In my last post, I talked about how China's model for economic growth alienates democracy and could lead to its downfall. Today I have found the proof that everything is falling apart in China (okay maybe that is a little dramatic and not true). Nonetheless a recent article from The Economist (http://www.economist.com/news/china/21600747-spite-political-clampdown-flourishing-civil-society-taking-hold-beneath-glacier) goes into detail about a new trend in China. It talks about how civil society is growing in China and how specifically NGOs (Non governmental organizations) are fueling it.
We have been taught before that active and free NGOs are necessary for a liberal democracy. They help fuel civil society by involving people in resolutions to help their communities. They give people a sense of pride in their community and help build grassroots movements. Whether the NGOs are political or not, they help people get involved in the civil society and become active politically to help their cause. If a country has active NGOs then the chances are they have a flourishing civil society. China is now moving into this territory.
Before Deng Xiaoping took office, NGOs in China did not exist. Under Mao, the CCP tried to destroy anything that could threaten their authority. The few that did exist were mostly international ones and they had heavy restrictions on them. However after the 1989 protests in Tiananmen Square, and their subsequent bloody put-down, the deal China’s leaders offered the country changed: stay out of politics and you can do almost anything else you want. NGOs were given some freedom to work within their communities as long as they stayed out of politics and did not challenge the CCP. Take a look at the chart and you can see what happened.
The title is fitting. Pandora's box was opened as NGOs began to spread and grow. While they still remain mostly apolitical (those that can exist must be in the categories of industry associations, science and technology organisations, charities and outfits providing social services) the fact that they exist at all is a big deal. As a result, the growing Chinese middle class is getting involved in civil society. Like I said earlier it is only a matter of time before those with economic freedom want their political freedom to match as well. This quote from the article cannot be stated better about the current climate between China and NGOs.
"It is not clear that the party believes in civil society. More likely it sees NGOs as a useful tool to achieve its own ends. But with politics directed from on high unable to meet social needs, and a new generation that wants more participation, some increased role for civil society is unavoidable. So a strange, unspoken pact has evolved, where both sides accept the compromise as a way of furthering their goals in the short term, while hoping future developments work in their favour."
So for now the two will work together, but who knows what the future holds. People may one day look back at the fall of Communist China and say that this is what started it all. I certainly think so.
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