Rule 'won't impair' groups' independence
The construction of Communist Party of China (CPC) branches in social organizations across China should begin at the same time that such organizations apply for registration, said a notice issued by the Ministry of Civil Affairs on Sunday.
Upon registration with civil affairs authorities, social organizations in China are required to pledge to establish an internal Party branch and report information about Party members in the organization - including the total number of its members - to authorities.
Organizations that are currently in the process of applying for registration are required to present authorities with the signed notice and a report on Party branch members as supplementary materials.
"[Social organizations] adhering to CPC leadership … should establish a Party branch within the organization and carry out the Party's work," read the notice.
"The notice will act as a definite guideline for Party building within social organizations," said Yang Zhiyun, an associate professor at the University of Science and Technology Beijing and executive director of the Mingde Social Organizational Ability Promotion Center of Beijing.
The ministry's management strategy for social organizations focuses more on empowering their internal management and registration, in addition to strengthening supervision over Party building, funding, auditing, evaluation and social credit in the meantime, Yang said.
"Party building does not necessarily mean direct interference … The independence of those organizations will not be impaired," he noted.
However, it will inevitably bring about a logical dilemma, since social organizations could still be established without a single Party member, Jia Xijin, associate professor at Tsinghua University's NGO Research Center, told the Global Times.
There is still room for further discussion on exploring a path that combines the leadership of the Party and the spirit of the law in order to reach an agreement on drawing a political baseline without interfering with legal operations by those organizations' legal representatives, Jia added.
"It's noteworthy that this notice does not apply to overseas NGOs' offices in China since their domestic operations fall under the supervision of the Ministry of Public Security rather than the Ministry of Civil Affairs," Zhang Gaorong, a research fellow at the Shenzhen-based China Global Philanthropy Institute, told the Global Times.
In August, the General Office of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council General Office jointly issued a guideline to "reform social organizations' management systems and boost their healthy and orderly development."
The guidelines also emphasized the Party's role in ensuring the political correctness of NGO operations.
