With the appointment of a new head for the United Front Work Department, a decisive blow has been struck in the struggle behind the scenes for supremacy within the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), according to a trusted source in Beijing. From Hong Kong to the Senkaku Islands, the United Front Department has been the cause of continuing trouble for Party leader Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao and a possible threat to their plans to appoint new Party leadership at the upcoming 18th Party Congress, according to the source.
The announcement on Sept. 1 that Hu Jintao’s long-time chief of staff Ling Jihua would take the helm of the United Front Department sparked much speculation in Beijing. The United Front is charged with isolating and attacking enemies of the CCP, particularly outside China, by forming alliances with groups in society not known to be affiliated with the Party.
