Earthquake Rocks China's Civil Society

The earthquake has certainly revealed that NGOs can play a positive role, but the question of “deviation” is of greater concern to the ruling party and where the challenge will lie for these young organizations. It would be shortsighted to consider the role that Chinese NGOs will play on the domestic stage alone. Chinese NGOs are increasingly in regular contact with counterparts from Asia, Africa, Latin America, Europe, and the US to discuss climate change, globalization, aids, antidiscrimination or whatever the issues of the day are. The Chinese government may not just face its NGOs at home, it may also see them abroad, and so will other governments and multi-national corporations who have often been at the focus of global civil society campaigns.