Draft 3
Created: July 5, 2021 1:12 PM
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According to the official Chinese sources obtained by the Brooking institution, by 2016 there are about 600,000 registered NGOs operating in China.
- With an estimated 3 million unregistered social organizations.
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This means that Most NGOs in China are Government-Operated Non-Governmental Organizations.
- They are created by, funded by, staffed by, and controled by the government in China.
- The minority of actual non governmental organizations are advocacy groups divided into three specific interest groups, professional groups, and citizens’ groups and are not directly funded by the state.
- However, they are still very restricted by the government and only allowed access to “operational autonomy”.
- Do they also receive inconsistent funding from the state?
- Is that a reason for NGOs to stay in line with government. Same as GONGOs?
- The government give autonomy and some times influence in decision making in exchange for their social services of education, health care, infrastructure, and social security programs.
- However, they are still very restricted by the government and only allowed access to “operational autonomy”.
- In contrast, interests groups in the United States are independent, all aiming to influence the government in their own benefit while competing with other interests groups. (Lumen Learn)
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These advocacy groups have to choose their fields of operation very carefully.
- Activism in sensitive fields like human rights are heavily pressed down upon.
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In the past China has had instances of the mass public making demands of the government before
- In the 1989 infamous Tiananmen Square massacre, students gathered to protest for end of corruption, freedom of speech, and progress to democracy after the death of the liberal-reformist communist general secretary Hu Yaobang.
- One violent conflict turn into another and by the end there is uncertain estimated to have from 800 to 10,000 deaths
- More recently, we also see the same process in Hong Kong, where China is extending its politically oppressive system to the former British colony.
- On issues of freedom of speech and press.
- and Legitimate political opposition
(Edition)
- In the 1989 infamous Tiananmen Square massacre, students gathered to protest for end of corruption, freedom of speech, and progress to democracy after the death of the liberal-reformist communist general secretary Hu Yaobang.
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Nowadays, Human rights defenders in China still continue to get harassed, intimidated, get “disappeared”, or imprisoned by the government.
- These human rights defenders get charged with vague sentences such as
- “subverting state power”
- or “picking quarrels and provoking trouble”
- These human rights defenders get charged with vague sentences such as
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- Most NGOs operate in non-sensitive and non-political areas such as
- environment, public health, education, services for the disabled and elderly, children, poverty alleviation
- show tiny clips of each field while i list them
- According to interviews conducted by a German university, in these non-sensitive issues NGOs have relatively close interactions with government officials themselves.
- Usually most NGO leaders are able to get in contact with the government weekly or at least once a month.
- Formally through policy position, relevant information, and research findings, as well as information on public opinion regarding the policy proposal.
- Or Informally through phone calls to inquire about the advancement of policy-making process and offering expertise
- Sensitive issues groups get ignored
- Usually most NGO leaders are able to get in contact with the government weekly or at least once a month.
- These non-sensitive societal issues are inherently encouraged by the government.
- For them to take part in providing social services in assistance of China’s government.
- Once again, this is in contrast to the United States system where both political and economic interests are represented by an enormous amounts of interest groups who affiliate with one another and sometimes even political parties. Its still questionable if that many interest groups existing is a good idea.
- The reason for this difference of operational power between the GONGOs and Grassroots NGOs might be for a few reasons
- visual bubbles of how big difference they are
- GONGOs existed earlier and were a big topic of scholarly interests in 1990s - Probably need research
- While the grassroots NGOs only emerged in the early 2000s with the rise of the internet in China
- They also are restricted to provide social services to communities instead of any political issues
- On top of that, social grassroots groups in China is expected to meet multiple hefty requirements to become actual NGOs in China
- They must put a down payment of 30,000 yuan ($4,500)
- They must have a supervisory agency connected to the government, which is quite impossible due to the risk vs benefits that these agencies get from bringing a new NGO under its wing.
- Therefore “NGOs” operate at a gray zone as businesses instead, and risking declared illegal anytime.
- Use video of paper highlights to demonstrate
- Activism in sensitive fields like human rights are heavily pressed down upon.
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It seems that the China’s transition from a centralized market to a free market made social and interest groups gain more influence and put pressure on the CCP on both economic policies and political decisions.
- So what’s in store for the future of interest groups in China
- Well according to Jing Yuejin from the Department of Political Science of the Tsinghua University of China, he laid out a few areas China could improve upon in its societal-state relation
- Put short video of his actual slides scrolling
- For the Chinese social-governmental structure and relations to remain stable in the future it must
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First, deliberative management and control of all social organizations of all social organizations
- If China took control of what forms of social organizations exist and operate in the country, NGOs in China wouldn’t have to take backdoor approaches of appearing as a business or operate under the shadows
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One of these is By the CCP adjecting important public policies and revising laws concerning its citizen’s well beings
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This is already underway, as in 2006 China abolished its agricultural land tax that has been a burden to Chinese farmers for thousands of years.
- Show paper with highlights
Beijing_abolishes_centuries-old_agricultural_tax_-_World_Socialist_Web_Site.pdf.pdf
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In 2001, China also passed a labor rights law that allowed workers unions to exist for the first time.
- Show paper with highlights
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Third, China must be switch over from a GDP based targets for its economy into a more inclusive development strategy that does not leave marginalized people in society behind.
- And this point has also been in progress by China as well in its 12th iteration of its five year plans for the country in 2011.
- The plan aimed the country to improve the overall citizen’s wages and to provide better education opportunities and healthcare.
- It also for the first time set less numerical production targets, instead relying on the production from market mechanism with the support of the government
- Show paper with multiple highlights switching focus and zooming according to what i’m talking about
- And this point has also been in progress by China as well in its 12th iteration of its five year plans for the country in 2011.
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Fourth, the government should improve the social welfare gradually
- Trying to reduce the huge wealth and influence gap between the rich and the poor would stick to its traditional equality values but also improve the problem of interest groups inequality where capitalists and resourceful interest groups garnering the larger voice in society
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The Chinese governments could improve the policy making process.
- To enhance the quality of decision makings in a democratic and scientific way by including the participation of both the relevant experts and the general public
- Either it through uncensored public discussions of hot topics or through the media
- To enhance the quality of decision makings in a democratic and scientific way by including the participation of both the relevant experts and the general public
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And lastly the CCP could be a service-oriented government, where leadership act by providing services, funding, and protection among groups in society rather than take on a dictatorial-ship role.
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- Well according to Jing Yuejin from the Department of Political Science of the Tsinghua University of China, he laid out a few areas China could improve upon in its societal-state relation
- So what’s in store for the future of interest groups in China
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In a country that is authoritarian, these systems and changes could be the sort of replacement of the electoral system where the relations between the government and its people are closer knit
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It seems that China has been heading in the right direction of adopting more liberalized social groups systems due to the rapid inflow of capitalist economic growth. However, it is still uncertain of what the future would actually look like.