SPEAKING FREELY
Civil society groups rely on Beijing 
By Yiyi Lu

Speaking Freely is an Asia Times Online feature that allows guest writers to have their say. Please click here if you are interested in contributing.

On hearing that this writer has been studying Chinese non-governmental organizations (NGOs), people encountered outside China usually have two reactions. Either they will ask with incredulity: "Are there any NGOs in China?" Or they will assume that Chinese NGOs are no different from NGOs in other countries, therefore, they will ask how Chinese NGOs cope with the challenges commonly faced by NGOs elsewhere, such as how to maintain their independence and how to mobilize popular support for their campaigns against the bad polices or behavior of the government.

Both reactions stem from a lack of understanding of the situation of contemporary China. Although it is still a communist country, it is no longer ruled by a totalitarian state that leaves no space for autonomous social action. Many NGOs are active in China today. They address a wide range of issues and represent diverse constituencies. Hotlines for victims of domestic violence, residential homes for disabled people, rural development associations implementing micro-credit schemes, clubs of environmental activists, self-help groups formed by people living with HIV/AIDS, and legal service centers for women and children have sprung up all over the country in the last two decades. They provide much-needed services where none existed before, raise public awareness of important issues, and help push the government to provide better care and protection for vulnerable and disadvantaged members of society.

On the other hand, Chinese NGOs often operate in a way that is very different from NGOs in most other places. While NGOs elsewhere often consider independence from the government as essential to their ability to fulfill their basic functions, many Chinese NGOs view close ties to the government not as a problem but as an invaluable asset. They invest great effort in establishing such ties. Instead of worrying that a cosy relationship with the government will reduce public trust in them, they think it will enhance their ability to attract popular support.

A dependent relationship with the state
Chinese NGOs have good reasons for thinking this way. Although the state has substantially reduced its control over the economy and society after more than 20 years of reform, it remains the dominant force in Chinese economic and social life. NGOs cannot operate without receiving various forms of crucial support from the state or its agents. For example, because a system of "rule of law" has yet to be fully established in China, NGOs cannot rely on the legal system for protection if subjected to obstruction or arbitrary sanctions by government agencies or officials. Therefore, it is important for NGOs to cultivate powerful patrons or friends in the government who can provide them with the necessary protection should the need arise.

For many years the state has been the sole provider of social services, and as a result, many ordinary Chinese people still have more trust in government service providers than poorly regulated private institutions. Non-government institutions therefore need government endorsement to gain public trust. When NGOs launch fund-raising activities, the public often suspect that these are scams aimed at swindling money from them. Again, NGOs often seek to reassure the public by demonstrating that they are approved by the government. The China Youth Development Foundation (CYDF), a government-backed organization, initially tried to solicit donations by sending letters directly to people. Many recipients of such letters contacted the police, asking them to find out if this was a confidence game. The CYDF then asked the People's Daily, the official newspaper of the Communist Party, to print an advertisement for it. Thereafter, it never heard of people asking the police to check it out again. 

Because NGOs are a relatively new phenomenon in China, they are still a novelty to many people. In the words of the director of a rural development NGO, many peasants "do not know there are other organizations beside the government". To avoid confusing the peasants, when the staff of this NGO goes into villages, they simply tell the villagers that they are from the government's poverty alleviation office. This NGO also needs to use the government's administrative system in the villages to implement its projects, since it only has a small staff and no organizational network of its own. Many other NGOs are in a similar situation. Without the government's assistance, they are not able to implement even medium-scale projects.

Advocacy with Chinese characteristics
Chinese NGOs' need of government support does not detract from their ability to carry out effective advocacy. Rather, it has led to a particular way of advocacy that relies heavily on formal and informal ties to the government. When asked how his organization might influence government policies on HIV/AIDS, the vice president of the China Association of STD (Sexually Transmitted Disease) and AIDS Prevention and Control (CASAPC), a professor Dai, who gave only his surname, explained that he was the director of the Disease Control Department of the Ministry of Health for 11 years before he retired and joined the CASAPC.

He is still a leading member of the Health Ministry's expert panel on HIV/AIDS. And he is often invited to ministerial-level meetings where specific policies are decided. Dai then asked: "If I am able to have some influence on government policies, is this because I am a member of the CASAPC, or because I am a member of the expert panel, or because I am the former director of the Disease Control Department?" Apparently, these three identities and roles from which Dai cannot easily be separated.

This is a typical example of how Chinese NGOs take their ideas and concerns to policymakers in the government. In a similar case, a legal research center has the ear of the government because its two directors are renowned law professors who serve as advisers to the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procurator. Some of their former students already hold high positions in these two institutions. The connections of its directors have ensured that the center has excellent access to the judicial authorities. It has been invited by the government to take part in drafting important new laws.

The growing power of NGOs
In recent years, Chinese NGOs have increasingly made their voices heard on public policy issues. A high-profile case is the campaign by environmental NGOs against a hydropower station on Nujiang River in southwest China. The campaign eventually led to a written instruction from Premier Wen Jiabao, urging a more cautious approach toward the construction of controversial hydroelectric power stations. As a result, the project was put on hold pending environmental impact assessments.

This campaign is another good example of NGO advocacy in the Chinese style. The campaign in fact started from within the government. Some officials in the State Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) were opposed to the Nujiang project, but they lacked the power to veto it. Therefore, they asked their NGO contacts to drum up support for their position. Since many activists in environmental NGOs are journalists, they were able to use the media to attack the Nujiang project and to mobilize public opinion against it. Throughout the campaign NGOs worked closely with their allies in the government. The suspension of the Nujiang project is therefore as much the victory of one view in the government over another as the victory of NGOs over the government.

The Nujiang project has only been temporarily put on hold. Even the environmental NGOs leading the campaign say that eventually the construction of a big dam on Nujiang is probably inevitable, though the design may be modified to minimize the negative environmental impact. However, there is no doubt that Chinese NGOs are becoming increasingly active in the public policy arena. One can be confident that their influence will be felt more and more in China.

Yiyi Lu is senior research fellow on China at Chatham House, The Royal Institute of International Affairs, a London-based think-tank.

(Copyright 2005 Yiyi Lu.)

Speaking Freely is an Asia Times Online feature that allows guest writers to have their say. Please click here if you are interested in contributing.