Covert group engaged in moulding public opinion in Tibet, other countries in favour of communist regime: Report
Mar 05, 2022
Lhasa [Tibet], March 5 : Amid the increasing assertion of China on the global stage, an article on Tuesday highlighted the role of a relatively unknown organisation called the United Front Works Department (UFWD) in subverting opinions regarding the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
The UFWD is a department of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) that works to co-opt and neutralize sources of potential opposition to the policies and authority of the CCP, according to a US-China Economic and Security Review Commission report. The department was first created during the Chinese Civil War.
UNFD mostly focuses on the management of potential opposition groups inside China, but it also has an important foreign influence mission. To carry out its influence activities abroad, the UFWD directs "overseas Chinese work," which seeks to co-opt ethnic Chinese individuals and communities living outside China.
According to the article in Phayul, the UFWD through its subversive activities "misled the Tibetan Administration into choosing not to fight for independence. That, in the end, consolidated the Chinese claim over Tibet as a part of China, thus making any matter related to Tibet an internal issue."
The article also said that despite the struggle and sacrifices of many Tibetan people, UFWD continues to have an effect in subverting opinions and "creating confusion in the minds of Tibetans on what they are to focus on" in their fight for self-determination.
Referring to it China's "magic weapon", the article said that UFWD also had a role in making the Chinese Nationalists join the Communist Party to fight against the Japanese in World War 2, which ultimately led to the Nationalists losing power to the Communists.
UFWD also had a role in convincing the US to choose the People's Republic of China for the seat in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) which ultimately facilitated China to be able to grow in power and pose a threat to the West.
Last week, a Canadian court held the Chinese government's Overseas Chinese Affairs Office (OCAO) of being involved in espionage "that harms Canada's interests," while hearing an application challenging the denial of citizenship to a Chinese couple who had worked for OCAO in China for 20 years. OCAO is an agency under the UFWD of the Chinese Communist Party.
