NEW DELHI—As the Chinese Communist Party’s aggression and military build-up increases on the Indian border, experts warn about the deepening footprint of the CCP’s primary propaganda agency, The United Front Work Department (UFWD), against India’s policies in South Asia and at home.
Shikha Aggarwal, a Taipei based Sinologist and a 2020 fellow with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Taiwan told The Epoch Times over the phone that the UFWD was described by Mao as the “magic weapon” and by Xi Jinping as the quintessential instrument to realize the “China dream.”
It involves influencing narratives by subverting popular opinion, legislation, and policy decisions in conjunction with the CCP’s functional goals in a region, Aggarwal had earlier written in an opinion piece in the Indian Express, a leading Indian daily.
Frank Lehberger, another Sinologist and a Senior Research Fellow with India-based Usanas Foundation told The Epoch Times in an email that since coming to power, Xi has gradually extended the influence and enhanced the power of the UFWD.
“The UFWD is part of this ‘unrestricted warfare’ (a Chinese term 超限战争) that includes information and psychological warfare which the CCP is waging not only against India’s foreign policies but also against India’s internal matters or policies. Everything with the goal of softening India’s resolve and ultimately making India subservient to China,” said Germany-based Lehberger.
The UFWD is some sort of CCP “soft power,” and its most widely-used “non-lethal weapon,” according to Lehberger.
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