Civil Society

The China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED) recently proposed plans to increase the use of economic measures, including taxes and adjusted prices, to promote environmental protection and energy efficiency, reports the May 14 edition of the China Daily. The CCICED proposal also calls for the designation of environmental protection funds in the national budget and centralized management of these funds. A national budget that earmarked environmental protection funds would be a positive step, but the effectiveness of the CCICED proposal will depend on whether or not the management of the funds and assessment of the taxes and adjusted prices can be kept free from favoritism or unfair bias.

The Beijing Bureau of Industry and Commerce (BIC) has instructed several non-governmental social science organizations that currently are registered as for-profit companies to re-register with the Ministry of Civil Affairs (MOCA), according to a report in the Asia Times. Local BIC branches have posted official notices on their Web sites confirming the cancellation of registrations for a number of research groups.

Many Chinese NGOs register as companies to avoid having to comply with burdensome regulations that govern registration of civil society organizations in China. The BIC move will make it more difficult for certain types of NGOs to operate outside of government controls on civil society groups.

Chinese authorities have established the All China Environment Federation (ACEF), a state-run alliance of environmental NGOs, according to an April 24 Xinhua article. The ACEF's leadership is primarily current and former government officials; vice-directors include the current head of the State Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA), former directors and deputy directors of ministries such as Construction, Forestry, and Agriculture, and other officials with responsibilities touching on environmental issues.

Zhejiang authorities have registered China's first group of rural professional farmers cooperatives, according to a May 10 Beijing news report. Rural cooperatives are associations of farmers that organize to protect their economic interests. Zhejiang's provincial government passed the first regulations on rural cooperatives in 2004, as noted in a previous CECC analysis. These regulations appear to be somewhat more liberal than corresponding national rules. The Zhejiang regulations require cooperatives to register with the local Bureau of Industry and Commerce, but do not include the requirement for a "sponsor organization" present in most other Chinese civil society regulations. Tight restrictions on independent civil society organizations in China make it harder for farmers and other groups to organize and protect their interests.

Difficulties faced by a market research association illustrate broader problems that face Chinese civil society groups, as discussed in an April 6 analysis in the 21st Century Business Herald. These difficulties illustrate two broader problems facing Chinese civil society groups. First, the revenue-seeking behavior of government bureaus often leads them into conflict with successful civil society organizations. Second, excessive government regulations constrain the ability of Chinese society organizations to respond to these challenges.

April 27, 2005 - A group of Xinjiang tour guides established The Xinjiang Tour Guide Autonomous Protection Alliance on April 24, according to a report on Tianshan Net. 136 tour guides took the first steps to organize the non-governmental organization by signing a letter of intent in 2003. The report does not explain the two-year delay between the signing of the letter and the establishment of the Alliance. The Alliance hopes to elevate the status of the tour guide profession, protect the "legitimate interests" of Xinjiang’s tour guides, and improve the standards and training of tour guides.The report notes that there are more than 5,000 tour guides in Xinjiang, only some of whom are full-time employees of travel agencies.

Chinese authorities have ordered the Beijing AIDS Institute of Health Education, a respected Chinese non-governmental organization active in the fight against AIDS, to change its name or face closure, according to a South China Morning Post report. The move comes after the Beijing AIDS Institute issued a report alleging that official Chinese plans regarding the use of international AIDS funding lacked adequate public participation and representative patient sampling.

Government officials in central China have backed the plans of the U.S.-based International Council for Education Development (ICED) to open China’s first privately run university with an openly stated Christian mission.