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RR RUEHCN RUEHGH RUEHVC
DE RUEHGZ #0378/01 0820906
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 230906Z MAR 07
FM AMCONSUL GUANGZHOU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5923
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC
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RUEKJCS/DIA WASHDC
RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 GUANGZHOU 000378 
 
SIPDIS 
 
PACOM FOR FPA 
STATE FOR EAP/CM, DRL/IL 
STATE PASS USTR FOR STRATFORD, WINTER 
LABOR FOR ILAB NEWTON, LI ZHAO, SCHOEFFLE 
TREASURY FOR OASIA/ISA-DOHNER AND KOEPKE 
USDOC FOR 4420/ITA/MAC/MCQUEEN 
GENEVA FOR CHAMBERLIN 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB PHUM EFIN PGOV SOCI CH
SUBJECT: NGO Leaders Discuss Barriers to the Growth of China's Civil 
Society 
 
REFERENCE: A) Guangzhou 176; B) Guangzhou 175; C) 06 Guangzhou 
32324; D) 06 Guangzhou 15376; E) 06 Guangzhou 14712; F) 06 Guangzhou 
13381; G) 06 Guangzhou 11657 
 
(U) THIS DOCUMENT IS SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED.  PLEASE PROTECT 
ACCORDINGLY. 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: More than 20 NGO leaders and researchers gathered 
in Shenzhen on March 18 to discuss the challenges facing China's 
emerging civil society.  NGOs struggle to gain the confidence of 
both the Chinese government, which is suspicious of their ties to 
foreign institutions, and the Chinese public, which doubts their 
intentions.  Domestic sources of funding are scarce, and NGOs 
sometimes fight amongst themselves to obtain it.  The meeting was 
hosted by the Institute of Contemporary Observation (ICO), which 
recently celebrated its sixth anniversary and runs successful 
training and legal assistance programs for workers.  END SUMMARY. 
 
ICO Reviews Its Achievements 
---------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) In his opening remarks, ICO founder and executive director 
Liu Kaiming reviewed his NGOs accomplishments over the past six 
years. Founded in March 2001, ICO has positioned itself as a 
non-profit and non-government think-tank with a mission to "promote 
decent work and social justice." ICO's full-time staff has expanded 
from three to more than 20 today, and part-time staff and volunteers 
total more than 4,000. Based in Shenzhen, ICO works primarily in the 
Pearl River Delta but is also active throughout greater China. 
 
¶3. (SBU) ICO activities have included the following: 
 
--  published articles and books on corporate social responsibility, 
labor rights, and anti-discrimination. 
 
--  trained more than 30,000 workers, 70% of whom are women from 
rural areas, on work safety and health. 
 
--  helped more than 10,000 workers recover unpaid wages of more 
than RMB 6 million (USD 775,000) and set up worker complaint 
hotlines in 500 Guangdong factories, covering more than 200,000 
workers. 
 
--  conducted training sessions for domestic suppliers of 
multinational companies such as Nike, Timberland, Mizuno, 
Fuji-Xerox, and Burberry to help them meet international labor 
standards. 
 
--  conducted anti-AIDS peer education programs in five factories in 
Shenzhen and became the first Chinese NGO to join the World Economic 
Forum's China Health Association Project. 
 
Dealing with the Government 
--------------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) Liu commented that ICO is an independent non-government 
organization, and is neither controlled by nor affiliated with the 
Chinese government, but does on occasion cooperate with government 
agencies.  Generally, low-ranking officials are more suspicious of 
ICO's work than high-ranking officials.  Zeng Feiyang, Director of 
the Panyu Migrant Workers Documentation Center, an NGO that provides 
legal aid to migrant workers, commented that independent NGOs should 
maintain open lines of communications with the government to assure 
officials that they are not anti-government. 
 
Working with Other Civil Society Organizations 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) Liu also spoke of ICO's relationship with unions, 
universities, and other NGOs.  Even though ICO cooperates with 
local-level trade unions in project-specific cases, officials at the 
All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) continue to regard ICO 
as "an enemy that trespasses in ACFTU's field."  Cooperation between 
Chinese NGOs is sometimes strained because of competition for 
limited resources.  Dozens of university researchers or students 
come to ICO every year for research or internship opportunities. 
 
GUANGZHOU 00000378  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
Generally speaking, ICO has more interaction with foreign 
universities than with Chinese universities.  Universities that sent 
interns to ICO include Colby University and Calvin College in the 
United States, Guangdong College of Business, and Changsha College 
of Civil Affairs. 
 
A Dearth of Domestic Funding 
---------------------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) Liu said most of ICO's funding comes from overseas, 
including foreign foundations (the Ford Foundation), foreign 
universities (the University of California, Berkeley), foreign NGOs 
(Oxfam), foreign governments and institutions (the Swedish, British, 
and Canadian embassies and the World Bank).  Domestic sources of 
funding are hard to come by and generally come from universities 
(Tsinghua and Peking universities, in the case of ICO).  These 
comments were echoed by Zeng Feiyang of the Panyu Migrant Workers 
Documentation Center, and Chen Zhiqiang of the Handa Rehabilitation 
and Welfare Association, an NGO dedicated to the welfare of leprosy 
patients.  Professor Li Weiwei, of Shenzhen University's Human 
Rights Research Center, said China's tax laws do not exempt 
donations to NGOs and charities and suggested that civil society 
groups push for reform in this area to increase their domestic 
funding.  Professor Wang Yunxiang of the Guangdong Foreign Studies 
University's School of Law pointed out that the Chinese government 
is suspicious of the motives of civil society groups because many 
are financed by foreign governments or institutions. 
 
The Question of Legal Status 
---------------------------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) Professor Wang said the Chinese government is hesitant to 
grant independent civil society organizations official NGO legal 
status.  As a result, a majority of Chinese NGOs, including ICO and 
the Panyu Migrant Workers' Documentation Center, register as 
commercial institutions with the Administration of Industry and 
Commerce, rather than as NGOs with the Civil Affairs Department. 
(Civil society groups have also told us that they are unwilling to 
register as NGOs because the process requires that they have an 
official government sponsor.)  Wang said that most organizations 
that are legally registered as NGOs in China, such as the China 
Women's Association and the China Disabled People's Federation, are 
not truly NGOs because they are funded and controlled by the 
government. 
 
Overcoming Public Doubts 
------------------------ 
 
¶8. (SBU) Another impediment to the growth of China's civil society 
is the Chinese public's reflexive suspicion of NGOs.  According to 
Professor Wang, telling the public that NGOs help people for free is 
like telling them that "pies fall from the sky."  In addition, some 
people associate "non-government" with "anti-government" and 
distance themselves from NGOs.  Wang added that Chinese research on 
civil society only emerged in the 1990s and is still quite backward. 
 Chinese researchers typically use western models in studying civil 
society, which do not always fit China's situation. 
 
Comment: A Long Way to Go 
------------------------- 
 
¶9. (SBU) Operating an NGO in China remains a daunting task, with 
legal, funding, and public relations challenges.  South China 
governments continue to keep a watchful eye on emerging civil 
society organizations and have thus far largely restricted their 
activities to labor and health assistance -- fulfilling public 
services needs that the government is not able to provide.  Though 
most NGOs are pragmatic and content to stay out of politics, they 
find it difficult to convince the government and the public that 
they are essentially benevolent and patriotic organizations.  With 
its rapid growth and expanding reach, ICO is proof that a Chinese 
NGO model -- with help from international institutions -- is 
emerging. 
 
ROCK