Matthew Yglesias » A Land Where Charity Is Illegal

Matthew Yglesias » A Land Where Charity Is Illegal: "Gordon Chang’s account of why China’s new rich are so stingy with their charitable donations is a nice illustration of why:

But an overriding reason explains why charity barely exists in contemporary China: The Communist Party makes giving difficult. Why? The Party wants no competitors, especially organized ones. Charities, therefore, have to find government sponsors before they can register with the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and this requirement severely limits the number of them. Even Hollywood action star Jet Li, a favorite of Beijing because he makes “patriotic” films, cannot register his One Foundation, which may have to suspend operations soon.

Don’t be surprised that as of last year there were, in all of China, only 643 foundations not run by the government. There were an estimated 300,000 so-called grassroots organizations that were operating without registering, or had registered as business enterprises.