Environmentalists wary of motives behind census
China is conducting a massive census of environmental organisations amid growing wariness within the central government about the role of green non-government organisations in 'colour revolutions' in Central Asia.
The four-month census has been commissioned by the Chinese Federation of Environmental Protection, a new organisation stacked with former officials from the State Environmental Protection Administration (Sepa), and is being carried out by a social survey centre run by the China Youth Daily.
The federation said the survey aimed to find out the number of such groups and the range of their activities so that better policies to foster their growth could be formulated.
However, a senior government source, without mentioning the census, admitted that the central government was eager to find out what green NGOs were doing on the mainland and the size of their support base because it was concerned about the roles that green NGOs played in peaceful revolutions in Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan.
'We know too little about environmental organisations in China and what they are doing. We do not know if they are doing good or doing harm to China,' he said.
According to the federation website, the census will collect information about NGOs engaging in environmental activities, unregistered groups and environmental groups at universities.