China's State Council has issued guidelines to strengthen the supervision of social organizations, including domestic and foreign non-government organizations operating in China.
While some fear they will hamper the free operations of NGOs, others believe they are necessary to regulate the market. CCTV's Han Peng visited one NGO in Beijing to see how it is influencing China's society and governance, and how it's responding to the new policies.
A 15-year-old single mom. Sisi, not her real name, says she knows who the father is and where to find him. In China, having sex with somebody who is under the legal age, even with consent, is classified as rape. Her child is now 12 months old, but the alleged rapist is still at large.
"The police promised to check the DNA matching of the kid and the father half a year ago, but so far, they still haven't done it. I reported the case to the police over a year ago, I'm afraid the case will expire when it reaches two years," Sisi said.
Sisi says her parents don't want her to come home, because they feel she's a humiliation. Instead she and her baby are now in a secret place in Beijing, and being cared for by an NGO called Children's Hope Foundation.
Her volunteer helper, Li Zikun lost her arm in a fire accident in college. She says that experience helps her to empathize with other young girls in despair. She is now offering legal aid for Sisi, but says she and her organization have a much bigger goal -- to influence Chinese politics.
"We try to push for change in China's legislation to better protect minors. We've been calling for compulsory reporting to police whenever hospitals are suspicious of child abuse and sexual assault. Another major goal is the disclosure of information about paedophiles once they commit crimes. If we only help victims, case by case, without letting the state protect the kids, such tragedies will never disappear," Li said.
The foundation Li is working with now helps all kinds of minors. They include orphans, abandoned children with disease or disability, and underage victims of physical abuse and sexual assaults
Each child has gone through his/her own hardship, often without any legal support.
The foundation lobbied hard to reform the law where underage girls were classified as prostitutes when they were victims of rape.
Over the past two decades, the Children's Hope Foundation has helped about 10,000 minors in China, and filed seven law amendment proposals to the National People's Congress and political advisory council. These achievements are undoubtedly important, but a more important task for the organization is to stand up to the immense scrutiny from the public and the government.
Chinese authorities have now vowed to establish a stronger supervision and management system for NGOs by 2020. They also passed laws earlier this year, which require domestic and foreign NGOs to register and disclose their financial status.
Some argue China's strengthened supervision violates NGOs' rights and will hamper their growth, but for Children's Hope, they say it will lead to fairer competition among different NGOs.
"Long before these regulations, we started to make financial disclosures on our websites, particularly where the money is from. And we've accepted the government's regular auditing of our financial activities. We also inform each donor where the money has been spent. We think only with 100 percent transparency can an NGO build up trust with the public, the donors and those who receive the help," Li Hong, PR manager with Children's Hope Foundation, said.
As for Sisi, she is still railing from her past, but with help from the foundation, she is building a maternal bond with her child.
The foundation says what they are pushing for may not be to everyone's liking, but they are trying to change China, one case at a time, and the transparency will at least show that their intentions mean well.
