Online representatives to deepen united front work

The United Front Work Department (UFWD) of the Communist Party of China Central Committee has launched lectures for online Chinese representatives to let them spread mainstream thought and help purify the internet, a move observers said is aimed at encouraging various social thought.

Fifty-two representatives attended a seminar last week organized by UFWD at the Central Institute of Socialism, Guangming Daily reported.

The seminar helped online representatives spread mainstream thought and build the nation into a strong cyber power.

This is the second seminar given to online representatives by the UFWD. The first one was held in June 2017, where 48 people from across China gathered in Chongqing. The representatives included new media managers, online writers and internet celebrities.

Wang Sixin, a law professor at the Communication University of China in Beijing, told the Global Times on Sunday that the UFWD has become active in united front work recent years. Cyberspace is the largest field for their work, where the country’s industrial innovation and all kinds of thoughts occur.

The united front work has long been a Party tradition, but in the new era when everyone can be a media messenger, the UFWD “is attempting to mobilize positive forces, and turn disadvantages to advantages,” Su Wei, a professor at the Party School of the Chongqing Committee, told the Global Times on Sunday.

It is necessary to regulate cyberspace as it is a field where wrong Western thinking is spread, Wang said.

One of the UFWD’s duties is to study the condition of the intellectuals, coordinate the relationship between the Party and the intellectuals and contact and foster non-Party representatives among the intellectuals.

The UFWD plays a role in uniting people from different fields, including business and religious people, Su said. Holding seminars would shape China’s mainstream ideology and bring correct socialist values to netizens, Su said.

Spreading mainstream thought does not mean the country asks everyone to speak with one voice, Su said. On the contrary, the Party encourages different ways of thinking and protects freedom of speech in accordance with the law, he said.