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Tuesday 9 March 2010
China tells schools to shun British agency Oxfam
China is telling schools to shun the international relief agency Oxfam and bar their campus recruitment efforts, accusing the group’s Hong Kong branch of having a hidden political agenda.
BEIJING – China is telling schools to shun the international relief agency Oxfam and bar their campus recruitment efforts, accusing the group’s Hong Kong branch of having a hidden political agenda.
School administrators must ban all campus volunteer recruitment efforts run by the group’s Hong Kong office, according to a notice attributed to the Education Ministry.
Oxfam Hong Kong _ which oversees the group’s mainland China operations _ is a “non-governmental organization seeking to infiltrate our interior,” said a notice attributed to the Education Minstry seen Tuesday on the job services Web site hosted by Beijing’s Minzu University.
It called the group’s chairman, public affairs consultant Lo Chi-kin, a “stalwart of the opposition faction,” employing language more commonly associated with communist political struggles of the past.
The statement gave no details of the allegations against Oxfam, which has operated in mainland China for 20 years and works in cooperation with the government’s poverty alleviation department. The group has five offices on the mainland.
China’s authoritarian communist government remains deeply suspicious of most independent social organizations outside its direct control and sets strict limits on activities of international NGOs.
Only a handful of well-funded and politically prominent organizations such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation have met the financial and administrative requirements to register in China. Similar organizations that lacked such clout have in the past found themselves suddenly banned after operating for years, with no clear reason ever given.
The statement, dated Feb. 4, ordered schools to sever all ties and cooperation with Oxfam “in view of the special nature of our educational system, particularly higher education.”
“All education departments and institutions of higher education must raise their guard and together recognize and take precautions against the unfriendly intentions of Oxfam Hong Kong’s recruitment of college volunteers,” it said.
A receptionist at Minzu University said all staff were on leave until Thursday, and the Education Ministry did not immediately reply to a list of faxed questions. The statement was taken down from Minzu’s site shortly after the school was contacted, a possible indication it was an internal notification not intended to be made public.
An Oxfam spokeswoman in Beijing said the group had learned of the notice from various university Web sites, but had been unable to gain any confirmation from the schools or the Education Ministry.
She said the group had always had excellent relations with the government, but declined to give details and asked that her name not be used to prevent complicating the situation.
Oxfam is a confederation of 14 national organizations that works with more than 3,000 partners in about 100 countries. It was founded in Britain in 1942.
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China tells schools to shun British agency Oxfam
CHRISTOPHER BODEEN, AP
23 February 2010
BEIJING – China is telling schools to shun the international relief agency Oxfam and bar their campus recruitment efforts, accusing the group’s Hong Kong branch of having a hidden political agenda.
School administrators must ban all campus volunteer recruitment efforts run by the group’s Hong Kong office, according to a notice attributed to the Education Ministry.
Oxfam Hong Kong _ which oversees the group’s mainland China operations _ is a “non-governmental organization seeking to infiltrate our interior,” said a notice attributed to the Education Minstry seen Tuesday on the job services Web site hosted by Beijing’s Minzu University.
It called the group’s chairman, public affairs consultant Lo Chi-kin, a “stalwart of the opposition faction,” employing language more commonly associated with communist political struggles of the past.
The statement gave no details of the allegations against Oxfam, which has operated in mainland China for 20 years and works in cooperation with the government’s poverty alleviation department. The group has five offices on the mainland.
China’s authoritarian communist government remains deeply suspicious of most independent social organizations outside its direct control and sets strict limits on activities of international NGOs.
Only a handful of well-funded and politically prominent organizations such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation have met the financial and administrative requirements to register in China. Similar organizations that lacked such clout have in the past found themselves suddenly banned after operating for years, with no clear reason ever given.
The statement, dated Feb. 4, ordered schools to sever all ties and cooperation with Oxfam “in view of the special nature of our educational system, particularly higher education.”
“All education departments and institutions of higher education must raise their guard and together recognize and take precautions against the unfriendly intentions of Oxfam Hong Kong’s recruitment of college volunteers,” it said.
A receptionist at Minzu University said all staff were on leave until Thursday, and the Education Ministry did not immediately reply to a list of faxed questions. The statement was taken down from Minzu’s site shortly after the school was contacted, a possible indication it was an internal notification not intended to be made public.
An Oxfam spokeswoman in Beijing said the group had learned of the notice from various university Web sites, but had been unable to gain any confirmation from the schools or the Education Ministry.
She said the group had always had excellent relations with the government, but declined to give details and asked that her name not be used to prevent complicating the situation.
Oxfam is a confederation of 14 national organizations that works with more than 3,000 partners in about 100 countries. It was founded in Britain in 1942.
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