ANU China Seminar Series, the Australian National University
4:00 – 5:30 pm AEDT, Thursday 30 April 2020
Seminar Rooms, China in the World Building (188), Fellows Lane, ANU
The rise of Xi Jinping has been marked by his re-emphasis on Mao’s three Magic Weapon: Party Building, Armed Forces and United Front Work. While the latter has become more well-known abroad as result of arguments over Chinese Communist Party (CCP) influence versus interference, notably in Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Taiwan, it is perhaps the changes in the direction of United Front Work domestically that deserve more attention.
This paper discusses the dramatic shift towards using United Front Work to assimilate different interest groups such as religious believers, business people and social media figures, as well as ethnic groups and how this is subjecting many more groups to more direct CCP control and direction. Whether the investigative and social monitoring functions of this work are helping resolve any significant problems as part of the Party’s so-called “consultative democracy” will also be discussed.
About the speaker
Gerry Groot is Senior Lecturer in Chinese Studies in the Department of Asian Studies, School of Social Sciences, University of Adelaide. He has been interested in how the CCP manages social change and united front work in particular, since his Honours year.
He has been actively involved with the Australian Centre on China in the World since 2012 and was one of the Centre’s founding fellows between 2011 and 2017.
Before the seminar
All attendees are invited to join us in the CIW Tea House from 3.30pm for an informal discussion with the guest speaker before the seminar.
The ANU China Seminar Series is supported by the Australian Centre on China in the World at The Australian National University’s College of Asia & the Pacific.