Mark Sidel on China's Oversight of Foreign NGOs: Eight Years of the Overseas NGO Law

In this episode of the Sinica Podcast, Kaiser Kuo interviews Mark Sidel, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Senior Fellow at the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law, about the regulatory environment for overseas NGOs, foundations, and nonprofits in China. They discuss the history and evolution of regulations, the impact of the 2016 Law on the Management of Domestic Activities of Overseas NGOs, and the strategic adaptations foreign organizations have made to continue operating in China. The conversation covers the motivations behind the law, the roles of various government bodies, and the effects on both foreign and domestic nonprofit sectors, including the shift towards social service-oriented activities and the challenges faced by advocacy groups. Sidel also shares his typology of foreign NGO responses to the regulatory changes and offers advice to organizations considering work in China.