The Chinese Social Organization Report was recently released. It stated that the regulatory reviews that the NGOs in China are facing are the toughest in the past 20 years. On July 12, the Chinese Academy of the Social Sciences University and the Social Sciences Literature Publishing House jointly released the “Blue Book of Social Organizations: China’s Social Organization Report” (2019). The report used “unprecedented in 20 years” five times to describe the current state of social organizations in China, including efforts to crack down on illegal social organizations, cleaning up the standardization of registered social organizations, the strictness of annual inspections, the punishment of social organizations, and the supervision of social organizations. The intensity and the strictness of the social organization registration reviews are the toughest they have been in more than the past 20 years.
From April 1st to the end of December last year, the Chinese Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Ministry of Public Security jointly launched a special campaign to crack down on illegal social organizations. In 2018, more than 1,600 social organizations were de-listed and punished for serious violations of the law. The report said that these illegal social organizations include those who use the projects such as the “One Belt and One Road,” “military and civilian integration,” “poverty alleviation,” and other national strategies to defraud people of their money.
In addition, in recent years, Chinese NGOs, especially those that advocate citizenship Initiatives, have already faced difficulties in surviving. For example, in 2014 and 2015, in the context of frequent labor movements, organizations for labor rights protection have been suppressed. The “Regulations on the Management of Domestic Activities of Foreign NGOs,” which was implemented on New Year’s Day in 2017, has also restricted NGOs from receiving financial support and talent training from overseas.
There are currently more than 800,000 social organizations in China. They are regulated by the “Regulations on the Administration of Social Organizations,” the “Regulations on the Administration of Foundations,” and the “Provisional Regulations on the Registration of Private Non-Enterprise Units.” Last year, the Ministry of Civil Affairs issued the “Soliciting Opinions for Social Organization Registration Management,” which is expected to be revised this year.
Source: Central News Agency, July 17, 2019
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