Chinese central authorities have indicated official approval for the mainland operations of one of the largest Taiwan-based Buddhist civil society organizations, the Tzu Chi (Ciji) Foundation.
Chinese authorities included Tzu Chi among the limited number of organizations and nations invited to send personnel to participate in the relief efforts following the devastating May 12 earthquake in western Sichuan, according to a May 16 International Herald Tribune article. Earlier this year, Chinese authorities approved Tzu Chi’s application to establish a foundation in mainland China, the first such foundation (as opposed to a representative office) whose legal representative was not a mainland Chinese resident.
Official approval of Tzu Chi’s application may represent 1) a cautious step toward increasing the legal space available for some civil society organizations to address pressing domestic problems in China and 2) an opening aimed at improving cross-strait relations.
