NEW DELHIโAs the Chinese Communist Partyโs aggression and military build-up increases on the Indian border, experts warn about the deepening footprint of the CCPโs primary propaganda agency, The United Front Work Department (UFWD), against Indiaโs 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 โmagic weaponโ and by Xi Jinping as the quintessential instrument to realize the โChina dream.โ
It involves influencing narratives by subverting popular opinion, legislation, and policy decisions in conjunction with the CCPโs 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.
โThe UFWD is part of this โunrestricted warfareโ (a Chinese term ่ถ ้ๆไบ) that includes information and psychological warfare which the CCP is waging not only against Indiaโs foreign policies but also against Indiaโs internal matters or policies. Everything with the goal of softening Indiaโs resolve and ultimately making India subservient to China,โ said Germany-based Lehberger.
The UFWD is some sort of CCP โsoft power,โ and its most widely-used โnon-lethal weapon,โ according to Lehberger.
BYย VENUS UPADHAYAYA
