BRING TOGETHER ALL CHINESE FOR CHINA’S MODERNIZATION AND REJUVENATION

BRING TOGETHER ALL CHINESE FOR CHINA’S MODERNIZATION AND REJUVENATION*

July 29, 2022

This year marks the centenary of our Party’s united front policy. At this point, we should do all we can to steer the patriotic united front in the correct direction, and fully comprehend its relevance and scope for development in the new era. Its basic tasks are as follows: 

• following the Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era;
• upholding CPC leadership;
• following the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics;
• bolstering socialism and patriotism;
• balancing commonality and diversity;
• focusing on the central task of economic development and serving the overall interests of the country;
• advancing with the times, maintaining the right orientation, and breaking new ground;
• strengthening political guidance, gathering extensive support, and pooling strength;
• promoting harmony in relations among political parties, ethnic groups, religions, social groups, and our compatriots at home and overseas;
• bringing together all Chinese at home and abroad to form a mighty force for building China into a great modern socialist country and achieving national rejuvenation.

The united front is an important component of the Party’s overall political strategy. It has played a significant role throughout the years of revolution, construction and reform. Since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012, pursuing a national rejuvenation goal against a backdrop of global change on a scale unseen in a century, the Party has made overall plans for united front work from the strategic perspective of national governance. This work has achieved historic successes, and a positive and active atmosphere featuring unity, enterprise, and a pioneering spirit has taken shape in the united front.

We have built on our experience and formed the Party’s guidelines on united front work in the new era, and put forward a series of new ideas, theories and strategies for strengthening and improving its work. These mainly include:

• maximizing the contribution of the united front;
• rallying the people’s support and pooling their strength;
• seeking commonality in diversity;
• upholding and improving China’s unique political party system;
• heightening the sense of the Chinese nation as one community in the Party’s work on ethnic affairs;
• ensuring that religions in China conform to China’s realities;
• uniting non-CPC intellectuals and New Social Groups;
• promoting the healthy development of the non-public sector and those working in this sector;
• enlisting support from people in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan and overseas Chinese;
• winning more support from prominent non-CPC individuals;
• grasping the essentials for improving united front work;
• strengthening the Party’s overall leadership over united front work.

These guidelines are the fruits of the Party’s united front work over the past century, and constitute the fundamental principles for its work in the new era. All Party members must implement them fully, accurately and faithfully.

The united front is an important means for the Party to overcome adversity, to govern the country and lead it to prosperity, and to bring together all the Chinese at home and abroad for national rejuvenation. We must support it in the long term. 

Gathering support and strength from the wider public holds the key to success for the cause of the Party and the people, and therefore is of paramount importance in governance. The united front strives to forge great unity and solidarity, and aims to garner public support and build strength. It is essential to seek common ground while shelving differences, carry forward the fine tradition of “unity – criticism – unity”, pursue commonality while respecting diversity, and achieve convergence of interests. 

It is the Party that leads the united front. We must guarantee the Party’s effective leadership over united front work. The whole Party must attach importance to this Party-wide effort and conduct it in unity, so as to create a mechanism in which Party committees exercise unified leadership, the Party’s united front departments play a leading and coordinating role, and competent departments undertake their respective responsibilities. 

In changing times, the united front is experiencing significant changes in some of its missions and functions. It is playing a greater role in safeguarding our country’s sovereignty, security and development interests, as unprecedented changes are gripping the world at an accelerating pace. It is playing a greater role in accomplishing the central task of economic development and serving the overall interests of the country, as we move towards socialist modernization and national rejuvenation. It is also playing a greater role in consolidating the Party’s class foundation and garnering stronger public support, as the social structure of our country is undergoing profound change.

So we should better grasp the importance of developing and expanding the patriotic united front in the new era, and forge ahead with a keen sense of mission and responsibility. 

The united front was created for building solidarity, and has thrived on solidarity. It is the united front’s responsibility in the new era to promote the great unity of the Chinese people. In order to perform this duty, we should properly handle the relationship between upholding CPC leadership as the center of all circles and expanding common ground, so as to achieve broader consensus and bring together all the Chinese from different political parties, ethnic groups, social groups, religions, and social systems. We should properly handle the relationship between intangible and tangible achievements with a balanced view of performance, so as to realize solid and sustainable development of the united front. We should properly handle the relationship between rigor and flexibility, so that we can combine rigor in applying the Party’s guidelines and policies with flexibility in providing solutions and measures: On the one hand, we should maintain our political stance and respect political principles; on the other, we can adjust our approaches and methods to solve particular issues. We should properly handle the relationship between unity and struggle, with greater ability to meet adversity head-on in a spirit of true unity.

Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the Party Central Committee has set great store by united front work from an overall and strategic perspective. We have promulgated major regulations and documents in this regard, convened a number of important meetings concerning Tibet, Xinjiang, ethnic affairs, religions, and other matters, and set the guidelines and made comprehensive plans for ethnic and religious affairs in the new era. We must ensure their implementation. 

We must uphold and improve the system of CPC-led multiparty cooperation and political consultation, bolster CPC leadership, strengthen political guidance, and improve relevant systems and mechanisms, to make multiparty cooperation more procedure-based and vigorous in the new era. 

We must strengthen unity with non-CPC intellectuals and representatives of New Social Groups. Based on broad consensus, we should encourage their patriotism and desire to work for the country and support them in building their career, giving of their talents, fulfilling their ambitions, and securing achievements in the front line of reform and innovation.

We must facilitate the sound development of the non-public sector and people working in this sector, carry out education initiatives on ideals, convictions, and the core socialist values, and encourage them to apply the new development philosophy and become actively involved in entrepreneurship and in building socialism with Chinese characteristics.

We should do more for patriots overseas, expand our circle of friends who understand and have a positive view of China, and promote exchanges and mutual learning between Chinese and other cultures. We should work better and more efficiently through the united front by means of the internet to help overseas Chinese.

Upholding Party leadership is of cardinal importance for strengthening united front work in the new era, with coordinated efforts across the Party and all relevant sectors. Party committees and Party leadership groups at all levels must take primary responsibility and put united front work high on their agenda. All departments and organizations should have a keen awareness and achieve synergy in their joint efforts. The united front departments should strengthen their capacity as advisors, organizers, coordinators and supervisors. Officials engaged in united front work should increase their political acumen, understanding and capacity to deliver, improve their methods and approaches in work, and build a positive image of united front departments and staff.

* Main points of the speech at the Central Conference on the United Front.

(Not to be republished for any commercial or other purposes.)