Theunited front is a strategy directed by theChinese Communist Party (CCP) and theGovernment of China to consolidate their control overHong Kong. To accomplish this aim, a number of different strategies have been used since the 1980s.[1][2][3] Today the control is mostly done through manipulation of local elections.
| Part ofa series on |
| Socialism in Hong Kong |
|---|
 |
Extant parties Pro-Beijing camp
Pro-democracy camp |
Historical parties |
Alliances |
TheHong Kong and Kowloon Federation of Trade Unions (FTU), an umbrella trade union for the local left-wing unions, was founded in April 1948. After the Communist victory in theChinese Civil War, the local communists remained in their semi-underground status. In the early post-war days, the Hong Kong and Kowloon Federation of Trade Unions, theChinese General Chamber of Commerce and theHong Kong Chinese Reform Association became the three pillars of the local pro-CCP organs, following the orders of theNew China News Agency, thede facto Communist China's representative in Hong Kong.[4] The FTU took a leading role in the1967 Hong Kong riots, which is inspired by the12-3 incident in the Macau, aimed at overthrowing the British colonial rule in Hong Kong. The leftists lost their prestige after the riots for a period of time as the general public was against the violence attributed to the leftists, although the presence of the pro-BeijingMaoist elements remained strong in the universities and colleges throughout the1970s Hong Kong student protests, in which many of the pro-CCP university and college graduates became the backbones of the pro-Beijing camp today.[5][6]
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".[3]
After the1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre, the CCP changed its strategy. Because the working and peasant classes far outnumbered the appointed government elite, the CCP realized they could not afford to let democracy take root in the general populace and consequently expanded their focus to garner support among Hong Kong's working class. They explicitly targeted the leadership ofKaifong associations, district boards and local municipal councils.[3]
Up until the 1980s, the CCP did not want to form its own pro-CCP political parties in Hong Kong as the democracy ideology was more popular.[3] But the pro-Beijing camp officially established the political partyDemocratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong in 1992 to participate in the local three-tier parliamentary elections.[citation needed]
In December 2017, Wang Zhenmin, the legal chief for the China Liaison Office, confirmed that the CCP was actively promoting its agenda of 'Mainlandization' of Hong Kong. He was quoted saying "Since 1 July 1997, Hong Kong’s political colour undoubtedly became red, meaning it has become part of red China. So there is no question of whether Hong Kong is "becoming red" because Hong Kong has already been red since 1997, when it came under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party".[7] In May 2018, Jonathan Choi Koon-shum andLeung Chun-ying, prominent figures from thepro-Beijing camp, started promoting the concept of "Greater Bay Area identity" in order to counter Hong Kong localism andself-determination and as presenting a possible future for Hong Kong after 2047.[8][9]
The representative of the government of mainland China in Hong Kong is theLiaison Office, with Hong Kong branch ofXinhua News Agency historically occupying this role. As the force that controls the China government, the CCP is the driving force that controls the office's affairs.[10]
The united front coordinates the nomination and campaigns in theLegislative Council (LegCo) and local elections.[11] Sometimes part of the party is listed as "independents" and run for elections.[10] An example isRegina Ip in the2007 Hong Kong Island by-election. In 2005, the front did not destroy democratic individuals (likeAnson Chan), because the political cost of doing so was too high.[10] It basically keeps the opposing parties divided so they are weak and non-threatening. In this case, the opposing enemy isHong Kong's democratic party, because it represents the wishes of thepro-democracy camp.[10]
While theone country, two systems separatedHong Kong andMacau from Beijing rule, it attempted to swing voters away from the democratic parties to keep them weak. An example is theDemocratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, which was installed to targetmiddle to lower class citizens in Hong Kong by gaining presence in theHong Kong real estate market.[10]
The front also rely on allies that have grassroots in Hong Kong's society such as the following:[10]
