VZCZCXRO0552
RR RUEHCN RUEHGH RUEHVC
DE RUEHBJ #4401/01 1830230
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 020230Z JUL 07
FM AMEMBASSY BEIJING
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9501
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 1897

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BEIJING 004401 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT PASS USTR FOR KARESH, ROSENBERG, CELICO, STRATFORD 
LABOR FOR ILAB-LI, SCHOEPFLE AND OSEC-OWEN, HUI 
TREASURY FOR OASIA/ISA-CUSHMAN 
USDOC FOR 4420/ITA/MAC/MCQUEEN AND DAS KASOFF 
GENEVA FOR CHAMBERLIN 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/29/2027 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM ELAB CH
SUBJECT: JUNE 12-13 DISCUSSIONS OF CHINA'S PROPOSED CHARITY 
LAW 
 
REF: BEIJING 3884 
 
Classified By: Econmincouns Robert Luke, reason 1.4(d/b) 
 
¶1.  (C)  Summary:  Reftel provided the text of a draft of 
China's proposed Charity Law, which would, for the first 
time, create a legal means to register non-profit 
organizations in China.  A participant in a June 12-13 
conference on the Charity Law, sponsored by China's Ministry 
of Civil Affairs (MOCA) said provisions of the draft law 
presented by the Chinese side still suggest a law that puts 
more emphasis on controlling civil society than nurturing it. 
 Foreign experts at the conference reportedly argued for 
giving civil society space to flourish, and advised the 
Chinese to broaden the definition of what constitutes 
charitable activity, and liberalize provisions on fund 
raising and tax benefits for donors.  Several experts 
discussed the merits of a truly independent regulatory body 
for charitable organizations.  Embassy continues to receive 
conflicting information about when the law will be finalized. 
 Clearly there is much work to be done, and the Government 
does not seem inclined to conduct this work in the open. 
Embassy will provide conference materials and participant 
lists to DRL and EAP/CM separately.  End summary. 
 
¶2.  (C)  Reftel provided the text of a draft of China's 
proposed Charity Law, which would, for the first time, create 
a legal means to register non-profit organizations in China. 
On June 20, Laboff met with Kelly Lau from Nike Corporation 
(protect), who observed a June 12-13 conference for 
international experts on the proposed Charity Law, hosted by 
China's Ministry of Civil Affairs (MOCA) in conjunction with 
the University of British Columbia.  Conference presenters 
included government and non-government experts on charity 
regulation from Canada, Germany, the Philippines, Singapore, 
Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, and the United States. 
Chinese participants included delegates from MOCA, the State 
Council Legislative Affairs Office, the Communist Youth 
League, and several Government-affiliated charities, as well 
as several Chinese academics from leading law schools.  No 
independent charities or NGOs participated.  The draft law 
presented in reftel was not discussed at the conference. 
Instead, MOCA circulated a document entitled, "Relevant 
Issues on Drafting the Charity Law of the PRC," containing 24 
draft articles, including competing versions of some 
articles, and invited the advice and comments of all 
participants.  According to Lau, very few Chinese 
participants spoke at all. (Embassy will provide a copy of 
this document along with a conference agenda and list of 
participants to DRL and EAP/CM.) 
 
¶3.  (C)  Lau told Laboff that the MOCA discussion document 
suggested a Charity Law that emphasizes controlling rather 
than nurturing civil society.  The Chinese side appeared 
especially concerned about controlling fraud, she said. 
According to Lau, Western presenters aggressively argued for 
giving civil society space to flourih, and advised the 
Chinese to broaden the definition of what constitutes 
charitable activity, and liberalize provisions on fund 
raising and tax benefits for donors.  Several experts 
dicussed the merits of independent regulatory bodies for 
charitable organizations.  On the definition of charitable 
activity, Lau said some experts were concerned that such 
activities as advocacy, rights education or capacity building 
would fall outside the scope of charitable activities as 
defined under current drafts of the law.  Lau noted that it 
would be hard for Nike, for eample, to find an NGO authorized 
under such a law that could carry out workers' rights 
education.  On fund-raising, Lau noted that the provisions 
under discussion limited the means by which charities can 
raise money, leaving no room, for example, for &fee for 
service.8  Some experts advised China to be more specific in 
the Law about tax benefits for donors.  Lau said some experts 
were also concerned about draft provisions requiring 
charitable organizations to register their volunteers and 
report their names to the government. 
 
¶4.  (C)  Lau said that one MOCA official indicated privately 
that MOCA hopes to pass the law in the Spring 2008 National 
People's Congress session.  The Chinese Government will not 
likely make it public at any point, nor is it likely to 
change much from its current form, he told her.  However, 
 
BEIJING 00004401  002 OF 002 
 
 
MOCA Director General Wang Zhenyao separately told Embassy 
that the current draft Charity Law is "really bad," and 
"won't be coming out any time soon."  According to Wang, 
Chinese participants found the June 12-13 conference useful, 
and realize that the draft Charity Law has a long way to go. 
 
¶5.  (C)  Comment: The silence of Chinese participants at the 
conference, and the sensitivity with which MOCA is handling 
draft legal provisions suggest that the Government is so far 
not inclined to conduct its work on the Charity Law openly or 
transparently. 
RANDT