'Let us speak!' Social debate is opening up China … but the Communist Party still dictates. Chris Richards tracks the boundaries of the new political space

New Internationalist, Sept, 2004 by Chris Richards

Other NGOs in Beijing also report how the bureaucracy and Party welcome a debate about issues and new ideas. And, as a window to Party policy, China Daily--the country's officially sanctioned English language newspaper--presently promotes discussion over a range (albeit limited) of social issues. Nowhere is this more prevalent than with the environment. For it is here that the Government needs all the help it can get. Of the world's 20 most polluted cities, 16 are in China. Western analysts now estimate that 300,000 people will die prematurely here from air pollution and that more than 20 million people will have to leave their homes because of lack of access to water or degraded land over the next 15 to 20 years.

'In fact, one of the nice things about having a one-party system is that you always have a range of different views in government so that you always have someone who is sympathetic to your views,' Greenpeace campaigner Sze Pang Cheung says. Sze thinks that political lobbying in China is easier than in the US where politicians have an eye on donations rather than issues. 'A lot of officials here are prepared to take our views very seriously. They give you an opportunity to be heard.' In addition to Greenpeace, international NGOs like WWF, Oxfam, ActionAid and Medecins Sans Frontieres now openly work in China as a civil society starts to grow.

Civil society emerges

Indigenous NGOs have mushroomed: between 1965 and 1996 national social associations grew from 100 to 1,800 while local groups ballooned from 6,000 to 200,000.

The attraction of these organizations to the CCP is more about their potential to offer resources that can absorb the burden of a downsized government than it is about a desire to promote community participation or listen to the people. Since the 1989 protests in Tian'anmen Square, clamps on advocacy are tight. Organizations must register. To do this, they must have a sponsor: a government body or an organization authorized by government to oversee its day-to-day activities. The search for a sponsoring agency--called 'finding a mother-in-law'--is difficult, particularly for organizations that want a national profile and therefore must find a national sponsor. And even if a sponsoring organization can be found, security is tenuous: sponsors are authorized to unilaterally terminate the relationship if the sponsored group acts or speaks out of line.

For the CCP, it is a system that encourages social assistance to individuals while keeping down groups with 'undesirable' messages. The regulations can react to prevailing conditions. After a tightening of the system in 1998, by 2000 the number of social organizations plummeted to just under 137,000. (4)

Despite these constraints, the mere process of running such a huge number of civil society groups is starting to train people about a range of issues--the rights of women, people with disabilities, rural workers, the unemployed and children. Such skills and knowledge will increase the likelihood of their becoming effective advocates when the time is ripe.