President Xi Jinping's plea for a "united front" from the ruling Chinese Communist Party in a high-profile speech this week shows that the president is combining the hostile politics of the Mao era with an ever-expanding deployment of "soft power" in the form of influence that goes well beyond the business of government, political analysts said on Friday.

China is using "soft power" in order to overcome decades of confrontation with Taiwan, encouraging the island to reunite with the mainland.