Tiger, tiger, burning bright

• Source: Global Times
• [20:30 July 08 2009]
• Comments

The Chinese government is cautiously progressing with its development of a civil society, according to Wilkinson. He cited a real willingness to learn how to manage civil society organizations on the one hand and skepticism on the other.

“Sometimes you find people in government quite enthusiastic,” he said.

“They can see the benefits. But there’s nearly always somebody over the shoulder saying, ‘Wait a minute! Think about that again.’ ”

Moving toward a law-based system, managing society and organizations away from a much more personalized system is a massive evolution for a country like China, Wilkinson said, almost totally alien to the culture.

If the government wants to oversee smooth growth of civil society organizations, they first need to develop a solid legal framework so that organizations can be managed in a legal way without being seen as a threat, he argued. According to lawyer Li, civil society’s growth is an irreversible trend.

Tiger Temple (http://24hour.blogbus.com/) has received 858,745 visits since April 15, 2006 and enough donations to pay two years’ rent for the homeless. New faces continue to show up as volunteers.

“I’m not alone in recording and reporting social affairs anymore,” Zhang said.