{"id":184015,"date":"2015-06-03T21:13:24","date_gmt":"2015-06-04T04:13:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/?p=184015"},"modified":"2015-06-03T21:51:11","modified_gmt":"2015-06-04T04:51:11","slug":"ngos-in-china-public-comment-and-party-creep","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2015\/06\/ngos-in-china-public-comment-and-party-creep\/","title":{"rendered":"NGOs in China: Public Consultation and Party Creep"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thursday marks, among other things<\/a>, the end of the public consultation period on China’s proposed Foreign NGO Management Law<\/a>. Authorities say that the law will clarify foreign organizations’ rights and responsibilities, but critics argue that, on the contrary, it is too broad and vague. Foreign NGOs, journalist Song Zhibiao wrote last month<\/a>, face being “pounded to death,” while their domestic counterparts could lose valuable sources of expertise and funding. On Tuesday, Ira Belkin and Jerome Cohen of NYU Law School\u2019s U.S.-Asia Law Institute warned of a chilling of civil activity both within China and beyond if the government choses to “close its doors.”<\/strong><\/a> From The New York Times:<\/p>\n

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If the NGO draft becomes law, the international cultural, educational and technical exchanges that have become commonplace and so essential to China\u2019s astonishing development may come to a grinding halt.<\/p>\n

[\u2026] One of the most chilling parts of the draft, Article 59, extends to activities outside China\u2019s borders. Any of the following vaguely defined actions, if attributed not only to a representative within China but also to a foreign organization abroad, would be a violation: subversion of state power, undermining ethnic harmony, spreading rumors, or \u201cother situations that endanger state security or damage the national interest or society\u2019s public interest.\u201d<\/p>\n

In other words, if a student group on an American campus protests against Chinese government treatment of Tibetans, the university could be barred from activities in China, and its representatives in China could be detained and prosecuted.<\/p>\n

[\u2026] There is still time for China\u2019s leaders to revise this draft. The National People\u2019s Congress has invited public comment on the proposal. If the draft only reflects the views of a faction within the party, as many believe, responses from the public, including foreigners, could be influential. Those people who wish to see China continue on its path of peaceful engagement should come forward and be heard. The comment period for the draft law ends June 4. [Source<\/strong><\/a>]<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

More than 800 comments have so far been submitted<\/a>, according to Human Rights In China. One came from a group of 30 Chinese lawyers, who argued that the law would “be against the fundamental principle of administrative legislation, harm China\u2019s open and self-confident image of a great nation, and create unnecessary international dispute.” At least, they wrote, it warranted more careful consideration than it appeared to have received<\/a><\/strong>:<\/p>\n

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1. This legislation project, launched in a hasty manner and lacking sufficient argumentation, is an arbitrary legislation.<\/strong><\/p>\n

On October 30, 2013, NPC Standing Committee published the legislation plan for the 12th NPC Standing Committee, including in total 68 legislative items of three major categories. Foreign NGO Management Law was not among the said items, which shows that legislative authorities did not deem it was pressing to adopt this legislation. However, at the 12th meeting of NPC Standing Committee held at the end of December 2014, this law was abruptly proposed by the State Council for deliberation. Legislation is a scientific and serious process. This law will have wide-ranging influence upon exchanges and economic and social development in and outside China, and should go through sufficient legislative planning and argumentation. Without long-term social discussion and theoretical foundation, it will be very difficult to enact a rigorous, regulatory, systematic, scientific, and effective law. The consequences will be too ghastly to contemplate if such law is adopted in such an arbitrary way. [Source<\/a><\/strong>]<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Amnesty International<\/a> and Human Rights Watch have also published their submissions to the NPC<\/strong><\/a>. From HRW:<\/p>\n

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\u201cVague and overly restrictive regulations on organizations always have the goal of curtailing \u2013 not reasonably regulating \u2013 legitimate group activities,\u201d said Sophie Richardson, China director. \u201cIn the past two years, Chinese authorities have shown increasing hostility toward civil society, and this draft law is nothing more than a means to block the activities of groups Beijing doesn\u2019t like.\u201d<\/p>\n

In its submission, Human Rights Watch notes concerns about five aspects of the law:<\/p>\n