What is civil society? According to the definition by Juergen Habermas in his book The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere, the core of civil society is "non-governmental and non-economic organizations." Such organizations include churches, cultural groups and academic institutes, independent media movements, entertainment associations, debating clubs, citizen forums, citizen associations, vocational groups, political parties, labor unions and other organizations. The birth of civil society aims at counterbalancing the government. Therefore, among all the essential characteristics of civil organizations, the most important is being non-governmental. Obviously, a non-governmental organization should be the most pivotal part of civil society.
Real non-governmental organizations have yet to form in China. Although there are a fair number of such institutions, they are actually appendages of the government. However, after 20 years of social change, some quasi-non-governmental organizations have sprung up. They can be divided into two categories.
The first group is organizations advocating democracy or other policy platforms. They are not tolerated by the government and regarded as illegal. For example, there is the "Anti-corruption Observer" (反腐敗觀察) established by Chinese activist An Jun (安均) from Henan Province, and the "Non-association Movement" (不結社運動) set up by activist Mou Jiaheng (牟佳珩) from Qingdao.
The second group enjoys wider space for development. Their appeals are usually not political or provocative. Since they are not controlled by the government, the future prospects for such organizations are quite impressive. Among them, the most typical is the "Friends of Nature" (
Its participants are literati and young students who advocate liberalism. Since they do not get involved in politics, the government cannot oppose them -- although it does not completely trust them. Recently, Liang Congjie was elected a standing committee member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (全國政協), showing the government intends to draw grassroots people over to its side.
More tinted with political colors than the Friends of Nature association is a campaign seeking war reparations from Japan. Recently, after the Japanese government authorized new editions of history textbooks that gloss over Japanese wartime invasions, one civic organization in Henan began preparations to sue the Japanese government. Since February, the organization has interviewed many victims and witnesses, and received hundreds of letters from the public. It is truly a grassroots institution since it cannot possibly find any government agencies to conspire with. But because the problem involves China-Japan relations, the organization will have to interact with the government sooner or later. Whether or not it can counter the pressure will indicate whether it is really a non-governmental organization.
Different forms of quasi-non-governmental organizations have appeared in China, laying the foundation for the formation of a civil society. With some changes in the political environment, such organizations can play an active role in developing Chinese society.
Wang Dan was a student leader during the 1989 Tiananmen Square demonstrations in Beijing. He is currently a graduate student at Harvard University and a columnist for The Journalist magazine.
Translated by Jackie Lin
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