"Now, united front work is not outdated or unimportant; rather, it is more important than ever."

On July 29, 2022, Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, President of the People's Republic of China, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission, made this important judgment at the Central United Front Work Conference.

The January 16, 2024 issue of the Qiushi Journal published Xi Jinping's important article "Fully, Accurately, and Comprehensively Implement the Important Thought on Doing a Good Job in the Party's United Front Work in the New Era," which is part of his speech at the aforementioned conference.

To understand this important article, one must first understand the two temporal contexts in which the conference was held.

First, 2022 marked the 100th anniversary of the CPC's explicit proposal of the united front policy. Undoubtedly, over the past 100 years, the united front, regarded by the CPC as a "magic weapon," has played an important role in different historical periods of China's revolution, construction, and reform.

Second, 2022 was the year the CPC's 20th National Congress was held. On the historical coordinate of advancing national rejuvenation through Chinese-style modernization, the century-old party needed to answer: Is the "magic weapon" still useful? What uses does it have? How can it be used better?

In the new era, is the united front still useful?

Since the 18th National Congress, Xi Jinping has answered this question many times, either directly or indirectly.

"We engage in united front work never for the sake of appearances or pleasant rhetoric, but because it is useful, greatly useful, and indispensable."

"People are sometimes like this: when they possess something very important, they do not know how to cherish it, and only when they lose it do they realize its value. Therefore, we must never ignore or belittle non-party figures at any time."

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These statements are both vivid and incisive.

In the aforementioned important article, Xi Jinping once again emphasized, "The Party's historical orientation, the domestic and international situations it faces, and the missions and tasks it shoulders have undergone certain major changes. The greater the changes, the more we must develop the united front well and carry out united front work well."

What roles does the united front play on the new journey?

At the 2022 Central United Front Work Conference, Xi Jinping particularly emphasized the "three more importants":

— As the world's unprecedented changes of the century accelerate, the united front plays a more important role in safeguarding national sovereignty, security, and development interests;

— In building a modern socialist country in all respects and realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, the united front plays a more important role in focusing on the center and serving the overall situation;

— As China's social structure undergoes profound changes, the united front plays a more important role in strengthening the Party's class foundation and expanding the Party's mass base.

The "three more importants" are based on both the international and domestic overall situations and are strategic judgments grounded in world and national conditions.

In the new era, how can the united front be used well?

In the aforementioned important article, Xi Jinping emphasized that the greatest achievement of united front work in the new era is the formation, in practice, of the important thought on doing a good job in the Party's united front work in the new era, which has put forward a series of new concepts, new ideas, and new strategies for strengthening and improving united front work.

This important thought can be summarized as the "twelve musts":

We must fully leverage the important magic weapon role of the united front;

We must properly address the issues of people's hearts and strength;

We must correctly handle the relationship between consistency and diversity;

We must uphold, develop, and improve China's new type of party system;

We must take forging a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation as the main line of the Party's ethnic work;

We must adhere to the direction of sinicizing our country's religions;

We must do a good job in united front work with non-party intellectuals and people from new social strata;

We must promote the healthy development of the non-public economy and the healthy growth of non-public economic figures;

We must give play to the role of united front work in Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, and overseas in winning people's hearts;

We must strengthen the ranks of non-party representative figures;

We must grasp the laws of doing united front work well;

We must strengthen the Party's overall leadership over united front work.

The "twelve musts" are both epistemology and methodology.

More than two months after systematically expounding the "twelve musts," in October 2022, Xi Jinping once again emphasized the role of the "magic weapon" in his report to the CPC's 20th National Congress: "The united front is a powerful magic weapon for rallying people's hearts and pooling strength."

The Chinese Communists' positioning of the united front has evolved from an "important magic weapon" to a "powerful magic weapon."

People's hearts are the greatest politics. Xi Jinping once used an apt metaphor to discuss united front work: "The scope of making friends should be broad; the more friends the better, especially some close friends and candid friends with whom one can speak one's mind. To make such friends, one cannot make fast food; rather, one must make kung fu dishes like Buddha Jumps Over the Wall."

By understanding the "twelve musts" above and the "fast food" and "kung fu dishes" here, one can understand why united front work in the new era is not only not outdated but more important than ever.