebrities.

Audrey Wong, assistant professor of politics at the University of Southern California, tells the BBC, “The work of the United Front may involve espionage but (it) is much broader than espionage.”

“Beyond the task of obtaining secret information from a foreign government, the United Front’s activities are focused on the widespread mobilization of overseas Chinese,” he said, adding that China is “unparalleled in the scale and scope” of such influence activities.

China has always aspired to such influence, but its rise in recent decades has given Beijing the ability to wield it.

Since Xi became president in 2012, he has been particularly active in crafting China’s message to the worldencourage conflict “Wolf Warrior” approach to diplomacy and urging his country’s diaspora to “tell the China story well”.

The UFWD operates through various overseas Chinese community organizations, which have vigorously defended the Communist Party beyond their shores. They have censored anti-CCP artworks and protested against the activities of Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama. The UFWD has also been linked to threats against members of persecuted minorities such as Tibetans and Uyghurs abroad.

But much of the UFWD’s work overlaps with other party agencies, which observers have described as “plausible irreconcilability”.

It is this ambiguity that is creating so much doubt and apprehension about the UFWD.

When Yang appealed against his ban, the judge agreed with the then-Secretary of State’s report that Yang “represented a risk to national security” – citing the fact that he had downplayed his ties to the UFWD. Anka, was one of the reasons that led them to that conclusion.

However, Yang says he has done nothing illegal and that the spying allegations are “completely false”.

Cases like Yang’s are becoming increasingly common. In 2022, British Chinese lawyer Christine Lee was accused by MI5 of working through UFWD to build relationships with influential people in the UK. The following year, Liang Litang, an American citizen who ran a Chinese restaurant in Boston, was convicted of providing information about Chinese dissidents in the area to his contacts in the UFWD.

And in September, Linda Sun, a former aide in the New York governor’s office, was accused of using her position to serve the interests of the Chinese government — receiving benefits, including trips, in return. According to Chinese state media reports, she met with a top UFWD official in 2017, who asked her to “become an ambassador of China-US friendship”.

It is not uncommon for prominent and successful Chinese people to join the Party, whose approval they often need, especially in the business world.

But where is the line between influence smuggling and espionage?

Ho-Fung Hung, a politics professor at Johns Hopkins University, said “the line between influence and espionage is blurred” when it comes to Beijing’s operations.

This ambiguity intensified after China passed a law in 2017 mandating Chinese citizens and companies to cooperate with intelligence investigations, including sharing information with the Chinese government – ​​a move Dr. Hung said “effectively Turns everyone into potential spies”.

The Ministry of State Security has released a dramatic propaganda video warning the public that foreign spies are everywhere and “they are cunning and sneaky”.

Some students who were sent on special trips abroad were asked by their universities to limit contact with foreigners and were asked to report on their activities upon their return.

And yet Xi is keen to promote China in the world. Therefore, he has entrusted the task of projecting strength abroad to a trusted wing of the party.

And this is becoming a challenge for the Western powers – how do they balance trade with the world’s second largest economy along with serious security concerns?

Real fears about China’s foreign influence are giving rise to more hawkish sentiments in the West, often leaving governments in dilemma.

Some, like Australia, have tried to protect themselves from new foreign interference laws. Which criminalizes persons who interfere in domestic affairs. In 2020, the US imposed a visa ban on people seen to be active in UFWD activities.

An angry Beijing has warned that such laws – and the prosecutions they trigger – hinder bilateral relations.

“The so-called allegations of Chinese espionage are completely absurd,” a Foreign Ministry spokesman told reporters Tuesday in response to a question about Yang. “The development of China-UK relations serves the common interests of the two countries.”

Some experts say that the long arm of China’s united front is indeed worrying.

Dr. Hung says, “Western governments now need to be less naive about China’s united front work and view it as a serious threat not only to national security but also to the safety and freedom of many ethnic Chinese citizens. I should take it in.”

But, he adds, “Governments also need to remain vigilant against anti-Chinese racism And work hard to build trust and cooperation with ethnic Chinese communities to combat the threat together.”

Last December, Di San Duong, a Vietnamese-born ethnic Chinese community leader in Australia, was convicted of planning foreign interference for trying to cozy up to an Australian minister. Prosecutors argued that he was an “ideal target” for the UFWD because he had run for office in the 1990s and claimed ties to Chinese officials.

Duong’s lawsuit focused on what he meant when he said that including the minister at a charity event would be beneficial to “we Chinese” – did he mean the Chinese community in Australia or mainland China?

Ultimately, Duong’s conviction – and prison sentence – raised serious concerns that such sweeping anti-espionage laws and prosecutions could easily become Weapons to target ethnic Chinese people.

Dr. Wong says, “It is important to remember that not everyone who is ethnically Chinese is a supporter of the Chinese Communist Party. And not everyone involved in these diaspora organizations is motivated by zealous loyalty to China.”

“Overly aggressive policies based on racial profiling will only legitimize the Chinese government’s propaganda that ethnic Chinese are not welcome and will ultimately drive migrant communities into the arms of Beijing.”