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EDITORIAL: Why Beijing needs groups like PEN

Over the past month, Chinese activists have been served a grim reminder that Beijing has yet to understand the value of civil society.

A series of police sweeps has targeted civic groups and dozens have been arrested. Last week police detained Shanghai author Li Jianhong (李劍虹) and other members of Independent Chinese PEN, which promotes freedom of expression, to block an annual meeting of the association.

The irony of the situation is that civic groups hold the key to resolving many of Beijing's biggest headaches. Where Chinese authorities are dragging their feet, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are pressing for real progress. Their work on everything from caring for AIDS orphans to demanding factory clean-ups promises a better living standard for the lowest social strata.

Many of these groups work to resolve key causes of social unrest, yet Beijing persists with a crackdown on civil society that has strengthened in the past two years and will only contribute to instability, rather than forging Beijing's vision of a "harmonious society."

China's fear of civic groups is no doubt fueled in part by the memory of a Falun Gong sit-in in 1999 in Beijing. The terror of not having foreseen the mobilization of thousands of citizens was a rude awakening for the top political echelon and sparked the policy to eradicate the Falun Gong -- even though the demonstration was apolitical.

But another factor fuels China's fears. Beijing has spent the past two years fretting over tales of Eastern European and Central Asian "color" revolutions. Russia believes these revolutions were Washington-backed moves to contain the extent of Moscow's power, and Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) has clearly taken the warning to heart.

During his term, Hu has backtracked on years of looser reins on civic groups, which have been key to movements such as Ukraine's Orange Revolution.

And as far as Hu is concerned, any civic group is game. This month, 70 people were detained in a raid on a Bible study circle that met outside of the state-controlled religious framework. Beijing targets any organized platform for discussion -- political or apolitical -- that does not fall under its oversight.

But if there's anything more anathema to Beijing than civic groups, it is those with an international connection. So for the same reason Beijing does not recognize the pope or the Dalai Lama, and it largely blocks NGOs with international secretariats from setting up shop.

For that reason, it is surprising and a cause for hope that Beijing has, to some extent, tolerated the existence of Chinese PEN. Its members are no stranger to police harassment, but this latest incident was the first time its year-end meeting was blocked.

For PEN members -- who were given no reason for Beijing's wrath -- it is a clear sign that they will have to fight to keep their foot in the door. Another PEN center, Tibetan PEN, exists only in exile.

Beijing has lost sight of the goal. A flourishing civil society will be key to engaging the government on issues where it has made feeble progress because of corruption.

But the Chinese Communist Party is busy countering NGOs -- or, as Hu allegedly called them in an internal report, the "smokeless guns" of a US-backed plot. Regardless of what Washington is or isn't plotting, Beijing is sabotaging a wealth of resources.
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