China Digital Times

China news tagged with: civil society (78)

• Minxin Pei: China’s Political Awakening?

  

  Minxin Pei writes for The Diplomat:

  The ongoing labour unrest in China is seen by many as a labour market response to uncompetitive wages offered by foreign companies. And, to a large extent, this is true. Changing demographics are reducing the supply of ultra-cheap young labourers from the countryside to coastal export-processing zones, giving labour more bargaining power.

  But explaining China’s newly assertive workers purely on economic grounds misses the larger—and more interesting—political context. For labour activism is only one of the many signs of a broader political re-awakening in Chinese civil society.

  For years, Western observers have been disheartened by the lack of political change in China. Modernization theory predicts that rapid economic progress should help liberalize the political system, but this hasn’t occurred in China since 1989. Until now.

  In addition to migrant workers who have risked their jobs and personal safety in joining the strikes, China has seen other forms of civic activism and political assertiveness at the grassroots level.

  What’s interesting about this new political reawakening is that on the surface it doesn’t look all that political.

  » Read more
  • July 15, 2010 7:17 PM

• Group Aims to Add Transparency to China’s Charities

  

  The China Foundation Center was launched last week. According to the Wall Street Journal’s Real Time China blog, it “aims to help increase the transparency of Chinese charitable groups”:

  Some of China’s most recognized philanthropic leaders gathered in Beijing this past week for the launch of the China Foundation Center, a new organization that aims to help increase the transparency of Chinese charitable groups, which have sometimes struggled with public suspicion of mismanagement and even corruption.

  The organization looks to bolster trust in Chinese foundations by making information about their activities available to the public—thus hopefully encouraging more participation in charitable work. The center’s website will initially archive data on more than 1,800 foundations across China.

  Chinese and international philanthropic leaders gathered for Thursday’s launch ceremony, including Peter Geithner, father of the U.S. Treasury secretary and a former longtime leader in the Ford Foundation, and Xu Yongguang, founder of Project Hope, China’s largest non-governmental social welfare group. Many of them described the new organization’s launch as mirroring crucial steps taken to improve the credibility of philanthropic organizations in the U.S. in the 1950s.

  » Read more
  • July 12, 2010 7:46 PM

• Chinese Aids Group Feels Government Pressure

  

  BBC reports on political pressure felt by AIDS activist group Aizhixing, whose founder, Wan Yanhai, fled to the U.S. last month:

  Along with other non-governmental organisations (NGOs), Aizhixing says it has recently come under increasing pressure from the government.

  Its workers complain of arbitrary police searches, new bureaucratic hurdles and general official interference.

  Aizhixing’s founder, Aids activist Wan Yanhai, was so worried about his own safety that he fled to the United States with his wife and four-year-old daughter.

  He said the government had launched a “war” on civil society in China, limiting the activities of any organisation not controlled by its officials.

  It is a charge the government has declined to comment on. The Ministry of Civil Affairs did not want to talk to the BBC about the issue.

  » Read more
  • June 6, 2010 2:54 PM

• NGOs Feel the Squeeze

  

  Global Times looks at the tightening of control over China’s nascent society, with groups like Yirenping having difficulty registering and accessing funds donated from overseas:

  The category of registration is critical for access to funds. The center, according to Yu, receives 80 percent of its 1,000,000 yuan ($146,436) annual funds from foreign sources. A regulation, effective from March 1, bars entities like Beijing Yirenping Center – categorized as “domestic enterprises” – from overseas contributions.

  As the center is not registered as a social group recognized by the Ministry of Civil Affairs, this regulation of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) has in effect cut its lifeline. Circular of the SAFE on Relevant Issues Concerning the Administration of Donations in Foreign Exchange by Domestic Institutions notified in December 2009, asks “domestic enterprises ac-cepting/making donations from/to overseas non-profit institutions” to provide “notarized donation agreement specifying the purpose of the fund” for foreign exchange account in the bank.

  Two months since the regulation came into effect, banks, notary service providers and non-profit outfits are in the dark about how to get a donation agreement “notarized”. Thus, “domestic enterprises” have not been able to withdraw a single foreign donation from the bank, claims Yu. “More than 100,000 yuan is locked up in our foreign exchange account, and some cases have been postponed for lack of funds.”

  The financial squeeze may affect thousands of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that were registered as enterprises, said Fu Tao, director at China Development Brief, an NGO studying China’s civil society since 1998.

  » Read more
  • May 19, 2010 9:58 PM

• Legitimacy of a Legal Center (Updated)

  

  Global Times reports on the closure of the women’s legal aid center at Beijing University:

  Guo heard the news over phone, not from the authorities. “Your legal aid organization has been scrapped by Peking University? Is that true? I’m watching it being broadcast on television in the Metro right now,” a journalist friend shouted in the phone.

  Guo was shocked by the news. She couldn’t understand how the parent organization, which had built, supported, and took pride in its achievements since it was established, could abandon its own creation in this manner.

  “Scrapped” is a too strong a word for the once-honored center, according to Guo. It is not “as if we have done something wrong,” she said. She was so stricken that she cried for almost three days, she said.

  The notice of the center’s termination has led to a heated discussion in academic circles and on the Internet.

  Huang Xuetao, a graduate of PKU law school who works as a lawyer in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province wrote an open letter to PKU and the Principal Zhou Qifeng, asking him to publicly declare the reasons for termination of the center.

  Update: Also related, see “Why the chill in the air for NGOs?” from the NGOs in China blog.

  » Read more
  • May 12, 2010 3:50 PM

• China’s Crackdown on Nonprofit Groups Prompts New Fears Among Activists

  

  The Washington Post looks at the recent crackdown on non-governmental organizations and the decision by AIDS activist Wan Yanhai to leave China rather than endure continued harassment of himself and his organization:

  In the 1990s, at the time of the country’s economic opening, Chinese leaders actively encouraged the formation of grass-roots groups that could assist the government in areas where it was weak. And thousands of NGOs sprang forth, mostly tiny mom-and-pop, kitchen-table operations, largely unregulated and often receiving funds from overseas donors eager to assist in the growth of Chinese civil society.

  Strict Chinese government rules make it extremely difficult for groups to register officially as NGOs; most register instead as “companies.” The government has largely turned a blind eye.

  And there has long been a kind of tacit understanding that NGOs would be tolerated as long as they didn’t stray too far into political activism or criticizing the government. But as Young said, “You never know where the line is, and it does shift.”

  Added Wan Yanhai: “I think there’s no clear boundary between a political and a non-political organization. And there’s no clear boundary between action-oriented and advocacy.”

  » Read more
  • May 11, 2010 4:13 AM

• Notice from the Education Bureau’s Party Organization: “Recognize the Ill Intentions of OxFam”

  

  The Chinese government in February branded the Hong Kong branch of the aid organization OxFam a “subversive organization,” causing OxFam to suspend a program to aid impoverished farmers in China.  CDT has translated the notice from the Education Bureau calling on universities to prevent the organization from recruiting student volunteers online, which sheds some more light on the government’s decision to target the group.

  An urgent notice from the Party Committee of the Ministry of Education, regarding preventing Oxfam International’s Chinese office in Hong Kong from recruiting “university student volunteers” via the Internet

  To the education working groups of all Party committees of provinces, autonomous regions, and provincial-level municipalities; all Departments of Education; the Education Department of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Military Corps; and all Party committees affiliated with higher education facilities:

  According to information obtained by relevant agencies, since 2005, the Hong Kong-based China office of Oxfam International has consistently collaborated with domestic “rights protection” (weiquan) organizations to launch training programs for “university student volunteers.” Recently, these organizations have decided to employ “Internet mass publicity” methods, directly sending recruitment information to advising centers at domestic colleges and universities. This information encourages teachers to recommend people. Oxfam then screens out “suitable candidates” and arranges internships for them at partner “rights protection” organizations in major cities. The internships will last from March to June 2010.

  Hong Kong-based Oxfam is one of the NGOs dedicated to infiltrating our interior regions, and its leaders are the backbone of opposition factions. In view of the special nature of our education system, particularly colleges and universities, we must sever and remove any contact with the organization, and not have any form of cooperation with it. Education bureaus and colleges and universities in all regions must unite in thinking and be on heightened guard. Recognize the ill intentions of Oxfam in recruiting “university student volunteers”, and diligently execute surveillance measures.

  Presently, be advised of the following related demands:

  1) Increase inspection and control of Oxfam’s recruitment of “university student volunteers” at our colleges and universities. We must especially intensify, in a targeted manner, management of college and university career advising centers and campus employment information pages. College and university television broadcasts, school publications, notice boards and walls, and campus Internet networks are not allowed to publish any information related to these training programs.

  2) Require that all college and university career advising centers and all college departments not be allowed in any manner to recommend people for these training programs. If you discover teachers or students have participated in such programs, you must immediately adopt appropriate dissuasive measures and successfully execute educational advising actions.

  3) In the normal examination and approval process of student community activities, resolutely prevent Oxfam and its cooperating organizations from using financial support or other forms of support to publicize on campuses. Intensify the organizational management of employment and internships for graduated students. Diligently execute employment-advising services, move forward in expanding the strength of employment assistance for particular groups of graduated students, and prevent graduated students from moving towards these “internships” at “rights protection” organizations.

  While each region and higher education institution develops these measures, all must show a clear political stand, maintain a vigilant attitude. Furthermore, all must tighten up internally while keeping a relaxed outward appearance, pay attention to systems and methods, and prevent people with ulterior motives from seizing an opportunity to cause trouble. Upon encountering serious situations, all must report in a timely fashion to the local party committee, government, and education bureau.

  Feb. 4, 2010, Party Committee of the Ministry of Education

  

  » Read more
  • March 21, 2010 8:28 PM

• NGOs with Chinese Characteristics

  

  Asia Times reports on the recent decision by China’s Ministry of Education to brand the Hong Kong branch of OxFam a “subversive” organization:

  The Oxfam controversy started with a notice posted last month on the student recruitment webpage for Minzu University in Beijing calling the NGO an “ill-intentioned” organization with “ulterior motives”.

  The notice, attributed to the Education Ministry, accused Oxfam of “trying hard to infiltrate China”, adding: “All education departments and institutions of higher education must raise their guard and together recognize and take precautions against the unfriendly intentions of Oxfam Hong Kong’s recruitment of college volunteers.”

  It also referred to the Hong Kong head of Oxfam, Lo Chi-kin, a member of the city’s Democratic Party, as “a key member of the opposition camp”. The party, considered moderate in Hong Kong, nevertheless continues to push for greater democracy 12 years after the city’s handover from British to Chinese rule.

  In response to the notice, Oxfam Hong Kong suspended a program aimed at helping impoverished migrant farmers on the mainland.

  » Read more
  • March 8, 2010 1:21 PM

• China Insider Sees Revolution Brewing

  

  John Garnaut in the Sydney Morning Herald reports on a recent speech by director of social issues research at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences’ Institute of Rural Affairs Yu Jianrong:

  In contrast with the powerful, assertive and united China that is being projected to the outside world, Yu Jianrong said his prediction of looming internal disaster reflected on-the-ground surveys and also the views of Chinese government ministers.

  Deepening social fractures were caused by the Communist Party’s obsession with preserving its monopoly on power through ”state violence” and ”ideology”, rather than justice, Professor Yu said.

  Disaster could be averted only if ”interest groups” – which he did not identify – were capable of making a rational compromise to subordinate themselves to the constitution, he said.

  Some lawyers, economists and religious and civil society leaders have expressed similar views but it is unusual for someone with Professor Yu’s official standing to make such direct and detailed criticisms of core Communist Party policies.

  » Read more
  • February 27, 2010 3:07 PM

• Interview with Liu Jianqiang: Environmental Journalism and Censorship in China

  

  Asia Society interviewed environmental journalist Liu Jianqiang about journalism, new media, and the environmental movement in China. A former investigative reporter for Southern Weekend, Liu is now a columnist and associate editor for China Dialogue:

  NS: What are the various impediments to environmental journalism in China and how has this changed over time?

  LJ: The environment in China is not politics; politics is very sensitive. Journalists do find it easier to report about the environment. But my question has always been who is really harming China’s environment? It’s not you, me or the common people. It’s the huge interest groups out there. From local governments to companies and corporations, there are huge stakes in maximizing profit.

  When we highlight these stories, journalists are threatened by companies and local governments. This one instance, when a colleague and I were reporting about the Tiger Leaping Gorge dam in Yunnan province – my colleague was detained for four hours and when we did publish the article, the hydropower company called us and told me that the report was false and asked us to issue a public apology.

  » Read more
  • January 14, 2010 4:06 PM

• Corruption in Officials’ Private Lives

  

  Signs of official corruption are often seen first in cadres’ private lives. The Outlook Weekly (《瞭望》) reports [CN] on government supervision, the role of civil society in monitoring corruption, and possible take-away lessons from foreign countries. Translation of excerpt by CDT:

  “In order squelch corruption in officials’ lives, not only must we rely on internal monitoring, but on the power of civil society as well,” said Chinese Academy of Social Sciences researcher Yin Yungong during our interview. “As for local excessive uses of power, we need to move forward with research and reform so that public power might be able to achieve an effective check and balance system. At the same time, we need to go through legislative channels, complete reports, investigations, punishments, and other methods in order to bring officials’ private lives under the supervision of the media and the public as soon as a problem has been discovered to merit serious accountability.” [...]

  Many experts believe that corrupt officials feel a need to use ‘individual privacy’ as a safeguard to protect themselves; striking at corrupt officials requires first removing this false protective umbrella. Officials, as individuals in public power, do not have to disclose all information pertaining to their personal lives, but information on their personal lives relating to their official image and “quality” should be made open and brought under supervision. For example, an individual’s marriage, property situation, significant other, children’s job situations, and other main societal ties should be within the sight of organizations and the public in order to place limits on officials’ honest self-regulation. However, the privacy of an individual’s hobbies, eating habits, family affairs, and regular life should be protected.

  In this regard, a few methods adopted by foreign countries are worth referencing. In America, government officials’ private lives are one of the media’s chief focal points. An everwatching eye has served to set a large restriction on official behavior.

  » Read more
  • September 18, 2009 5:07 PM

• NGOs Nest in Never-never Land

  

  Global Times reports on the challenges facing international NGOs trying to register in China. It starts off by interviewing a Chinese employee of an American NGO:

  Registering a foreigner was the least of his problems during the debilitating process of trying to found an international NGO on the Chinese mainland, according to Zhang.

  “Registering as an international NGO was far more troublesome than one could ever imagine,” says Zhang.

  “It took us two months just to prepare our registration materials and that all amounted to nothing in the end.”

  From December 2007 to March 2008, Zhang and one of his American bosses, Casey Wilson, sat and waited for news of their registration application. Finally, they got the word.

  The article also discusses how the lack of an effective law governing NGOs in China results in many groups existing in legal limbo:

  The law just covers the management of representative offices of international foundations running as NGOs, but what about all the non-fund-related organizations?”

  The Global Times pops the exact same question to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

  “This issue is very sensitive and officials in the service center for NGOs have said they will choose the right time to talk about this issue – but that’s not now,” says a ministry public relations official surnamed Xia.

  In the meantime, the vast majority of international NGOs working on the mainland must continue to reside in a state of legal limbo.

  » Read more
  • August 20, 2009 9:59 PM

• China Snares NGOs with Foreign Funding

  

  The Christian Science Monitor writes about the recent crackdown on Gongmeng and Yirenping:

  Taken together, the raids appear part of a tightening of controls on critical voices in the run-up to Oct. 1, the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. The two NGOs are among a growing number here using the law to hold authorities to account on issues such as food safety, patient rights, and illegal detention.

  But they share another common thread: Both received grants from American and other foreign donors. The tax fine for Open Constitution Initiative, the group headed by Mr. Xu, was assessed largely on a donation from Yale Law School. Xu, a lawyer and elected legislator, is being detained on suspicion of tax evasion, according to an OCI official.

  The harassment of these and other foreign-funded NGOs in Beijing has raised fears of a Russian-style squeeze on civil society. [...]

  An alternate view in Beijing is that the groups targeted had pushed too aggressively into forbidden political zones, setting off a reaction. NGO workers and experts on civil society say the investigations into taxes and licenses are a smokescreen for a clampdown on legal activism, including the recent disbarring of 20 civil rights lawyers in Beijing.

  » Read more
  • August 4, 2009 8:58 PM

• Civil Society Crackdown: A Rundown of Recent Events

  

  In recent days, almost a month after violent riots in Xinjiang, journalists and netizens have reported a crackdown on civil society groups and online expression through a combination of tried-and-true methods (detaining activists) and new approaches (using administrative and financial restraints to crack down on civil society groups and closing down entire channels on one of China’s major web portals). How many people have been arrested so far? What groups have been harassed and which websites have been closed down? Does this constitute a crackdown? For those keeping track, here’s a partial rundown of recent events:

  - Tan Zuoren will be tried for subversion on August 12 after questioning why so many children died in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake.
  - Activist Huang Qi, who has criticized the government response to the Sichuan earthquake, has been charged with illegally possessing state secrets and will be tried next week.
  - On July 30, authorities from the Beijing Cultural Law Enforcement Agency raided the offices of Yi Ren Ping, a group that fights discrimination against people with Hepatitis B.
  - Prominent rights lawyer Xu Zhiyong was taken from his home early yesterday morning.
  - Earlier, Xu’s group, Open Constitution Initiative (Gongmeng) was closed down by authorities. OCI worked to provide legal assistance in a variety of civil rights cases.
  - This follows several months during which rights lawyers have been harassed, attacked, and effectively disbarred.
  - In mid-July, Tianyi, an influential Internet community site for public intellectuals, was shuttered.
  - Over the past couple of weeks, three channels on web portal Netease have all been closed down. Online commenters say the finance channel was closed after publishing a report critical of the Sino Grain Group; the technology channel posted a report about a corruption scandal in Namibia which is linked to Hu Jintao’s son; and the history channel was shuttered for posting an article about Russian political reform among other things.
  An article on Russian political reform posted to Netease’s history channel.

  » Read more
  • July 31, 2009 12:11 PM

• Authorities Raid Office Of Chinese Health Activist

  

  From AP:

  Chinese authorities seized dozens of newsletters from a nonprofit group that fights discrimination against people with hepatitis B, a campaigner said Thursday, calling the move retribution for the group’s advocacy work.

  Two officials from the Beijing Cultural Law Enforcement Agency, in charge of campaigns against printed and DVD pornography and piracy, on Wednesday confiscated about 90 copies of a legal guide to fighting discrimination for people with hepatitis B.

  A spokeswoman for the agency, Li Fei, confirmed the group was being investigated for publishing material without a required license. She would not comment further.

  The 40-page guides, published by the Beijing non-governmental organization Yi Ren Ping, include information about Chinese law, a practical guide to reporting violations and filing lawsuits, as well as details about successful anti-discrimination cases, said Lu Jun, the group’s founder. He denied doing anything illegal.

  See also a report from the the Christian Science Monitor blog about how this raid, coming on the heels of the shuttering of a prominent legal assistance group, may be part of a trend of cracking down on civil society organizations:

  What the raids have in common is the targeting of groups that use legal recourse to stand up to state agencies. In the case of Yi Ren Ping (public welfare, kindness, equality), its focus is social justice and particularly antidiscrimination. It has filed lawsuits on behalf of people with Hepatitis B who face exclusion from school and work.

  This was among the topics discussed in its bimonthly newsletter that caught the eye of the authorities. They told Lu Jun, the group’s coordinator, that he didn’t have a license to publish it. He argued that it wasn’t a commercial publication and didn’t need a license. In fact, only 100 or so are circulated.

  While he was arguing his corner with the officials, he found time to pop into the next room in his small office to talk to reporters who had showed up after hearing about the raid. He told me that his campaigning had upset powerful people who wanted to take revenge on the group.

  “The discrimination problem in China is very serious … the government should support our work. We’re doing what they’re not doing to help people,” he said.

  » Read more
  • July 29, 2009 8:01 PM

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