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Research On The Legal Regulating Of Foreign NGOs In China

Posted on:2014-05-06Degree:MasterType:Thesis
Country:ChinaCandidate:Z YangFull Text:PDF
GTID:2256330401475448Subject:The constitution and administrative law
Abstract/Summary:PDF Full Text Request
Since China’s Reform and Opening up in late1970s, many foreign Non-governmental Organizations(NGOs) have flocked in and carried out beneficial activities across China. Various foreign NGOs have beenplaying an important role in China’s economic development, social transition and civilians’ daily life,contributing a lot to the social development of China. However, the growth and development of foreignNGOs in China cannot be said of smooth, because there are urgent problems involving foreign NGOs’ entry,identification and operations in China. Based on this, the paper will briefly review the challengesconcerning foreign NGOs in China and then put forward some suggestions, which might be helpful forforeign NGOs to improve their operations in China.This paper, which consists of four parts, will analyze the challenges concerning foreign NGOs inChina and explore how to tackle them within legal framework.Part one will define the concept and characteristics of foreign NGOs. Although there are uncertaintieswithin the concept of NGO, some general ideas about its characteristics are shared by the majority ofscholars, such as non-governmental, non-profit, voluntary and public-beneficial. NGOs are generallydivided into three categories in China, namely social groups, private non-enterprise entities and foundations.This definition can be shared by the foreign NGOs, which are established in a foreign country. The fact thatmany governments are transferring administrative power to the society and government interventions fail insome fields are necessary factors for NGOs to perform their roles. In this context, many foreign NGOsbegan to flock to China in late1970s. However, due to the ups and downs of China’s social development,the operations of foreign NGOs in China are of strong periodical features in the periods of1980s,1990sand2000s.Part two mainly presents the problems concerning foreign NGOs in China within the existingframework. One of such problems is that there are no particular legislations on foreign NGOs’ operations inChina. Although there are some items about foreign NGOs’ operations in China’s Regulations forAdministration of Foundations, some provisions of this regulation are rather simple and even ambiguous.Apart from the lack of precise legislations in China, the ways of identifying NGOs vary in different countries too, which brings problems to Chinese government when it identifies foreign NGOs. Additionally,the Chinese government practices a double-track mechanism on foreign NGOs’ supervision, leading tochaotic operations of foreign NGOs in China.Part three introduces the Chinese government’s attitudes toward foreign NGOs in China. Actually,Chinese government holds a clear and differential attitude toward foreign NGOs. The foreign NGOsoperating in social welfare, poverty alleviation, education, public health are favored by Chinesegovernment for three reasons: first, the capital, technologies and advanced management concepts broughtby these NGOs to China will be beneficial to China’s development; second, a civil society is come intobeing in China and the government is facing more pressures, to handle which an open and confidentialattitude toward foreign NGOs is preferred by the Chinese government; third, the Chinese government’sincreased tolerance of foreign NGOs’ development and operations in China has also resulted from thegovernment’s desire to achieve greater influence on the international front. The foreign NGOs operatingpolitical issues, human rights and religions are likely to be distrusted and constrained by the Chinesegovernment for there might be political risks. However, this is not always the case. With an increasinglystrong overall power, the Chinese government is more confident and it is more tolerate with dissidentopinions.Part four explores that how should foreign NGOs operate in China. To solve the problem ofidentification, the foreign NGOs may choose alternative ways such as registering as foreign enterprises,setting representative offices for certain programs and otherwise. As for the Chinese government, there arealso some measures that can be taken. For example, the government can promulgate better legislations toregulate the foreign NGOs’ operations in China by referring to what the Russia government has done.At the end, the author puts forward some suggestions on how to solve the problems concerning foreignNGOs’ operations in China, such as improving the legislative system and registering rules, reinforcing thegovernance of all NGOs and their property and making their operations more transparent.
Keywords/Search Tags:foreign NGOs in china, supervision, legislations
PDF Full Text Request
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