China Quake Response Renews Debate Over Role of Charities

Volunteers who poured into China’s Yunnan province after a devastating earthquake last week have drawn both criticism and praise for their relief work as the country continues to grapple with the growing role of private charity in society, The Wall Street Journal writes.

The 6.1-magnitude quake that killed more than 600 people brought thousands rushing into affected areas, clogging roads and making it difficult for authorities to send in supplies and remove the wounded. But some better-organized volunteer groups played an important role in pulling survivors and bodies out of the rubble and bringing aid to remote mountain villages, winning praise from officials on the scene.

Fears on the part of China’s Communist authorities that organized charity could morph into political activism has fueled crackdowns on nonprofits, but there is also growing recognition that charities are needed when disasters stretch official resources. The government’s ambiguity toward civil society “has always been profound and, of late, more evident,” said Orville Schell of the Asia Society’s Center on U.S.-China Relations.