NED Grants in Hong Kong in 1996

According to the NED Annual Report for 1996, the following US Government funds were allocated by the US Congress and dispersed by the NED for programs in Hong Kong:

Listed under NED Grants in China

Free Trade Union Institute - $359,393
Through the Asian American Free Labor Institute: for the monitoring of labor rights violations and dissemination of information on rights to workers in China; for the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions to retain member support after the Chinese takeover through contributions to public debate, regular distribution of a newsletter, and maintenance of their headquarters as a rallying point and resource center for democracy activists; and for a regional conference to expand cooperation among labor activists from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macao, and China.

University of Hong Kong Faculty of Law - $60,000
To equip and train three additional local partners in China to expand the Law-on-Line project, a bilingual database of information and documentation on human rights laws and legal issues available on the Internet.

Listed under NED Grants in Hong Kong 

Hong Kong Human Rights Monitor - $36,000
To hire a full-time staff director to coordinate the organization's work in human rights reporting, casework, campaigning, and public education.

NED Grants in China in 1996

Center for Modern China - $40,000
Publishing the Chinese-language quarterly Modern China Studies, which exposes policy makers and intellectuals inside China to independent social science analyses of issues relevant to China's transition to democracy.

China Strategic Institute - $130,000
For a study of constitutional reform by a network of 40 scholars and experts inside China, the publication of results in Chinese and Western media and academic journals, and the adaptation of these materials for public education through Chinese-language mass media.

Center for International Private Enterprise - $89,377
To hold a symposium by the Chinese Economists Society on reform of China's financial sector and development of the private sector in Guangdong at which enterprise executives, policy makers, and academics from inside China and abroad can participate in a series of site visits to financial institutions and enterprises in Guangdong.

Center for International Private Enterprise - $17,759
Enabling the Unirule Institute of Economics to continue a biweekly symposium that assembles private entrepreneurs, academics, government officials, and journalists for discussion on issues related to China's transition to a market economy.

Free Trade Union Institute - $359,393
Through the Asian American Free Labor Institute: for the monitoring of labor rights violations and dissemination of information on rights to workers in China; for the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions to retain member support after the Chinese takeover through contributions to public debate, regular distribution of a newsletter, and maintenance of their headquarters as a rallying point and resource center for democracy activists; and for a regional conference to expand cooperation among labor activists from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macao, and China.

Foundation for China in the 21st Century - $40,000
For the production and radio adaptation of three books in a series of Chinese-language scholarly publications entitled China in the 21st Century, which address Tibet, the 30th anniversary of the Cultural Revolution, and the relevance of Taiwan's democratic development.

Human Rights in China, Inc. - $150,000
Educating citizens about human rights principles and assisting those persecuted for the nonviolent exercise of their rights, collecting and disseminating up-to-the-minute information on China's human rights situation, and using un mechanisms to address systematic human rights violations.

International Republican Institute - $139,133
To conduct a survey in conjunction with the Association of Towns and Townships, a private voluntary organization in Beijing, to determine the efficiency and effectiveness of village-level government structures and to determine local governance training needs.

International Republican Institute - $587,816
Assisting the Association for Grassroots Governance and the Institute for Asia-Pacific Studies to train provincial and local-level election officials as multipliers; to train bankruptcy judges, guide them through a review of new commercial codes, and provide them with technical assistance on the operation and management of bankruptcy proceedings; to hold a conference on legal reforms; and to help the National People's Congress increase its capacity to draft and revise legislation.

Laogai Research Foundation - $73,600
To document and publicize conditions in the Laogai, including its arbitrary procedures and the way in which prisoners, including political detainees, are exploited for profit through the forced production of export goods.

Minzhu Zhongguo, Inc. - $65,000
For a Chinese-language monthly magazine on the Internet that provides a forum for the views of Chinese democrats worldwide and promotes a free discussion of China's social and political problems.

Press Freedom Guardian - $45,000
Publishing an independent, Chinese-language newspaper edited in California with a total distribution of 6,000 copies per issue, of which at least 500 copies enter China where they reach an estimated 6,000 more readers through hand-to-hand distribution.

Princeton China Initiative  $60,000
Publishing two magazines, one in English, China Focus, and one in Chinese, The Road, the latter of which has a circulation of 3,000, giving readers inside China access to ideas and information otherwise blocked by state censorship.

Tibet Fund - $39,000
To educate Tibetans in Tibet and in exile about current events and policy questions in their homeland through tapes, lectures, and films; and to organize dialogues between Tibetans in exile and Indian youth to increase support for the Tibetan cause in India.

Tibetan Youth Congress - $16,500
For office equipment including computers, a fax machine, and a photocopier to improve communication between the Executive Committee and the 57 international branches. 

University of Hong Kong Faculty of Law - $60,000
To equip and train three additional local partners in China to expand the Law-on-Line project, a bilingual database of information and documentation on human rights laws and legal issues available on the Internet.

NED 1996 Annual Report: Programs in Asia

While the East Asian economic miracle and transitions from authoritarian regimes to democratic forms of government in Taiwan, South Korea, and Thailand attract well-deserved attention, the region also contains all but two of the communist one-party states left in the world. North Korea, China, Vietnam, Laos, and Burma stand out as regimes that continue to repress their own people and to pose threats to regional and world stability. The Endowment provides support to prodemocracy activists working under severe conditions of repression in the three largest of these countries.

In other parts of the region, the Endowment is able to help democrats in a variety of circumstances, whether the task is democratic consolidation following the fall of a previous regime, as in Cambodia and Mongolia, or attempting to spur the genuine political transformation of the "soft authoritarian" regimes in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore.

In Burma, China, and Vietnam, NED supported programs provide information, material assistance, and a lifeline to the outside world to prodemocracy individuals and groups working under severely repressive conditions. The diversity and vigor of the Burmese and Chinese prodemocracy movements allowed for relatively large allocations of funds for these countries. In Burma, the Endowment provided vital support for the democracy movement led by the National League for Democracy and Nobel Laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. Through its discretionary program, NED enabled the Burmese in exile and living in the border areas of the country to overcome the censorship and crude propaganda of the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) regime through a variety of information-related initiatives. In 1996, NED supported a twice-daily radio program taped in Thailand and the border areas of Burma, an international newsletter, and a highly popular Burmese-language underground newspaper whose circulation has risen from 3,000 copies per issue to 8,000 copies per issue in less than three years. The Endowment has also made possible pioneering coalition-building efforts among the democratic opposition and the long-aggrieved ethnic groups. This was the first successful effort to arrange face-to-face talks among groups demoralized and divided by 40 years of civil war since massive slorc military offenses against the ethnic groups on the eastern border began in 1993. Because all four core institutes are now active in support of efforts to restore democracy in Burma, the Endowment has been able to contribute more than ever before to a comprehensive and effective set of initiatives by the Burmese living in Thailand and India to continue supporting the beleaguered National League for Democracy members and other democracy movement supporters inside the country.

In China, the Endowment is able to support both various prodemocracy networks comprising dissidents and human rights supporters who must operate under severe constraints and programs that take advantage of opportunities created by official economic, legal, and municipal reform policies. To enable dissidents to freely circulate information and opinion in spite of increasingly harsh government efforts to crush independent voices, NED programs supported several Chinese-language prodemocracy periodicals, Internet publications, and a newspaper. NED also supported a variety of democratic information dissemination projects for Tibetan audiences in Tibet, India, and the United States. To provide some international protection for victims of government harassment inside the country, NED grantee Human Rights in China (HRIC) maintained around-the-clock human rights monitoring and reporting, via faxed press releases, during government crackdowns and trials of key dissidents such as Wang Dan and Wei Jingsheng. Issuing more than 35 press releases, in addition to a quarterly bilingual magazine and several in-depth reports, HRIC achieved widespread coverage of their information in the wire services and major newspapers not only in the United States, but in Hong Kong, Taiwan, other parts of Asia, and Europe as well. In addition, the Free Trade Union Institute continued to support a network of labor rights researchers, advocates, and educators.

The Endowment also supported efforts of liberal democrats and scholars inside China to advance significant reforms. In addition to several discretionary programs concentrated on policy research and analysis, the International Republican Institute (IRI) continued its legislative development program. IRI worked to institutionalize and improve local election procedures and initiated training in local governance for elected, village-level officials. The Center for International Private Enterprise supported a symposium series on public affairs in Beijing, China's first international conference on the role of the private sector, and a program to educate business management teachers and entrepreneurs in business ethics and the role of business in civil society.

The pace of democratic institutionalization in Mongolia has stepped up dramatically following the spectacular victory in the June 1996 parliamentary elections of the democratic opposition coalition, which has benefited from IRI training and consultation over the past four years. The peaceful handover from the ruling former-communist party, which had been in power continuously for 75 years, to a liberal-democratic majority in parliament creates an opening for Mongolia to begin making progress in the consolidation of democracy. Toward this goal, the Endowment also supported the League of Democratic Mongolian Women (LEOS), a woman's ngo that provides democracy and human rights education for the nation's widely dispersed population and conducts activities to encourage greater popular participation in government and policy making.

"We, the Third World people in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, still have a life-and-death struggle for democracy, freedom, and justice against ruthless dictatorships. The NED's support for our struggles, in the face of severely limited resources, is of great importance and could make a difference between total victory and defeat for the democratic forces."

Dr. Sein Win

Prime Minister

National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma

NED 1995 Annual Report – Programs in Asia

"Quê Me's network of democratic activists in Viet Nam has enabled us to provide swift and reliable information to the international community on the status of human rights violations in Viet Nam, and urge governments and international organizations to pressure the Vietnamese government to make reforms."

--Vo Van Ai, President, Vietnam Committee on Human Rights

"Today, China's greatest challenge is dealing with problems of workers as the country restructures its economy. We believe that if workers can begin to responsibly consult with management that China will have a chance to move peacefully towards a more democratic society."

--Han Dongfang, Editor, China Labor Bulletin

NED's multi-faceted program in China includes support for human rights monitoring and education, publications that provide a forum for the uncensored views of Chinese democrats, work with reformers at the provincial level on electoral reform, symposia on market reform issues, and promotion of international labor rights standards. Recipients of funding include Chinese dissidents and their support groups in the West, among them Harry Wu and the Laogai Research Foundation, Wang Juntao and the China Strategic Institute, and the Hong Kong-based labor activist Han Dongfang. Upon his return to the United States following incarceration in China in the summer of 1995, Harry Wu stated, "Without NED's support, my colleagues and I simply could not continue to document and report the truth about China's gulag and how it stands in the way of the development of democracy." In my humble opinion, the money for NED "puts the American people squarely behind those struggling for the cause that America has always represented to others around the world--'the cause of freedom'."

The Hong Kong-based Labour Education and Information Center, which is supported by NED through the Asian American Free Labor Institute, published two reports in its China Labour Bulletin that effectively challenged Chinese government propaganda about the role of women in China during the period leading up to the UN Conference on Women held in Beijing. These reports discussed the plight of women workers in various industrial sectors, efforts of government-controlled groups to prevent independent unions, and suggestions for reform. The publications, which received widespread media coverage outside China, were confiscated by security personnel as an attempt was made to distribute them during the Beijing conference.

NED also supported a multi-faceted program in Burma, where the unexpected release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi brought a glimmer of hope for democratic progress. NED funding (through the National Coalition for Democracy) for the efforts of the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB) to heighten international awareness of the situation in Burma helped increase pressure for improvements in the human rights situation and for Suu Kyi's release. The International Republican Institute (IRI) provided financial and technical support to the National League for Democracy/Liberated Areas. Despite the pressures imposed by Burma's pervasive internal security, IRI worked with elements of the prodemocracy movement located on the border areas and within Burma to support the exiled democratically-elected government.

Through the Asian American Free Labor Institute, vital assistance is being provided to the Federation of Trade Unions of Burma to develop trade union materials, train educators and organizers, and publish a newsletter for workers inside the country and along the Thai-Burmese border. With NED funding, a twice-daily short-wave radio program known as the "Democratic Voice of Burma" became a dependable source of information throughout Burma and was a major source of news and information for Suu Kyi during her years of house arrest.

NED support also helped to double the circulation of The New Era, a bimonthly Burmese language newspaper covering current conditions in the country and the activities of the prodemocracy movement. Both the "Democratic Voice of Burma" and The New Era have become integral parts of the democratic leadership's strategic plan to rally support for a democratic transition. Dr. Sein Win, the elected prime minister of the NCGUB, has recognized NED for its support, noting the critical role the Endowment has played in helping Burma's democratic forces continue their struggle to restore democracy. 

IRI has also been active in Mongolia, the one country in Asia that has moved from communism to democracy, helping two democratic parties prepare for the country's second round of parliamentary elections, to be held in 1996. To compete effectively against a ruling parliamentary party that has vastly superior resources, these parties were encouraged to develop national party platforms and a means of communicating them to rural dwellers who make up 80 percent of the population. At a training session held in September for the national leadership and party leaders from each of the 18 provinces and three municipalities, IRI trainers emphasized the need to develop a strategic plan for the ten months prior to the election.

NED Grants in Tibet in 1995

According to the NED Annual Report for 1995, the following US Government funds were allocated by the US Congress and dispersed by the NED for programs in Tibet:

International Campaign for Tibet - $25,000
To enhance Chinese knowledge of Tibet by contributing articles about Tibet to newspapers and magazines within China and abroad; to arrange meetings among key opinion makers; and to translate books about Tibet into Chinese. 

The Tibet Fund - $38,950
To support its "Tibet Voice" project, which disseminates news and information about democracy inside Tibet and among the exile community of Tibetans in India and Nepal through audio cassettes, videotapes, and booklets.

NED Grants in Hong Kong in 1995

According to the NED Annual Report for 1995, the following US Government funds were allocated by the US Congress and dispersed by the NED for programs in Hong Kong:

Listed under Grants to China

Free Trade Union Institute $435,753
To enable the Asian American Free Labor Institute to support the work of leading labor activists both inside China and in exile, including the monthly publication of the Chinese-language China Labour Bulletin; to cooperate with Hong Kong-based groups to document Chinese labor rights abuses, especially in the region around Hong Kong; to develop informational materials for workers in that area; and to strengthen the Confederation of Trade Unions, a key component of Hong Kong's democracy movement, by helping it upgrade its communications and research capabilities.

Listed under Grants to Hong Kong

Hong Kong Human Rights Monitor $30,000
To focus local and international public attention on areas of Hong Kong law and practice that do not safeguard human rights. 

International Republican Institute $25,000
To conduct an assessment of the 17 September 1995 legislative elections in Hong Kong.

NED Grants in China in 1995

According to the NED Annual Report for 1995, the following US Government funds were allocated by the US Congress and dispersed by the NED for programs in China:

Center for International Private Enterprise $116,138
To enable the China Center for Economic Research to organize a lecture series and conference on reform analyzing the progress of China's transition to a market-based economy and new developments in economic reform.

Center for International Private Enterprise $67,971
To enable the Chinese Economists Society to organize a symposium highlighting the problems faced by state-run industries and offering ideas on market-based reforms.

Center for International Private Enterprise $16,198
To enable the Unirule Institute of Economics to organize biweekly symposia bringing together private entrepreneurs, academics, government officials, and journalists to discuss issues related to China's transition to a market economy, including reform of state-owned enterprises, economic and political globalization, and the development of civil society.

Center for Modern China $100,000
To support the publication of Modern China Studies, a bimonthly Chinese-language periodical; five Chinese-language books in the Center's series on the rule of law for publication and distribution within China; and the Journal of Contemporary China, an English-language journal.

The China Strategic Institute $30,000
To produce a series of studies and policy papers on solving pressing contemporary problems for circulation to selected policy makers in China.

Democratic China Magazine $65,000
To support continued publication and worldwide distribution of this Chinese-language bimonthly, which provides a forum for the uncensored views of Chinese democrats in exile and in China.

Free Trade Union Institute $435,753
To enable the Asian American Free Labor Institute to support the work of leading labor activists both inside China and in exile, including the monthly publication of the Chinese-language China Labour Bulletin; to cooperate with Hong Kong-based groups to document Chinese labor rights abuses, especially in the region around Hong Kong; to develop informational materials for workers in that area; and to strengthen the Confederation of Trade Unions, a key component of Hong Kong's democracy movement, by helping it upgrade its communications and research capabilities.

Human Rights in China $140,000
To support its human rights program, which involves a number of integrated activities: producing and distributing in China educational materials (including a twice-monthly radio program) about human rights concepts and practices, providing direct advice and support for victims of human rights abuses who seek redress under the legal system, distributing financial assistance to prisoners' families, gathering information directly from families in China, and releasing timely reports; and to work with international NGOs, the media, governments, and intergovernmental bodies in pressuring the Chinese government to improve its human rights record.

Human Rights in China $25,000
To support its Women's Rights Assessment Project, which provided an objective overview of women's human rights in China and was available at the UN-sponsored NGO Forum and World Conference on Women held in Beijing in September 1995.

Independent Federation of Chinese Students and Scholars $24,000
To support continued publication of its newsletter, which is distributed to its campus chapters and other student associations and sent out over the Internet.

International Republican Institute $538,506
To continue to promote electoral and legislative reform in China through local election training programs in Shandong province (the third most populous province in China, with 80 million voters) and through programs encouraging the reform of China's legislative process, the decentralization of legislative authority to the provinces, and the strengthening of independent policy institutes and of the national and provincial congresses.

Laogai Research Foundation $89,000
To continue its investigations into the laogai system of forced labor, incorporating information into a comprehensive Chinese-English database, publishing the annual Laogai Handbook, and broadly disseminating information through special reports, speeches, and information provided to the mass media.

Press Freedom Guardian $40,000
To support continued publication of this Chinese-language biweekly newspaper, which provides a forum for the free exchange of ideas about democratization.

Princeton China Initiative $55,000
To support its Chinese-language monthly publication, The Road; its English-language monthly publication, China Focus; and its program of information collection and analysis.

Tendency Quarterly $20,000
To support publication and distribution costs of this journal containing poetry, prose, social criticism, and political commentary not publishable in government-controlled outlets.

Today Literary Magazine $20,000
To continue to publish uncensored fiction and literary criticism.

NED Grants in China in 1994

According to the NED Annual Report for 1994, the following US Government funds, allocated by the US Congress were dispersed by the NED for programs in China:

Grants

Center for International Private Enterprise - $141,253
To enable the Chinese Economist Society to cultivate public interest in market-oriented reform by producing a series of books on business administration, including accounting, business law, corporate finance, international business, management, management information systems and marketing.

Center for Modern China - $100,000
To support the publication and distribution within China of Chinese-language monographs on reform and books on rule of law, as well as the quarterly Journal of Contemporary China.

China Perspective, Inc. - $130,000
To support continued publication and distribution inside China of The Chinese Intellectual, a Chinese-language quarterly magazine that promotes the evolution of China toward an open and democratic society.

Democratic China - $60,000
To support continued publication and expanded distribution within China of this Chinese-language bi-monthly magazine dealing with the theory and practice of democracy.

Free Trade Union Institute - $430,472
To support the Asian American Free Labor Institute's "Greater China" program, which promotes worker rights in China; disseminates information on labor rights abuses; assists unions in Hong Kong in their efforts to strengthen democratic practices, and aids independent labor rights organizations in Taiwan.

Human Rights in China, Inc. - $155,000
To support a Human Rights Education and Assistance Project that provides support for victims of political persecution, produces and circulates materials informing Chinese citizens of their rights, and coordinates activities of non-governmental human rights organizations active in the region.

Human Rights in China, Inc. - $20,000
In preparation for the U.N. World Conference on Women to be held in Beijing in September 1995, to publicize abuses of women's rights in China, and to encourage greater participation of independent Chinese women in the conference-associated NGO Forum.

Independent Federation of Chinese Students and Scholars -$10,000
To conduct a leadership training program to help Chinese student democrats living in the United States gain practical skills in strategic planning and organizing in preparation for their return to China.

Independent Federation of Chinese Students and Scholars -$26,000
To support continued publication of its newsletter, distributed to Chinese students on campuses across the United States.

International Campaign for Tibet - $25,000
To enhance Chinese knowledge of Tibet by contributing articles about Tibet to newspapers and magazines within China and abroad; translating books about Tibet into Chinese; and facilitating a series of discussion meetings among key Chinese and Tibetan figures, focusing on bringing Chinese journalists and pro-democracy leaders together with Tibetan leaders in exile.

International Republican Institute - $176,779
To promote political and legislative reform, strengthen the legal infrastructure, and enhance the role of private voluntary organizations in Chinese political life, working with the Institute for Global Concern and the Institute of Legal Culture on policy formulation and comparative legislative research programs.

International Republican Institute - $103,165
To conduct a series of electoral reform and local governance training seminars in the Chinese province of Fujian.

Laogai Research Foundation - $60,000
To continue investigations into China's forced labor prison camps (laogai), and to publish an updated Laogai Handbook exposing the laogai system to the Chinese people and the world community.

National Democratic Institute for International Affairs - $24,653
To assist the Independent Federation of Chinese Students and Scholars in conducting a leadership training program for Chinese democrats living in the United States to gain practical skills in strategic planning and grassroots organizing in preparation for their return to China.

Press Freedom Guardian - $38,000
For continued publication and distribution inside China of this Chinese-language bi-weekly newspaper covering the Chinese democracy movement.

Princeton China Initiative - $53,000
To enable this independent center for Chinese dissident intellectuals in exile to continue publication of a monthly newsletter, "China Focus," and to support a program of research and dissemination of information about China's democratic development.

Tendency Quarterly - $20,000
To support publication of this Chinese-language quarterly containing poetry, prose, social criticism and political observation, and including information about human rights violations against writers and artists in China.

Tibet Fund - $35,520
To distribute cassettes, videotapes and booklets on democracy inside Tibet, and among Tibetan exile communities in India and Nepal. 

Today - $20,000
To support continued publication of this Chinese-language literary quarterly.

NED Grants in China (Hong Kong and Taiwan) in 1994

According to the NED Annual Report for 1994, the following US Government funds, allocated by the US Congress were dispersed by the NED for programs in China (Hong Kong and Taiwan):

Grant

Free Trade Union Institute - $430,472
To support the Asian American Free Labor Institute's "Greater China" program, which promotes worker rights in China; disseminates information on labor rights abuses; assists unions in Hong Kong in their efforts to strengthen democratic practices, and aids independent labor rights organizations in Taiwan.

NED Annual Report - Fiscal Year 1994 Programs in Asia

The priority areas in Asia for the Endowment in 1994 were the remaining authoritarian countries. The region includes the largest remaining Communist power, China, as well as several of the last remaining closed countries of the world: Burma, Vietnam, Laos, and North Korea.

NED support for programs targeted at these countries increased in 1994, with a large proportion of overall Asia programming concentrated on China. Support was provided for numerous publications and advocacy programs as well as several projects designed to spread democratic and free-market ideas. In Burma, NED supported a daily short-wave broadcasting program, training for democratic party leaders, human rights-oriented youth groups, and advocacy work including a newsletter and video production. NED also continued its civic education and human rights programs in Laos and Vietnam. The severity of the isolation of North Korea continued to block all attempts to develop viable programs there.

In the fragile and emerging democracies of South and Southeast Asia, NED supported a wide variety of programs designed to consolidate newly-won democratic systems, primarily support for civic participation programs, for the development of civil society, and for fostering pluralism through trade union and private sector development.

NED also increased its involvement in region-wide efforts. FTUI carried out initiatives focusing on worker rights, including child labor issues. NED supported an unprecedented forum of prominent democratic leaders in the region, as well as increased NGO coordination on the issue of the universality of human rights.