An article published in February by David Eimer in Beijing.
China turns to British charities to plug gaps left by communist party
For decades, the Chinese Communist Party has insisted that it can provide for all the country’s most disadvantaged citizens itself – with no need for charities in its socialist paradise.
Now, in a dramatic reversal of that policy, the government has acknowledged that it cannot cope with the tens of millions of people who have missed out on the prosperity that has come with China’s rise to a global economic power – and more who may lose their jobs in the global recession.
Officials are now actively talking up the role of charities and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), as they hope to harness the newfound enthusiasm amongst the Chinese for giving to charity and volunteering that has appeared since the Sichuan earthquake. Because it has little experience of its own of working with such groups, China plans to use some of Britain’s most famous charities as role models for their own voluntary sector.
