There will be no “grace period” for the implementation of new regulations — slated to come into effect next year — limiting the activities of foreign non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in China, the Chinese Ministry of Public Security said on Tuesday.
Western governments have lambasted the foreign NGO law, which was passed in April, saying it treats the groups as a criminal threat and would effectively force many out of the country.
“China is a country with the rule of law — no law has a transition period or grace period after it takes effect,” a representative from the ministry’s Foreign NGO Management Bureau told consular officials from 11 countries at a briefing in Shanghai.
Foreign NGOs would have to partner with a Chinese organization and would be banned from working in different geographical regions from their Chinese counterparts, the representative said, according to a statement on the ministry’s Web site.
Chinese officials defended the foreign NGO law, saying it would only be used to punish a handful of organizations that breach the regulations.
Rights groups say the law’s use of an ambiguous ban on activities that threaten national security or endanger social stability could be used to target groups doing work disliked by the ruling Chinese Communist Party.
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