CHINA-FOCUSED CHRISTIAN GROUP CAUGHT UP IN PRC'S POST-TIBET

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CHIANG MAI 000076

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 5/29/2018
TAGS: PHUM PREL KIRF SOCI CH TH
SUBJECT: CHINA-FOCUSED CHRISTIAN GROUP CAUGHT UP IN PRC'S POST-TIBET
UNREST CRACKDOWN

REF: 07 CHIANG MAI 139 (GOING GETTER TOUGHER IN WESTERN CHINA)

CHIANG MAI 00000076 001.2 OF 002


CLASSIFIED BY: Mike Morrow, Consul General, CG, Chiang Mai.
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)



--------------
Summary
--------------


1. (C) The "Friends of China" (FOC) NGO - which has been
placing teachers and rural developmental workers in China for 20
years - reports that Beijing authorities recently shut down its
office in Qinghai Province that oversees assistance projects
with ethnic Tibetans there. FOC believes this is part of larger
PRC crackdown on Tibet-focused NGOs. The group reports that
registration and visa requirements have gotten stricter for its
operations throughout China, but is hoping things will ease up
after the Olympics, provided the Games go well. FOC is waiting
until that time to seek Beijing's permission to launch rural
development activities in the ethnic Hui Muslim-majority Ningxia
Province. FOC is currently working with the PRC's Chinese
Friendship Association on plans for rebuilding schools destroyed
in the recent earthquake in Sichuan Province. End Summary.

--------------
FOC: 20-Year Track Record in China
--------------


2. (SBU) CG met May 27 with Norwegian Gunnar Boe (protect),
head of the Chiang Mai office of the "Friends of China" (FOC).
FOC is a Christian - but not missionary - group that has been
placing teachers and developmental workers in China for 20
years. FOC's China headquarters is in Chengdu, and its external
headquarters moved from Hong Kong to Chiang Mai in 1997.

--------------
Tibet-Related Operations Shut Down
--------------


3. (C) We asked Boe whether FOC had experienced any significant
operational changes since our previous meeting last August
(reftel). He replied that FOC had recently been forced by
Chinese authorities to close its office in Qinghai Province,
which has a significant ethnic Tibetan population and borders
the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR). The office's registration
was up for renewal last month, and the authorities simply
refused to renew it. Boe noted that this happened not long
after unrest began in Tibetan areas of China in March. He
speculated that this was part of a larger PRC crackdown on
foreign, Tibet-focused NGOs, claiming that PRC authorities had
also recently closed down operations in the region of two other
NGOs:

-- the Trace Foundation, a New York-based group with field
offices in China promoting Tibetan culture and development; and

-- the Bridge Fund, which does many assistance projects in Tibet.

(Note: According to Consulate Chengdu, both Trace Foundation
and Bridge Fund offices remain open in Chengdu, although Trace
Foundation seems to have come under pressure to suspend its
activities in Sichuan and the TAR. Trace Foundation may be
operating projects in Tibetan areas of Qinghai Province,
however. Foreign NGOs in Tibetan areas in general have been
under pressure for a number of years and likely increased
scrutiny since March 14 as well. Formal registration has been a
consistent problem for foreign NGOs operating in Tibetan areas
and many resort to creative solutions to keep operating, such as
registering as private businesses. See Chengdu 61. End Note).


4. (C) Boe explained that, while FOC is neither Buddhist nor
Tibet-focused, its volunteers in Qinghai in many cases worked
with ethnic Tibetans, mostly on rural development projects.
Despite the closing of the FOC office in Qinghai, the individual
volunteers, or "associates," have been allowed to remain for
now. However, many of them have their visas up for renewal
later this summer, so "we'll see what happens," Boe said.

--------------
Stricter Scrutiny Across China
--------------


5. (C) Across China, Boe said, FOC has found it more difficult
to operate since about a year ago, when the central government
took over from local governments responsibility for registering
foreign NGOs. FOC's operational difficulties in western China's
Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, reported to us last August
(reftel),have not gotten any better. Boe noted ironically that
local officials do not always see eye-to-eye with central
government authorities on the issue of foreign NGOs. In

CHIANG MAI 00000076 002.2 OF 002


Xinjiang, for example, universities have asked FOC to provide
more English teachers, but Beijing has denied visas to the
associates FOC has tried to send.


6. (C) Notwithstanding this, FOC is still generally able to get
visas for its Chiang Mai-based staff from the Chinese Consulate
General here, Boe said. In recent months, however, the
Consulate has required applicants to provide far more
documentation than in the past. Boe said Chiang Mai-based
tourist agencies have also complained about stricter
documentation requirements and longer processing times for the
tourist visas they seek for their clients. As a result of this
stricter scrutiny, FOC recently stopped applying for visas for
its associates at China's Chiang Mai Consulate, and instead
requires them to apply in their country of residence.

--------------
Post-Olympics Thaw?
--------------


7. (C) FOC's Chengdu headquarters recently approached local
authorities in Ningxia Province, a largely ethnic Hui Muslim
region, to offer assistance in rural sustainable development,
Boe said. The provincial officials have responded favorably.
FOC will move cautiously in approaching Beijing for permission
by waiting until after the August Olympics. Boe speculated
that, if the Olympics go well, the Chinese will likely ease up
on foreign NGO registration and activity. If, however, the
Olympics do not go well and the government loses face, Boe
anticipates a tough time for his and other groups.

--------------
Earthquake Relief
--------------


8. (SBU) FOC has donated a few tens of thousands of dollars to
the Red Cross for earthquake relief in China, Boe reported. The
group has also sent some doctors into the afflicted areas. FOC
is more focused, however, on longer-term needs, such as
rebuilding schools, and has already begun to engage the PRC's
Chinese Friendship Association on needs assessments.

--------------
On the Move
--------------


9. (SBU) FOC currently has about 160 associates placed in
China, about half of whom are Americans, Boe said. Chiang Mai
serves as a convenient and low-cost administrative center for
FOC. Boe is not aware of any other Christian groups that are
operating in China out of Chiang Mai, but said the Jian Hua
Foundation, which places medical, developmental, and educational
professionals in China, recently sent a team to check out Chiang
Mai as a possible lower-cost alternative to its current Hong
Kong base.


10. (SBU) Boe's two-year assignment to Chiang Mai ends in June,
after which he and his family will return to Norway, where he is
a telecoms engineer. His replacement as FOC Assistant Executive
Director has been named, but will be based in the Chengdu office
along with the Executive Director. FOC will retain a
five-person administrative support staff in Chiang Mai.

--------------
Comment
--------------


11. (C) Despite its recent setback in Qinghai Province, FOC is
likely to continue to operate in China as it as for the last two
decades: quietly moving into and out of various regions
depending on the temperature readings it gets from central and
local authorities. The group is hopeful that a smooth-running
Olympic Games will generate a "warm" temperature favorable for
foreign NGO access to areas not currently reached.


12. (U) This cable was coordinated with Embassy Beijing and
ConGen Chengdu.
MORROW