China provided weapons to the UPC. Seven years after its founding, in 1955 the Union of the Peoples of Cameroon controlled 460 village or neighborhood committees and 80,000 members, particularly on the coast in central, south and west Cameroon, among the Bamileke and Bassa. Representatives of the party were invited in 1958 to the "Conference of Independent African States" organized by Ghanaian President Kwame Nkrumah. Youth and women's structures In 1952, the party created a women's branch, the Democratic Union of Cameroonian Women. While the latter is not defined as "feminist", it nevertheless contributes to destabilizing the places generally assigned to women by colonial authorities or traditional leaders, for example by calling for the abolition of laws prohibiting women from taking up certain professions or commercial activities. Its activists send multiple petitions to the United Nations and organize demonstrations challenging the administration. The Cameroonian Democratic Youth was founded in 1954 and became an important lever for recruiting young activists. It is increasing its contacts with other youth organisations, particularly in Eastern European countries, and participates in conferences abroad. Its leader Hyacinthe Mpaye, who was involved in the French army during the Second World War and a CGT trade unionist, was close to Marxism: he explained what he thought was a necessary alliance between Cameroonians and the French working class. The JDC has a strong autonomy from the UPC. On the other hand, the UPC considers economic claims to be inseparable from political claims:" the employers are supported by the administration and this administration can only pursue a policy of national oppression in our countries by using economic weapons and material means held in large part by private companies. The UPC considers, and trade union activists agree, that the economic emancipation of our people is impossible without the political achievements necessary for the economic, social and cultural progress of the people. Movement in exile In 1954, the new French High Commissioner Roland Pré was determined to liquidate the UPC. The party leaders are gathered in Douala to facilitate their surveillance and carry out judicial harassment against them. Abel Kingué, the vice-president, is thus prosecuted for "contempt of court" for a case dating back to 1951; Pierre Penda, a member of the steering committee, is the subject of five consecutive cases; Félix Moumié is prosecuted for "defamation and insult"; and Ruben Um Nyobè is convicted of "libelous denunciation". Roland Pré is currently