Localism in Guangdong

If one looks at the history in China since the 1911 Revolution, one will see that some of the southern provinces such as Guangdong, Guangxi and Fujian were a source of trouble and defiance (違抗) to the central government in the north. Because of a strong tradition of independent thinking and of not accepting the dictates of rulers from the far north, the people of Guangdong and Fujian, particularly the Hakka, have always had closer links with the outside world than have most of their compatriots (同胞) in other provinces. On a number of occasions when there was a political turmoil (騷動), these three provinces would declare a form of de facto (事實上的)"alliance and independence".

To begin with, right after the province's liberation, there were four different groups of cadres appointed to various posts in Guangdong. There were the Southbound (南行的) Work Team and regular People's Liberation Army soldiers from the north, the various guerrilla forces in Guangdong, the underground party and Youth League members (團員) from the Guangzhou and Hong Kong areas, and the former KMT officials who remained in their jobs. Within these groups there existed vast differences both in training and in experience during the war years. Most important of all was the cultural gulf, since the Guangdong cadres and the Guangdong guerrillas in particular were far closer to the local people than any the northerners could possibly be. These differences sowed the seeds of conflict right from the start.

United Front Policy (政治協商制度) was first launched by the CCP in 1924. The United Front meant to "unite all forces that can be united with in order to wage (發動) a common struggle against the enemy and to win in revolution and construction". In 1949, the policy was mainly aimed at the national bourgeoisie (中產階級) class. The political policy was to continue in coalition (聯盟) with this class. The economic policy was the implementation of peaceful redemption (兌現) of assets (資產) of the state capitalists.

Ye (Jianying) emphasized that the correct policy (land reform) should  "rely on poor peasants, unite the middle peasants and neutralize the rich peasants". Ye also highlighted that "The important point of the movement is to expose the crimes of the landowners' exploitation (剝削)".

Chan, S.J. (2014). East River Column -- Hong Kong Guerrillas in the Second World War and After. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.