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NGOs can build bridges between govt & people

By Shen Dingli (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-08-20 08:14

The term, non-government organizations (NGOs), refers to all groups not formed and run by governments. To be sure, NGOs have already flourished in all layers and facets of society in response to unmistakable popular demand. And they represent the human desire for self-organization coming into fruition and having their presence in society keenly felt.

In China, the Constitution ensures the citizens' freedom of association as long as the organizations they form help keep public order and good custom. Therefore, to form their own groups, at least harmless ones, is Chinese citizens' natural right.

As a matter of fact, the Chinese people have formed numerous trade- or hometown-based associations, such as those for promoting scientific and technological exchanges, for health, sports and environmental protection, and for reading and creative work. All these resemble NGOs one way or another.

Not just in China, NGOs are growing in numbers all over the world so fast that it is very hard to keep count.

The rise of countless NGOs reflects the popular recognition of public causes and passion for collective participation. This is a phase every country must go through on its way to a citizen society. It is also a symbol of a society developing toward maturity. Obviously, the government plays the central role in building national security and upholding public causes, but no government alone has the ability and resources to take care of all public affairs on its own and China's is no exception.

For instance, educating future citizens should be the responsibility of the government, parents and the society together. The government's role is to formulate standards and promote education, while parents are expected to be role models of their children in everyday life. But that is not all there is to it, as every member of the society is influencing the younger generation through their own behavior.

Such influence can be exercised through individual expressions as well as through citizens' organized actions designed to assist the government in spreading ethics and supporting the rule of law. The government is not the Jack of all trades, and the public can no doubt step in with its own resources to contribute to the building of a harmonious society whenever necessary.

Of course, the legality of a citizens' organization is determined by its objective and position. For the positive ones aimed at enhancing social wellbeing the State should accord them the positive recognition they deserve and the guidance. For the neutrally-positioned groups the government is also obliged to fully guarantee their constitutional right. But, for those uninterested in any positive objective or even working against the interest of the society the authorities should exercise appropriate control for the sake of national stability.

China endured tremendous foreign bullying that rendered the nation very weak in its recent history. After the founding of the People's Republic, the central government took the rebuilding of statehood as its top priority with matching input of resources.

As a result of reality and history, it was also very wary of the threat posed by forces inside as well as outside the country colluding to jeopardize our public interests in the early years of New China. Hence a period of highly-centralized way of administration. Not long afterwards, however, the country experienced a decade of the other extreme during the "cultural revolution" as ultra-anarchist NGOs wreaked havoc across the nation.

Good interactions between non-government institutions and governments at all levels in our country really took off only after the reform and opening-up began. In the past 30 years, as China went all out to push for international cooperation, our national economy developed at a blistering pace while social development also made marked progress.

However, globalization has brought the nation some new problems. As production factors underwent worldwide restructuring, production-generated pollution also spread, posing a multitude of challenges to developing nations' eco-environment. The primary way to solve the problems is apparently through sustainable development with the government leading a nationwide drive with policy guidance as well as financial input.

But, environmental protection involves many tasks: statutory protection, civic awareness, lifestyle, energy conservation and efficiency, scientific and technological innovation and so on. All these require proactive participation by the public in ways that suit them best.

It is safe to say that, among various NGOs of our country in the past 30 years, those engaged in promoting environmental protection have been growing and maturing the fastest. The development and operation of these NGOs have won increased understanding and support from the government as well as the public. More positive interactions between non-government institutions and government departments are now happening in China.

When a massive earthquake struck Sichuan province in May, ordinary people as well as the People's Liberation Army immediately sprang into action with no efforts spared in disaster relief operations in a spectacular show of national unity and compassion.

Without a question, during the tremendous disaster relief campaign, many ordinary people found their own ways to help save lives by spontaneous but organized team efforts. They sent precious information to the rest of the country and took relief personnel, funds and materials to the worst-hit areas. Amid spontaneous participation in the disaster relief campaign by people all over the country we saw a great degree of coherence between individual desire and what the society as a whole is concerned about and needs. That is why the activities organized by NGOs won their legality as well as approval and praise from the mainstream of society.

The Chinese society is now watching NGOs in greater range as well as detail after they passed the test in the earthquake relief campaign. This is a major milestone in China's progress toward a citizen society during the process of modernization.

For a giant nation such as China the enormous modernization drive will no doubt be reflected in its changing outlook and content. Between the government and citizens the NGOs are in greater demand by society and have more space to grow as connectors. China's development requires that the correlations among the three parties are correctly handled and each is allowed to play its positive role to the full.

The author is a professor with Shanghai-based Fudan University

(China Daily 08/20/2008 page10)