Academic Roundtable | Make Good Use of the "Important Treasure" of the United Front for the Chinese Nation | United Front Work | Round Table | Make Good Use of it

Editor's note: Unity is strength. The united front is a basic strategic and strategic issue of Marxism, and it is also the political wisdom and political advantage of the CPC to use Marxism to promote China's practice. The united front is an important weapon for the Party to overcome the enemy and win, for the Party to govern and revitalize the country, for uniting all Chinese people at home and abroad to achieve the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, and for our Party to summarize the historical experience of a century of struggle through the "Ten Adherences".

This newspaper invites three experts to provide a comprehensive and systematic interpretation of this idea.

Host: Yu Ying, reporter from this newspaper

Guest: Cheng Zhuru, Professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Professor at Shanghai School of Administration, and Vice President of the Chinese Political Society

Li Jun, Director and Researcher of the Institute of Sociology, Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences

Xiao Cunliang is a professor at the School of Marxism, Fudan University, and the Deputy Secretary General of the United Front Basic Theory Shanghai Research Base of the China United Front Theory Research Association

How to fully, accurately, and comprehensively understand the basic connotation of this important idea?

We must promote the healthy development of the non-public economy and the healthy growth of non-public economic personnel. We must give full play to the role of united front work in Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, and overseas to win people's hearts. We must strengthen the construction of the non party representative team, grasp the laws of doing a good job in united front work, and strengthen the comprehensive leadership of the party over united front work.

The "Twelve Musts" are an organic whole with rich connotations and rigorous logic, elucidating a series of major theoretical and practical issues in united front work in the new era, and providing ideological guidance and action guidelines for the development and growth of patriotic united front in the new era.

He also pointed out the problems that have existed in the united front work for a period of time, emphasizing the need to "carefully analyze, identify the crux, correct thinking, and actively overcome them.".In 2018, according to the "Plan for Deepening the Reform of Party and State Institutions", the Party Central Committee further strengthened its centralized and unified leadership over united front work. In 2020, the CPC Central Committee issued the revised Regulations on the Work of the United Front of the CPC, which is an integrated innovation based on the existing development achievements of the United Front.

Cheng Zhuru: In terms of national strategic significance, the historical position is mainly reflected in the current situation and historical direction of a country's development.

Now, the united front is facing significant changes in its timing, mission, and tasks. The world's unprecedented great changes are accelerating, and the historical process of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation is deeply intertwined with the international political and economic environment. Therefore, the role of the united front in safeguarding national sovereignty, security, and development interests is even more important.

Host: In the magnificent and glorious course, the CPC has combined the Marxist united front thought with China's specific reality, and has widely gathered consensus and wisdom for the Party to complete its tasks in various historical periods.

National unity will always be the core of China's core interests, determining that a strong and unified country is bound by the fate of all ethnic groups.It can be seen that cultural identity is the deepest level of identity. Only by consolidating cultural identity can we consolidate the "five major identities" of the great motherland, the Chinese nation, Chinese culture, the CPC, and socialism with Chinese characteristics.

Xiao Cunliang: During the more than one hundred years of the CPC's leadership of the Chinese revolution, construction and reform, our party has always placed the united front in an important position and adhered to the great unity and unity. The united front shows a distinct internal logic that changes with the changes of the central work and major social contradictions. At the same time, the united front has also achieved its own development, continuously enriching and developing Marxist theories and policies on the united front, becoming an important tool for the Party to overcome the enemy and govern the country.

At the beginning of the founding of the CPC and during the Great Revolution, the central task was to fight against imperialism and feudalism, so the National Revolutionary United Front was put forward; After the failure of the Great Revolution, the focus of the Party's work shifted from cities to rural areas, forming a democratic united front of workers and peasants; During the War of Resistance Against Japan, the Party proposed the Anti Japanese National United Front; During the War of Liberation, the central task of the CPC was to liberate the whole country and realize that the people were masters of the country. As a result, a broad people's democratic united front including the overwhelming majority of the population of the whole nation came into being. The four forms of united front mentioned above are all in the process of the New Democratic Revolution, and are therefore collectively referred to as the "Revolutionary United Front". After the reform and opening up, economic construction became the center of the Party's work. The united front during this period correspondingly developed from a revolutionary united front to a patriotic united front.

The patriotic united front for the new era, led by the CPC and based on the alliance of workers and peasants, includes all socialist workers, builders of the socialist cause, patriots who support socialism, patriots who support the reunification of the motherland and are committed to the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. It is an important magic weapon to unite all Chinese people at home and abroad to achieve the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

Adhering to the center of the circle means adhering to and supporting the leadership of the CPC. Expanding consensus means seeking the largest common divisor as far as possible, drawing the largest concentric circle, and achieving great unity and unity. How to correctly understand the dialectical unity relationship and practical significance between sticking to the center of the circle and expanding consensus?

The essential requirement of united front work is great unity and unity, which solves the problem of people's hearts and strength. The historical evolution of socialism with Chinese characteristics has endowed the united front in the new era with a new breadth and depth to achieve great unity and unity.

In terms of breadth, the "great" of great unity and great unity is the extremely wide range of unity and unity. Different from the unity of class, various ethnic groups, and the people in our history, the scope of the Great Unity and Great Unity has expanded to "all socialist laborers, builders of the socialist cause, patriots who support socialism, patriots who support the reunification of the motherland and are committed to the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.".

In terms of depth, the greatness of great unity lies in maximizing the strengthening and strengthening of the bonds of people's unity. In theory, unity includes inclusive unity, unity based on common interests, and unity with identity. From an empirical perspective, the depth and sustainability of unity are greatly influenced by the recognition of same-sex unity, with unity based on national, ethnic, and cultural identity being more stable. The essence of integrating various forms of unity lies in correctly handling the issues of consistency and diversity. The key is to adhere to seeking common ground while reserving differences, carry forward the fine tradition of "unity criticism unity", seek consistency while respecting diversity, and find the greatest common divisor.

Xiao Cunliang: Since the concept of the united front was proposed by the proletarian party, the leadership of the proletarian party over the united front has been its inherent meaning. Only the united front established under the leadership of the proletarian party is the true united front, which can also be said to be one of the basic laws of the united front.

On the basis of adhering to the CPC as the core, the consistency and diversity of the united front in the new era are mainly reflected in three aspects: first, the value level. Consistency mainly refers to the consensus value that all social and political forces involved in the united front can accept, while diversity mainly refers to the values and ideologies that all social and political forces themselves adhere to; The second is at the institutional level. The system of multi-party cooperation and political consultation under the leadership of the CPC, from leadership to consultation, is a process of increasingly diversified subjects and expanding participation. At the national institutional level, there are specific systems such as "one country, two systems" and the system of regional ethnic autonomy; The third aspect is the mechanism of united front work. United front work is the work of the entire Party. In addition to the United Front Department mainly responsible for united front work, other Party departments, including the Organization Department, Propaganda Department, and External Liaison Department, must also carry out the Party's united front work, that is, establish a mechanism for united front work.

Li Jun: The scope of united front work in the new era has been further expanded and gradually clarified. Faced with the new situation of more diverse forms of ownership and social classes, an important change in the scope of united front work is to juxtapose "non-public economic personnel" with "new social class personnel" and redefine the latter, including management and technical personnel of private and foreign-invested enterprises, employees of intermediary and social organizations, freelancers, and new media employees, to make them more in line with the reality of economic and social development and the class class theory of the Party.

Mobilize all Chinese people to think and work together around realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and the Chinese Dream. "All together" and "together" are the most vivid and profound manifestations of the united front concept. Chinese path to modernization is a modernization with a huge population, which requires us to give full play to the advantages and role of the united front, seek the largest common divisor and draw the largest concentric circle. The united front work in the new era is constantly expanding its scope, especially increasing attention to new groups. For example, in addition to the previously focused practitioners of new economic and social organizations, attention is also paid to emerging employment groups, including contracted writers, freelance writers, independent producers, independent actors and singers, freelance artists in the cultural field, as well as new media practitioners and "opinion leaders" in the online field.

United front work is the work of the whole party, and it must be given great attention by the whole party. A grand united front work pattern should be established, with the party committee leading the way, united front departments leading and coordinating, and relevant parties each taking their respective responsibilities. The new era of united front work emphasizes the role of united front organizations as bridges, links, nodes, and hubs, including the CPPCC, democratic parties, chambers of commerce and industry associations, European and American student associations, non party intellectual associations, overseas Chinese associations, religious groups, etc., in order to achieve a point to area effect. In 2017, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China held a national conference on the united front work of new social strata, and the General Office of the Communist Party of China issued the "Opinions on Strengthening the United Front Work of New Social strata". The newly revised Regulations on the Work of the United Front of the CPC in 2020 clearly condensed the multi-party cooperation and political consultation system led by the CPC into a "new party system"; Designate the relationship between the government and the non-public economy as a "new type of government business relationship"; Upgrade the work of non party intellectuals from basic work to basic and strategic work.

Xiao Cunliang: The comprehensive leadership of the proletarian political party over the united front must be implemented in practice and cannot result in "virtual achievements". As early as in the period of the new democratic revolution, the CPC established the "three three system" and other united front systems. After the establishment of the People's Republic of China, the united front was integrated into the construction of the national system, and a system of regional ethnic autonomy and political party system were established.From then on, the comprehensive leadership of the Party over united front work has been fully reflected through the reform of Party and state institutions, the construction of national systems, and the construction of internal Party regulations.

Cheng Zhuru: The united front is an important component of the Party's overall line and policy, and has played an important role in different historical periods. In practice, the CPC has formed the important principles of the united front work: adhere to the leadership of the CPC; Adhere to holding high the banner of patriotism and socialism; Adhere to focusing on the center and serving the overall situation; Adhere to great unity and unity; Adhere to the correct handling of the relationship between consistency and diversity; Adhere to respecting, safeguarding, and taking care of the interests of allies; Persist in making friends widely and deeply with non party friends; Adhere to the framework of the United Front Work. The united front work system is also constantly improving. For example, a new system of joint meetings for united front work among individuals from different social classes has been established; Local multi-level religious work network system; Establishing a system of leading ethnic and religious affairs, overseas Chinese affairs office, overseas Chinese federation, advisory office, and cultural and historical museum in the United Front Work Department constitutes the historical support and practical foundation of the new era's united front.

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