ABSTRACT
Despite twenty-five years of reform and increasing openness in China, the party-state continues to dominate Chinese society, and the policies it formulates towards non-governmental organizations (NGOs) necessarily serve as the greatest determinant of their status and health. In general, two major influences have shaped the government’s NGO policy. First, in response to economic, social, and political crises, the government has turned to nongovernmental institutions to shoulder responsibilities on numerous fronts, including social welfare, economic development, and disaster relief. The government believes that the resources, development programs, and services brought in or provided by the non-governmental sector, domestic or international, will help the CCP restore its legitimacy, reduce public pressure on the government, and bring social stability. On the other hand, the CCP’s top leaders remain keenly aware of the political risks of associational actions, a lesson they learned in the late 1980s from the Tiananmen students and workers’ democratic movement, as well as Poland’s Solidarity Movement.
