Department of NGO International Affairs Director-General Constance Wang (王雪虹) on Tuesday said that a newly launched platform for international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) would help such groups relocate from Hong Kong to Taipei.
The need for NGOs in China — which have been under attack from the Chinese government for years — to relocate to Taipei cannot be overstated. On April 28, 2016, the Chinese National People’s Congress passed its Law on the Management of Domestic Activities of Overseas NGOs, which came into effect on Jan. 1, 2017.
A Guardian report published on March 30, 2015, quoted Project 2049 Institute researcher Julia Famularo as saying that “Chinese leaders argue that the ultimate goal of western governments is to use their NGOs to orchestrate the collapse of the Chinese Communist Party” (CCP). The party has likely felt threatened by the exposure that NGOs have brought to its suppression of activists and religious groups, particularly in the Tibet and Xinjiang regions.
The CCP has also made no attempt to deny that its crackdown on foreign reporters and NGOs has been done out of retaliation. After Canadian authorities detained Huawei Technologies chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou (孟晚舟) in December 2018, Beijing detained Canadian NGO consultant Michael Kovrig and Canadian businessman Michael Spavor without just cause.
NGOs had expressed concerns before Beijing’s NGO law was enacted, as the government arbitrarily detained members of organizations such as the New Citizens’ Movement and the Transition Institute of Social and Economic Research in Beijing. The law has made things more difficult for INGOs in China and domestic NGOs that accept international funding.
For a time, NGOs in Hong Kong were afforded shelter by the territory’s autonomy under the “one country, two systems” framework, but the implementation of the National Security Law in Hong Kong this year has changed that — and China has demonstrated its resolve to exercise retaliatory measures against foreigners there too. On Monday, Beijing announced that it would bar four NGO workers from entering China, including Hong Kong and Macau, for allegedly being outspoken about the CCP’s intervention in the territories.
John Knaus, senior director for Asia at the National Endowment for Democracy, and Manpreet Singh Anand, regional director for Asia-Pacific programs at the National Democratic Institute, as well as the institute’s Crystal Rosario and Kelvin Sit Tak-o have all been barred from China for “having ‘performed badly’ over Hong Kong affairs,” the South China Morning Post reported on Monday, adding that Beijing made the “tit-for-tat” move after the US imposed sanctions on four Chinese officials last month.
It is too early to tell what US president-elect Joe Biden’s China policies will be, but it is unlikely that China would reverse its requirement that INGOs submit to surveillance of their activities. Arguably China, more than any other place in East Asia, could benefit from the work of these organizations, but operating there puts NGO workers at risk of arbitrary detention. Even if they are not detained, they face many restrictions on performing humanitarian work.
INGOs should re-evaluate their work in the region and determine whether operating in China is feasible, while larger organizations might want to consider making Taiwan their base of operations for the area — just as Reporters Without Borders has done.
NGOs operating out of Taipei can play a key role in social and political change in Taiwan, but can also be an invaluable resource for the government in formulating China policies. Their presence would improve Taiwan’s international visibility, and they would be able to work unhindered. Taiwan should do what it can to attract NGOs, including working with the governments of like-minded nations.
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