China Council for the Promotion of Peaceful National Reunification
The China Council for the Promotion of Peaceful National Reunification is an umbrella organization, founded in 1988, by the United Front Work Department of the Communist Party of China to promote Chinese unification between mainland China and Taiwan on terms defined solely by the People's Republic of China.[1][2][3] Unification is couched in a one country, two systems framework.[4] According to scholar Anne-Marie Brady, in addition to promoting unification, "the organization also engages in a range of activities which support Chinese foreign policy goals, including block-voting and fund-raising for ethnic Chinese political candidates who agree to support their organization's agenda."[5] The main council oversees over 200 smaller chapters in various countries.[2]
China Council for the Promotion of Peaceful National Reunification | |||||||
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Simplified Chinese | 全球华侨华人促进中国和平统一大会 | ||||||
Traditional Chinese | 全球華僑華人促進中國和平統一大會 | ||||||
Hanyu Pinyin | quánqiú huáqiáo Huárén cùjìn Zhōngguó hépíngtǒngyī dàhuì | ||||||
Literal meaning | Overseas Chinese World Conference for Promoting Peaceful Reunification of China | ||||||
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The group holds an annual Overseas Chinese World Conference for Promoting Peaceful Reunification of China. This event has been held in multiple countries and is coordinated by local councils and other proxy groups linked to the United Front Work Department.[1][6][7][8][9]
The council is chaired by Yu Zhengsheng and its vice-chair is Sun Chunlan.[2][6] In the United States, a national-level council is registered as a non-profit called the National Association for China's Peaceful Reunification and is not registered under the Foreign Agents Registration Act.[6][2] In 2019, Li "Cindy" Yang, a vice-president of a Florida-based council, was arrested and convicted after attempting to gain entry to Mar-a-Lago.[10][11]
Annual Global Conference
In addition to local events, the council organizes a global annual conference held in different cities.
Year | City |
---|---|
2000 | Berlin |
2001 | Tokyo |
2002 | Sydney |
2003 | Moscow |
2004 | Vienna |
2006 | Macau |
2007 | Budapest |
2009 | Los Angeles |
21 September 2010 | Hong Kong |
Reaction
Scholars and observers have noted that the council and its events are part of the political influence agenda of the Chinese Communist Party and that Taiwan has never previously been under its control.[1][6]
In 2019, it was reported that the Australia-based council was not registered as a foreign agent even though it acts to influence Australian politics.[12][13][14]
See also
References
- Dotson, John (May 9, 2019). "The United Front Work Department Goes Global: The Worldwide Expansion of the Council for the Promotion of the Peaceful Reunification of China". Jamestown Foundation. Archived from the original on August 5, 2019. Retrieved 2019-07-27.
- Diamond, Larry; Schell, Orville, eds. (2018). China's Influence & American Interests: Promoting Constructive Vigilance (PDF). Stanford, California. ISBN 978-0-8179-2288-7. OCLC 1104533323. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2019-06-16. Retrieved 2019-12-25.
- Yang, J. (2011-11-07). The Pacific Islands in China's Grand Strategy: Small States, Big Games. Springer. p. 110. ISBN 978-0-230-33975-0.
- Cole, J. Michael (2019-12-27). "Taiwan and CCP political warfare: A blueprint". Sinopsis. Archived from the original on 2019-12-30. Retrieved 2019-12-30.
- Brady, Anne-Marie (2017). Magic weapons: China's political influence activities under Xi Jinping (PDF). Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. p. 16. OCLC 1009357284. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-01-12. Retrieved 2020-05-09.
- Dotson, John (February 13, 2018). "The United Front Work Department in Action Abroad: A Profile of The Council for the Promotion of the Peaceful Reunification of China". Jamestown Foundation. Archived from the original on November 19, 2019. Retrieved 2019-07-27.
- Allen-Ebrahimian, Bethany (2018-07-18). "China Built an Army of Influence Agents in the U.S." Daily Beast. Archived from the original on 2019-08-02. Retrieved 2019-07-27.
- Hsiao, Russell (June 26, 2019). "A Preliminary Survey of CCP Influence Operations in Japan". Jamestown Foundation. Archived from the original on December 7, 2019. Retrieved 2019-10-26.
- Lulu, Jichang (2019-11-26). "Repurposing democracy: The European Parliament China Friendship Cluster". Sinopsis. Archived from the original on 2019-12-10. Retrieved 2019-11-26.
- Schulman, Daniel; Corn, David; Friedman, Dan (March 10, 2019). "The massage parlor owner peddling access to Trump has ties to Chinese government-linked groups". Mother Jones. Archived from the original on December 25, 2019. Retrieved 2019-12-25.
- Friedman, Dan (March 21, 2019). "Chinese influence group shuts down after report on Cindy Yang's ties". Mother Jones. Archived from the original on December 25, 2019. Retrieved 2019-12-25.
- Knaus, Christopher (2019-03-29). "Chinese Communist party-linked group not listed on foreign influence register". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 2019-12-27. Retrieved 2019-12-27.
- Joske, Alex (2017-12-15). "Bennelong byelection: The influential network targeting the Turnbull government in Bennelong". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 2019-12-27. Retrieved 2019-12-27.
- Galloway, Anthony (March 7, 2020). "Suspected foreign agents ordered to hand over documents as new unit targets China links". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on March 7, 2020. Retrieved March 7, 2020.