Ministry urges public help against illegal social organizations

China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs (MCA) on Friday urged the public to report and provide information on illegal social organizations.

The living space of the illegal social organizations will narrow down if everyone immediately reports them, the MCA said on its website.

According to the MCA’s website, bigger illegal social organizations are similar in their operations, such as inviting celebrities in politics, culture and sports as endorsers in advertisements, and using them as their backers or protective umbrellas. They also profited from national strategies.

“The government is cracking down on illegal social organizations through exposure and prohibition. Exposure can’t replace prohibition [in management methods],” said an unnamed official from the social organization management bureau under the MCA, according to MCA’s website.

The official also said that there is “living soil” for the existence of those illegal organizations in China.

“For example, some parents know that many competitions launched by illegal social organizations don’t have a real effect, but they are still willing to pay money to buy diplomas and certificates so that their children could be more competitive in school enrollment,” the official noted, adding that illegal social organizations can’t be erased unless this kind of soil is cleared up.

The official said the “market” for illegal social organizations will shrink if people don’t patronize them, or if domestic media checks the legitimacy of those organizations before advertising for them.

The government has already investigated and banned more than 300 illegal social organizations as of Friday.

China had a total of 702,000 authorized social organizations at the end of 2016, the MCA said.