TheInternational Department of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, also known as theInternational Liaison Department (ILD), is an agency under theCentral Committee of the Chinese Communist Party in charge of establishing and maintaining relations with foreign political parties and other foreign organizations.
Established in 1951, the international department was originally tasked with overseeing relations with foreign communist parties. UnderMao Zedong's leadership, the International Department supportedMaoist groups around the world. In the 1980s underDeng Xiaoping, the department started cultivating relations with non-communist parties. The department is CCP's primary body tasked with conducting diplomacy through party-to-party channels. It plays a particularly critical role in China's relations with other communist states, including North Korea and Vietnam.
The department was established in 1951, and was tasked with overseeing relations with foreign communist parties, especially theCommunist Party of the Soviet Union and thesocialist bloc.[1] The department's mandate became more important following theSino-Soviet split, as the party began more aggressively seeking supporters for its position among communist parties operating overseas.[2] Afterwards it maintained ties between the CCP and the Maoist parties around the world, often attempting to foment revolution abroad by funneling money and resources to left-wing and rebel groups.[3][4][5]
In the 1980s underDeng Xiaoping, the department expanded its mission to include cultivating relations with non-communist parties, and shed its overtly revolutionary objectives.[6] In 1981, the department established theChinese Association for International Understanding.[7][8] The department also operates the China Foundation for Peace and Development.[9] In this era, the department sought to forge ties with "any foreign political party that was willing to meet with it."[4]
With the end of theCold War anddissolution of the Soviet Union, the ILD's expanded mission of engaging with parties across the political spectrum became more important.[2] Since the early 2000s, the ILD has increased its global outreach.[10] According to scholarAnne-Marie Brady, the ILD is "tasked with gathering intelligence on foreign politicians and political parties, and developing asset relations with them."[11] In 2010, the ILD established the China Center for Contemporary World Studies (CCCWS), a think tank serving on the secretariat of the Silk Road Think Tank Association, which aims to "enhance positive feelings" toward theBelt and Road Initiative.[12]
The department is theChinese Communist Party (CCP)'s primary body tasked with conducting diplomacy through party-to-party channels.[15]: 88 It plays a critical role in China's relations with other communist one-party states, including North Korea and Vietnam.[18][19] The department gathers intelligence on and influences foreign political parties, organizations,think tanks, and academics as well being tasked with finding ways to divide potential critics.[20][21][22][10][11] As of 2019[update], it maintains relations with more than 600 political parties and organizations from over 160 countries.[15]: 89
^Lovell, Julia (2019-09-03).Maoism: A Global History.Doubleday. pp. 13.ISBN978-0-525-65605-0.The two most important organisations handling the export of Chinese revolutionary theory and practice were the International Liaison Department and military intelligence.
^"中共中央对外联络部性质职能" [Nature and Functions of the International Department of the CCP Central Committee].International Department of the Chinese Communist Party (in Simplified Chinese). Archived fromthe original on 2008-03-26. Retrieved2008-03-26.
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