PRC United Front strategy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
PRC United Front strategy is a series of coordinated effort directed by Beijing to control Hong Kong. It has been changing strategies, since the 1980s.[1] Today the control is mostly being done through local Hong Kong elections.
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[edit] Head of strategy
The public agent is the PRC's Liaison Office. Prior to revision, it was the Hong Kong branch of Xinhua News Agency. Behind the scene, it is essentially the Communist Party of China in an attempt to control Hong Kong.[2]
[edit] 1980s
In the 1980s Beijing tried to control the territory by absorbing Hong Kong's business elite into the united front system. The business members were designated as "delegates" and "advisers".[1]
After the mainland's Tiananmen Square Massacre in 1989 , the strategy was changed. It then attempted to control the 2 million workers and ordinary wage earners in Hong Kong. They explicitly target the leadership of Kaifong associations, district boards and local municipal councils.[1]
Up until the 1980s the Chinese government did not want to form its own pro-Beijing political parties in Hong Kong as the pro-democracy camp were clearly winning.[1]
[edit] 1990s to Present
[edit] Maoist strategy
The group uses a Mao Zedong strategy described as:
| “ | Isolate the enemy by winning the vast majority to the side of the revolution; then, through struggle, the isolated and now vulnerable enemy is destroyed.[2] | ” |
The front does not destroy democratic individuals (like Martin Lee), because the political cost of doing so is too high.[2] It basically keeps the opposing parties weak and non-threatening. In this case, the opposing enemy is Hong Kong's democratic party.[2]
[edit] 2000s
The united front coordinates the nomination and campaigns in the Legislative Council (LegCo) and local elections. Sometimes part of the party is listed as "independents" and run for elections.[2] An example is Regina Ip in the 2007 Hong Kong Island by-election.
While the One country, two systems separate Hong Kong and Macau from Beijing rule, it attempts to swing voters away from the democratic parties to keep them weak. An example is The Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, which was installed to target middle to lower class citizens in Hong Kong by gaining presence in the Hong Kong real estate market.[2]
[edit] PRC allies
The front also rely on allies that have a grass root in Hong Kong's society. Some allies include: [2]
- Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions
- New Territories Association of Societies (NTAS)
- Kowloon Federation of Associations
