Ministry of Civil Affairs Circular On Suppressing Illegal Social Organizations (Chinese and English Text)

The following is a translation prepared by the Congressional-Executive Commission on China of the "Ministry of Civil Affairs Circular On Suppressing Illegal Social Organizations," issued by the Ministry of Civil Affairs in January 1997. The Chinese text was retrieved from the Ministy of Civil Affairs Web site on May 17, 2006.
Ministry of Civil Affairs Circular On Suppressing Illegal Social Organizations MOCA letter #91 (1997) to all Civil Affairs bureaus of provinces, autonomous regions, and directly administered municipalities; and the planning boards of municipal Civil Affairs bureaus: According to the spirit of the “Central Party Committee and State Council Circular on Strengthening the Management of Social Organizations and Non-Governmental, Non-Commercial Enterprises” (Central Office #22, 1996), in order to strengthen the management of social organizations and strictly enforce law and discipline, investigate and prosecute in a swift and strict manner illegal organizations that have not registered and independently carry out social activities in the name of a social organization or branch, and to stabilize society, questions regarding the illegal social organizations are addressed as follows: 1) Investigating and prosecuting illegal social organizations is work with a strong policy nature. Civil Affairs offices at all levels, shall take the spirit of Central Document #22 as their guide and the “Regulations for the Registration and Management of Social Organizations,” and the “General Office of the State Council’s Notice to the Ministry of Civil Affairs Regarding the Cleanup and Reorganization of Social Organizations,” as yardsticks, and make the investigation and prosecution of illegal social organizations an important part of their daily agenda. They should strengthen leadership, cooperate fully, adjust resources, pay attention to the key points, and fully carry out investigation and prosecution of illegal social groups. 2) Civil Affairs offices at all levels should doggedly investigate and prosecute illegal social groups operating in their jurisdiction that have not registered and are independently conducting activities in the name of a social organization or branch, advise them to cease all activities, and ask them to voluntarily disband. Those that do not obey such a request will be ordered by the local Civil Affairs office to disband. For those illegal social organizations that do not comply with such an order and continue to carry out activities, Civil Affairs officials should cooperate with public security officials to compel execution. At the same time, a report of the handling of the case will be reported to Civil Affairs officials at the provincial, autonomous regional, or directly administered municipal levels. Included in the report should be any efforts by national and cross-provincial organizations, or their branches, to illegally establish social organizations. 3) When an illegal social organization disbands either voluntarily or by order, the appropriate Civil Affairs office should at that time confiscate that organization’s seal, documents, and all evidence and at that time issue a public statement about the illegal organization. At the same time, it should monitor and take care of any remaining issues related to that organization. 4) Civil Affairs offices at all levels, when investigating and prosecuting an illegal social organization, should meticulously investigate and verify, make sure that the facts are clear, and that the evidence is irrefutable. In very serious cases, they should ask for instructions and avoid rash actions.