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The effects of this policy could be seen in the increasingly cozy relations between KMT politicians and CCP officials. Before Taiwan’s 2020 Presidential Election, KMT candidate Han Kuo Yu visited the Hong Kong Liaison Office, which has been China’s representative in Hong Kong since the handover. Yu’s visit sparked huge controversy in Taiwan. Opponents attacked Yu for blatantly selling Taiwan out. Irrespective of Yu’s intention, the fact that he felt comfortable enough to meet with CCP officials is telling. He didn’t fear the backlash it would cause among Taiwan’s population. At the very least, that is a testament to KMT politicians’ complacency. Under XI’s rule, the CCP has forced countries to cut diplomatic ties and unreasonably banned certain Taiwanese products from entering China. These are compelling signals that the CCP’s threat to Taiwan is readily apparent. And yet Yu still felt that it is appropriate to visit CCP officials as a presidential candidate. To say that the “United Front” tactic that pitches the KMT and the CCP as allies played no part in creating this complacency would be unconvincing.

To answer these questions, we must first understand the meaning of the National Bourgeois and the Urban Petite Bourgeois within CCP’s orthodoxy. In 1925, when the CCP was still in guerilla warfare against the Chinese Nationalists, Mao wrote “The Analysis of the Classes in Chinese Society”. The essay started with the iconic quote “Who are our enemies? Who are our friends? This is the question of the first importance for the revolution”. For Mao, that is the paramount question in a class analysis of Chinese society. At the top are the landlords and the Comprador Bourgeois. They are subservient to imperialist interests and categorically incompatible with a Communist Revolution. Below the landlords and the Comprador class is the National Bourgeois, a large part of China’s middle class. Unlike the landlords and Comprador Bourgeois, the National Bourgeois are not fully incompatible with the incoming Communist Revolution. On one hand, when the National Bourgeois are exploited by foreign powers and Chinese warlords, they become staunch allies of the anti-imperialist and anti-warlord agenda. On the other hand, when the proletariat joins the anti-imperialist agenda, the National Bourgeois become fearful of a full-blown Communist Revolution. This ambivalent attitude is the key characteristic of the National Bourgeois and is the primary reason for the Communists to ally with the National Bourgeois.

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The Petite Bourgeois are small-time employees of the National Bourgeois. Mao differentiated three groups of Petite Bourgeois in terms of on the left, center, and right of the political spectrum, which is in turn determined by the Petite Bourgeois’ respective economic conditions. However, as Revolution nears its success, the Petite Bourgeois in the center will inevitably lean towards the Left to reap the fruits of the Revolution, which forces the Petite Bourgeois on the Right to side with the Revolution.

The 5 stars on China’s flag represent 5 groups. The big star on the left is the Chinese Communist Party. They have led the Chinese people towards revolution. The “Chinese people” is represented by the 4 smaller stars: The workers, the peasants, the Petite Bourgeois, and the National Bourgeois. The presence of peasants and workers is unsurprising. As they were in the Soviet Union, they are the driving force for the Communist Revolution under Marxist-Leninism. What is startling is how the Petite Bourgeois and the National Bourgeois are grouped alongside the workers and the peasants as contributors to the Chinese Communist Revolution. Was the bourgeois not mortal enemies of the proletariats? Why, then, are the National Bourgeois and the Petite Bourgeois even given a rightful place in the Chinese Revolution? And what does it tell us about the CCP?

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The history behind the 4 smaller stars on China’s flag is a sober reminder that the line between those who are CCP’s allies and those who are their enemies is never clear-cut. If anything, that is a matter in which we should all invest more time in understanding.

Mao’s reasoning here exemplifies the notion of the “United Front”. In its Leninist formulation, the United Front is a strategy where revolutionary workers align with non-revolutionary workers for the greater good of the workers. Mao took this concept a step further by differentiating between potentially revolutionary Bourgeois and non-revolutionary Bourgeois and aligning the Chinese proletariat with the former class. In either case, there is a departure from orthodox Marxism. Under Marxism, class consciousness is rigid and unchanging. If one is a worker, one is necessarily an ally of the Revolution. If one is a bourgeois, one is necessarily the enemy of the Revolution. Instead, Mao and Lenin differentiated between enemies that could be allied to the cause of the Revolution and categorically incompatible with the Revolution. On one hand, this is an adaptation that Marx’s simplistic view of society. On the other hand, this exemplifies Lenin and Mao’s obsession with Revolution. As Mao asserts, what matters is answering “Who are our friends? Who are our enemies”. How the Revolution is supposed to pan out and whether it follows Marxist principles is secondary. The only important question is that Revolution is achieved, and any strategy that would further that cause, including that of aligning with some of your enemies, would be adopted. That is the background behind the National Bourgeois and the Petite Bourgeois’ place on China’s flag.

This “United Front” tactic has been ingrained in CCP’s structure. In 1949, Mao established the United Front Work Department (UFWD). Reporting directly to the central committee, the UFWD has henceforth promoted party interests outside of CCP’s jurisdiction. After Mao died in 1976, the CCP’s efforts at creating United Front became passive. However, 40 years later, the ascension of the ambitious Xi Jing Ping rejuvenated “United Front” tactics. This is most evident in Taiwan, where Xi promised to reunify with the mainland before his retirement. In particular, there were concerted efforts to create a United Front with Taiwan’s Nationalist Party, or KMT. This is primarily done through the portrayal of the KMT as ideological allies with the CCP. Under Xi’s rule, the CCP has been ramping up the stigmatization of “separatist forces” in Taiwan. Peace would be preserved across the strait only if forces pushing for Taiwan’s independence is contained. This, in turn, paints the KMT as ideological allies with the CCP, since the KMT’s doctrinal claim over mainland China could only be sustained if Taiwan refrains from independence. In that sense, the CCP paints the KMT as allies insofar as neither party wants to see an independent Taiwan. The consistency of this narrative is particularly noteworthy. Even after Speaker Pelosi’s historic visit to Taiwan, Chinese Diplomats continued to reassure that any military action would only be taken against “the small portion of separatist forces in Taiwan”.