Greening the Inner Mongolian Desert, Temporary Activities for Eye Health, Shandong PSB Inspection Visits

Ministry of Public Security WeChat Posts—May 30, 2018

on June 11, 2018

Today, two Japanese NGOs involved in desert greening in Inner Mongolia became legally registered. In an official ceremony, the Inner Mongolia Public Security Bureau (PSB) Foreign NGO Management Office presented the representative offices of the Ethics Research Institute and the Organisation for Industrial, Spiritual and Cultural Advancement (OISCA) their certificates of registration. The director of the Inner Mongolia PSB Foreign NGO Management office and the director of the Inner Mongolia Forestry Administration were both present.

Somalia Aims to Be Heard at Upcoming China-Africa Mega Summit

By Eric Olander, Cobus van Staden & more on June 8, 2018

Around 50 African leaders are expected to be in Beijing in September for the upcoming Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) summit. While Africa’s largest and most strategically important countries will likely do very well, receiving huge financial packages, aid programs, and more, some countries will have to fight for everything they get. In this episode, Eric and Cobus speak with Dr. Hodan Osman Abdi, an advisor in China to Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, on how she plans to ensure that Somalia’s voice is heard at FOCAC.

Letter from U.S. Congress Questions U.S. NGO’s Ties to Chinese Government

on June 7, 2018

The United States House of Representatives’ Committee on Natural Resources is “seek[ing] clarification” regarding the advocacy activities of U.S.-based non-profit National Resources Defense Council (NRDC). In a June 5 letter to the NRDC president, the chairmen of the Committee and of its Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations contend that NRDC’s relationship with the Chinese government might mean that it is acting on behalf of a “foreign principal” in the United States and request information to determine whether the group should register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA).

New Analysis Comparing Foreign NGO Regulations in Hong Kong, the United States, and China

on June 7, 2018

One common question we hear at The China NGO Project is, “Okay, so China has different registration requirements for foreign and domestic NGOs . . . but how is that different from how [insert country name here] regulates them?” Using the Hong Kong and the United States as points of comparison, contributors Vincent Chong and Anita Venanzi take on the question of what makes China’s NGO regulatory structure so different from those in place elsewhere.

The Fantastic Truth About China

By Alec Ash on June 7, 2018

In 1902, Liang Qichao, a reformist intellectual of the late Qing dynasty, wrote a futuristic story called “A Chronicle of the Future of New China.” In the unfinished manuscript, he depicts Shanghai hosting the World Fair in 1962 (“Confucius year 2513”), on the fiftieth anniversary of a successful reform movement. By then, he imagines, China has developed a multiparty system and dominates a peaceful new world order in which Westerners study Chinese to improve their job prospects.

William J. Burns

on June 6, 2018

William J. Burns is President of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the oldest international affairs think tank in the United States. Burns retired from the U.S. Foreign Service in 2014 after a 33-year diplomatic career. He holds the highest rank in the Foreign Service, Career Ambassador, and is only the second serving career diplomat in history to become Deputy Secretary of State.

Prior to his tenure as Deputy Secretary, Ambassador Burns served from 2008 to 2011 as Under Secretary for Political Affairs. He was Ambassador to Russia from 2005 to 2008, Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs from 2001 to 2005, and Ambassador to Jordan from 1998 to 2001. His other posts in the Foreign Service include: Executive Secretary of the State Department and Special Assistant to former Secretaries of State Warren Christopher and Madeleine Albright; Minister-Counselor for Political Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow; Acting Director and Principal Deputy Director of the State Department’s policy planning staff; and Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Near East and South Asian Affairs at the National Security Council.

Ambassador Burns speaks Russian, Arabic, and French, and he has been the recipient of three Presidential Distinguished Service Awards and a number of Department of State awards, including three Secretary’s Distinguished Service Awards, two Distinguished Honor Awards, the 2006 Charles E. Cobb, Jr. Ambassadorial Award for Initiative and Success in Trade Development, the 2005 Robert C. Frasure Memorial Award for Conflict Resolution and Peacemaking, and the James Clement Dunn Award for exemplary performance at the mid-career level. He has also received the highest civilian honors from the Department of Defense and the U.S. intelligence community. In 2013, Foreign Policy named him “Diplomat of the Year.”

Burns earned a Bachelor’s degree in History from LaSalle University and Master’s and Doctoral degrees in International Relations from Oxford University, where he studied as a Marshall Scholar. He is a recipient of four Honorary Doctoral degrees and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Burns is the author of Economic Aid and American Policy Toward Egypt, 1955-1981 (State University of New York Press, 1985). In 1994, he was named to Time magazine’s list of the “50 Most Promising American Leaders Under Age 40” and to its list of “100 Young Global Leaders.”

Sean R. Roberts

on June 6, 2018

Sean R. Roberts is an Associate Professor of the Practice of International Affairs and Director of the International Development Studies program at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs. He is an Anthropologist by training and wrote his dissertation at the University of Southern California on the Uighurs of Kazakhstan and their interaction with China’s Uighurs. In addition to his academic work, he has done substantial work in the field of international development, primarily in the former Soviet Union and especially in Central Asia. Roberts has published numerous articles in academic journals, edited volumes, and policy-oriented publications, both about political development in Central Asia and about the Uighurs. He also frequently provides commentary to major news outlets on these subjects, and he is currently writing a book on the self-fulfilling prophecy of Uighur militancy. His most recent publication is in the Journal of Critical Asian Studies and is entitled “The Biopolitics of China’s ‘War on Terror’ and the Exclusion of the Uyghurs.”

Here’s How NGOs Are Allowed to Operate in the P.R.C., Hong Kong, and the United States

By Anita Venanzi, Vincent Chong & more on June 6, 2018

The last year has seen extensive discussion of China’s Foreign NGO Law, focusing especially on whether or not the law would cause a major shift in the kind of work foreign NGOs are able to do in the mainland. Less often examined, however, is how China’s new regulatory structure differs from those of other countries or territories. The most obvious comparison is with other countries that have also recently implemented laws aimed at foreign non-profits, but it could be more helpful to examine the differences between NGO regulation in China and in countries that have large numbers of NGOs operating in China.

Anita Venanzi

on June 5, 2018

Anita Venanzi is a Ph.D. student in Sociology at the Chinese University of Hong Kong where she is an awardee of the Hong Kong Ph.D. Fellowship Scheme. Her research focus is currently on transnational volunteering NGOs and their branches in Hong Kong and mainland China.

She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Asian Studies with a major in Sinology and a minor in Tibetology, and a Master’s degree with a double major in Intercultural Studies and Social Work whose related dissertation was about the regulations concerning Chinese official household registration.

Prior to enrolling in her Ph.D. program, Venanzi worked as a freelance translator for research institutes and international legal firms while volunteering as translator, trainer, and project coordinator for NGOs and non-profit media platforms.

In addition to Sinology, transnationalism, and volunteering, her research interests include: advocacy, democratization, intersectionality, and post-colonialism.

Vincent Chong

on June 4, 2018

Vincent Chong is a Law and Sociology student in Hong Kong. His article analyzing the Chinese NGO laws has been awarded the China Study Society Outstanding Essay Prize at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Chong was formerly an International Junior Research Associate at the University of Sussex.