Report Maps Nearly 1,000 CCP United Front Groups in US

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According to the report’s author, Chinese communist regime leaders have, since the Party’s founding, spoken of the value of mobilizing support for the state, especially amid “enemies.”

Former CCP leader Mao Zedong referred to United Front work as the Party’s “magic weapon,” according to the report.

Under Deng Xiaoping’s rule, the department also focused on targeting well-to-do Chinese people overseas with the purpose of “attracting trade and luring capital,” the report said. Later, this included “attracting talent and luring knowledge” as the regime sought a foothold as a technological power.

Then, under Jiang Zemin, overseas students were added to the list of targets.

The current CCP leader, Xi Jinping, has spoken several times about “unifying” people of Chinese descent around the world, the report said.

The report notes throughout that targets of United Front work are often overseas Chinese, with efforts designed to get them to work in the regime’s interests.

The goals have shifted over time, but the top priority has always been “national rejuvenation,” or increasing the regime’s position as the dominant global power, according to the report.

To that end, the regime uses civil associations worldwide. According to the report, the department will identify a target group, extend invitations to meet with CCP leadership and to travel to China, and, over time, persuade these groups to amplify CCP narratives on key issues such as Taiwan and human rights.

“These could include asking the organization’s members to protest a visit by a Taiwanese president, or to harass those speaking out against CCP human rights abuses,” the report reads.

The report’s author identified a wide array of civic associations participating in the CCP’s United Front “assiduously cultivated” network. They promote goals such as “telling China’s story well,” “acting as a bridge between China and the world,” and “rejuvenation of the Chinese nation” to persuade groups to adopt the CCP’s narratives on key issues, according to the report, noting that while these individual organizations have vertical connections to the United Front, they typically do not have connections with one another.

“In important ways, these groups represent the voice of the Party,” the report reads.

“Convening these groups can be conducive to advancing CCP influence in academia, which is a highly valued sector,” the report reads.

The report also identifies 102 educational organizations with ties to the United Front that target second- and third-generation Chinese with programs that may include trips to China, Chinese teachers, and potential partner institutions. For example, in February 2022, the UK Association for the Promotion of Chinese Education held a virtual training series on how to discuss China and teach Mandarin to 1,200 Chinese language teachers from 90 schools.

The report’s author found 322 business associations across the four countries, with Canada having the highest concentration at 109 such groups.

“The focus of these groups is to promote economic connections with and bring foreign resources” to China, the report reads. They facilitate visits and business between local and Chinese companies, governments, and officials.

Professional organizations are targeted for talent recruitment or to acquire intellectual property, according to the report. There are more than 170 such organizations, with 71 in the United States. One of the biggest organizations is the Chinese Association for Science and Technology USA, which has four offices in China and 16 chapters across the United States.

The author found 305 identity-based organizations belonging to the United Front in the United States, one of the largest being the Coordination Council of Chinese-American Associations, which serves as an umbrella organization comprising 36 hometown associations.

There are also cultural promotion centers and friendship organizations that researchers say are instruments of the CCP’s soft power, often hosting performances and ceremonies to promote “people-to-people” relationships, according to the report.

Canada has 76 of these groups, the highest number of any of the four countries, which together total 216 cultural and friendship organizations. These organizations host events that serve as platforms for bringing CCP and local officials together, thereby promoting economic, trade, and political cooperation.

There are also various political and policy-focused groups, such as those that focus specifically on lobbying the CCP’s position on Taiwan or supporting the Belt and Road Initiative. The researcher found 86 such groups, with 51 in the United States. They include groups across the political spectrum, “because it is most beneficial for the CCP to be able to address all sides,” the report said. For example, such groups in the United States include the Chinese American Republican National Federation and the Chinese American Democratic Club.

The report also identifies 162 Chinese-language media organizations under the United Front, including 77 in the United States. It found that some of these groups attempt to obscure ties to the CCP and are used to try to “build strategic relationships with foreign media.”

The researcher notes that much of this United Front work is conducted openly and can be countered, though not easily. For example, the CCP “frequently frames attempts to expose its overseas influence work as hostile acts against all Chinese people,” and simple warnings can backfire.

The report urges more global cooperation to counter CCP influence and promote a more coherent understanding of the United Front.

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