The China Council for the Promotion of Peaceful National Reunification (CCPPNR) is an umbrella organization, founded in 1988, by the

United Front Work Department The United Front Work Department of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (UFWD; ) is a department of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) which is officially tasked with "united front work". For this endeavo ...

of the

Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victoriou ...

(CCP) to promote unification between

mainland China "Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territories within Greater China. ...

and

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

on terms defined solely by the People's Republic of China. Unification is couched in a

one country, two systems "One country, two systems" is a constitutional principle of the People's Republic of China (PRC) describing the governance of the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau. The constitutional principle was formulated in the early ...

framework, though critics categorize it as annexation. According to scholar

Anne-Marie Brady Anne-Marie Sharon Brady (born 1966) is a New Zealand academic and Professor of Political Science at the University of Canterbury. She specialises in Chinese domestic and foreign politics, Antarctic and Arctic politics, Pacific politics, and ...

, in addition to promoting unification, "the organization also engages in a range of activities which support Chinese foreign policy goals, including block-voting and fund-raising for ethnic Chinese political candidates who agree to support their organization's agenda." The main council oversees over 200 chapters in multiple countries. The group holds an annual Overseas Chinese World Conference for Promoting Peaceful Reunification of China. This event has been held in multiple countries and is coordinated by local councils and other

front organizations A front organization is any entity set up by and controlled by another organization, such as intelligence agencies, organized crime groups, terrorist organizations, secret societies, banned organizations, religious or political groups, advocacy gro ...

linked to the United Front Work Department. Though not required by law, the CCPPNR is usually led by the

chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference The Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference () is the leader of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), which is a political advisory body i ...

, while the UFWD director serves as its executive vice president. The council was previously chaired by

Wang Yang Wang Yang may refer to: People *Wang Yang (politician) (born 1955), Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference *Wang Yang (Liaoning politician) (born 1957), former provincial official from Liaoni ...

and vice chair

You Quan You Quan (; born January 1954) is a Chinese politician who is the former director of the United Front Work Department and a former secretary of the Secretariat of the Chinese Communist Party. He previously served as Communist Party Secretary of F ...

Branches

Australia

In 2019, it was reported that the Australia-based branch, the Australia Council for Promotion of Peaceful Reunification (ACPPRC), was not registered as a foreign agent even though it acts to influence Australian politics. The ACPPRC was previously headed by Huang Xiangmo who was subsequently banned from entering Australia due to national security concerns.

United States

In the United States, multiple local councils exist and a national-level council is registered as a non-profit called the National Association for China's Peaceful Unification (NACPU). NACPU is also registered under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). In 2019, U.S. congressional representative Judy Chu was named "honorary chairwoman" of a branch council called the Forums for Peaceful Reunification of China, an organization opposed to Taiwanese independence. In 2019,

Li "Cindy" Yang Li "Cindy" Yang (; born ) is a Chinese-American businesswoman known for founding an enterprise of massage parlors in Florida, including one sold by Yang in 2013 where New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft later allegedly received illegal sexual ...

, a vice-president of the organization's Florida-based council, was investigated by the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...

for allegedly "peddling access" to Mar-a-Lago. In October 2020, NACPU was designated a

foreign mission A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually deno ...

by the

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other n ...

. In 2023, the founder of the Texas Council for the Promotion of China's Peaceful Reunification, John Shing-Wan Leung, was jailed for life in China on espionage charges. In May 2023, the founder of the New England Alliance for the Peaceful Unification of China (NEAPUC), Liang Litang, was indicted for acting as an illegal agent of the Chinese government and for surveilling and harassing Chinese dissidents.

Reaction

Scholars and observers have noted that the council and its events are part of the political influence agenda of the Chinese Communist Party and that Taiwan has never been under the control of the CCP. In September 2020, U.S. Secretary of State

Mike Pompeo Michael Richard Pompeo (; born December 30, 1963) is an American politician, diplomat, and businessman who served under President Donald Trump as director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) from 2017 to 2018 and as the 70th United State ...

stated that the

State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the country's fore ...

had begun reviewing the activities of the CCPPNR in the U.S. In October 2020, the State Department designated the NACPU a

of the People's Republic of China. In 2022, the U.S. National Counterintelligence and Security Center issued a warning notice to state and local leaders citing the NACPU, the

Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries The Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC, or in short) is one of the major foreign affairs organizations of the People's Republic of China. The organization manages China's sister city relationships. Its ...

, and the United Front Work Department.

References

External links