Why Rotary
clubs in Beijing and Shanghai are still provisional?
14th November 2003
When will the official charters be granted?
It has always been hot topics of discussion amongst members
during Rotary meetings: Why Rotary clubs in Beijing and Shanghai
are still provisional for over two years? When will the official
charters be granted by Rotary International?
Also, club presidents in Beijing and Shanghai, as well as myself
in the capacity of District Extension Chairperson, are always
approached by different interested parties: Can we organize
a Rotary club in Shenzhen? in Dalin? in Xian? in Pudong? or
even in Kunming, etc.
In order to explain the current situation on what happened relating
to the extend of Rotary in China mainland, allow me to tell
you the facts here.
Under the supervision of the RI Board of Directors, there is
an "Extension to Non-Rotary Countries Committee"(the
Extension Committee). This Committee will advise the RI President
and the Board of Directors on matters related to the development
of Rotary in non-Rotary countries, including the possibility
of establishing provisional and/or permanent Rotary clubs in
those countries. Several Islamic countries, Bhutan, Laos, Vietnam,
and The People's Republic of China are on the list.
Conditions to be reviewed
Please do not surprise that China is on the list. It is important
to stress that, to date, the RI Board has not opened The People's
Republic of China (PRC) for extension, although Hong Kong and
Macao are part of the country. This must be done before any
Rotary club can be chartered in a non-Rotary country. The RI
Board will open a country for extension after it has received
a recommendation from the Extension Committee. The Committee
makes determinations based on the Board's guidelines for extension.
It is interested to note that the PRC is currently not eligible
for Rotary extension as it does not meet the Board's extension
guidelines. The Extension Committee has several sub-committees
to review conditions in various regions of the world. One of
the sub-committees is dedicated solely to monitoring the suitability
of the PRC for extension of Rotary. The Extension Committee
is chaired by Past RI President M.A.T. Caparas, and the Extension
to China Sub-Committee is chaired by immediate Past RI President
Bhichai Rattakul. Our Past District Governor Moses Cheng (Hong
Kong Northeast) is one of the members. The China Sub-Committee
has held its recent meeting in Singapore in early November to
review the conditions in the PRC in terms of the following:
* Does Rotary International have any required approval from
the PRC government to function in the country? This usually
takes the form of an invitation letter from the office of the
country's Prime Minister or President to the RI President. Please
note that this must occur before the RI President can grant
his approval to proceed with chartering a new club in a non-Rotary
country. This has not happened in the PRC. Indeed, after several
meetings with government officials in the PRC, RI has been told
that we will need to wait for a law on the registration of "Non-Profits
Organizations" (not NGOs : non-governmental organizations++)
to be passed by their legislature before we can formally enter
the country.
* Under what conditions may a group of citizens function as
a non-political, non-religious entry, for the purpose of providing
humanitarian services in their local community? Is there a required
application or registration with a government agency? This is
especially important if we want citizens of the PRC to be club
members.
* Under what conditions may such a group of citizens meet on
a weekly basis, for the purpose of specializing and planning
their community service agenda? Is a governmental permit or
license required for such meetings? Again, very important if
we want citizens of the PRC to be club members.
* May such groups fulfill their financial obligations by submitting
dues payments and contributions to the association headquarters
and its foundation located outside the country?
* Is there freedom of speech and freedom of the press/media
in the country?
(++Note) In the PRC, there are many NGOs but they have to
be closely supervised by the Communist Party. Hong Kong and
Macao are special adminsitrative regions which are protected
by their own Basic Laws. Therefore, Hong Kong and Macao are
excluded from the definition of "non-Rotary countries".
According to the "legal points of view of Rotary International",
there are "no Rotary clubs" in the PRC at this moment.
There are, however, "two provisional Rotary clubs"
which have not yet been chartered. The members of these clubs
are all non-PRC citizens and are technically "not Rotarians"
with the exception of those who have maintained their membership
with Rotary clubs in other countries. As you know, these two
clubs are located in Beijing and Shanghai. However, because
of the social conditions in the PRC, the two provisional Rotary
clubs have been granted special permission by the RI Board and
the Rotary Foundation Trustees in June, 2001, to participate
in Rotary and Foundation programs.
District 3450 is responsible for the extension
I would like to point out that only District 3450 can conduct
extension activities in the PRC as the PRC has been placed in
this district by the RI Board. This is per decision 268 of the
February 2003 Board Meeting as well as the Code of Policies
18.070.1. Individual Rotarians do not have the authorization
from the RI Board to individually conduct extension activities
on behalf of Rotary International. All Rotarians who are interested
in assisting with extension activities are welcome to contact
the RI Extension Committee so that they may continue their wonderful
efforts under the centralized coordination of the Committee.
This is very important so that there are not multiple Rotarians
all working in a country without knowledge of one another's
efforts. Such multiplication of efforts wastes valuable Rotarian
resources while also potentially giving the non-Rotary country's
government and people the impression that Rotary is a disorganized
organization.
Any opinion, suggestion, recommendation, etc., regarding the
extension of Rotary to China are always welcome by Past Governor
Moses Cheng (Email: mcheng@compuserve.com),
and of course our District Governor Jones C.H. Wong (Email:
jones127@netvigator.com).
You are always welcome to send me enquiries should you find
queries on this subject.
Herbert K. Lau
District Extension Chairperson
Rotary International District 3450
www.Rotary3450.org
Tel: (852) 9310 4873
Email: herbilau@netvigator.com
為何上海及北京扶輪社仍為臨時扶輪社
何時才會頒發正式扶輪社證書？
在扶輪例會時社，員們總是會談到一項熱門話題：已經超過兩年了，為何上海及北京的扶輪社仍為臨時扶輪社？國際扶輪何時才會頒發正式扶輪社證書？
同時，北京及上海的社長們，以及擔任3450地區擴展主委的我，總是被各方問及：我們可以在深圳組織扶輪社嗎？在大連呢？在西安？在浦東？甚至在昆明？，等等。
為了解釋扶輪在中國大陸擴展目前情況，容我在此告訴各位幾點事實。
在國際扶輪理事會的督導之下，設有「擴展至非扶輪國家委員會」（擴展委員會）。此一委員會就扶輪在非扶輪國家的發展，包括在這些國家成立臨時及/或永久扶輪社的可能性，對國際扶輪社長及理事會提出建議。這個名單上有數個回教國家、布丹、寮國、越南、及中華人民共和國。
檢視扶輪擴展條件
請不要訝異為何中國也在名單上。我要強調的是，至今為止，國際扶輪理事會尚未開放中華人民共和國來擴展扶輪，雖然香港及澳門是中國的一部份。在授證任何扶輪社進入非扶輪國家之前，必須先開放該國擴展。國際扶輪理事會必須收到擴展委員會的建議，才會開放某一國家來擴展扶輪。委員會根據理事會的擴展準則做出決定。值得注意的是，中華人民共和國目前還不符合資格列為可以擴展扶輪的國家，因為它不符合理事會的擴展準則。擴展委員會有數個小組委員會來評估世界各地域的擴展條件。其中一個小組委員會專門負責審視中華人民共和國是否已經適合擴展扶輪。擴展委員會主委是國際扶輪前社長柯百樂（M.A.T.
Caparas），擴展至中國小組委員會主委是國際扶輪甫卸任前社長陳裕財（Bhichai Rattakul）。我們的前總監鄭慕智Moses
Cheng（香港東北社）是該小組委員會委員之一。擴展至中國小組委員會最近十一月初在新加坡開會，從以下幾點來檢討中國的擴展條件：
*國際扶輪有沒有獲得中國政府同意在中國從事扶輪運作？通常這是以一國的首相或總統致邀請函給國際扶輪社長的形式來為之。請注意，必須有此邀請函之後，國際扶輪社長才能同意授證給一個非扶輪國家的扶輪社。但中國政府尚未發邀請函給國際扶輪社長。的確，經過與中國政府官員數次開會之後，國際扶輪被告知必須等待立法機關通過「非營利組織」（不是非政府組織++）登記法之後，扶輪才能正式進入中國。
* 在哪些條件之下，一群公民可以組成一個非政治、非宗教性的社團，以達成在當地社區提供人道服務的宗旨？這個社團需要向政府機關申請登記嗎？如果我們要中國公民成為扶輪社員的話，這點特別重要。
* 在哪些條件之下，這一群公民可以舉行每週例會，來深入規劃他們的社區服務行程？此類會議需要政府批准或給予證書嗎？同樣的，這一點非常重要，如果我們想要中國公民成為扶輪社員的話。
* 這樣的社團可以藉由繳納會費及捐獻給設在國外的總部及其基金會，來履行財務上的義務嗎？
* 該國有言論及出版/媒體自由嗎？
(++註解) 在中華人民共和國有許多非政府組織，但他們必須接受共產黨的緊密督導。香港及澳門是特別行政區，受到基本法的保護。因此，「非扶輪國家」的定義不適用於香港及澳門。
根據「國際扶輪的法律觀點」，目前在中國「並無扶輪社」。可是有「兩個臨時扶輪社」，目前尚未授證。這兩社的社員都不是中國公民，因此技術上「也不是扶輪社員」，除非社員在其他國家的扶輪社擁有社員資格。各位或許知道，這兩社設在北京及上海。可是由於中國的社會條件特殊，這兩個臨時扶輪社已經在2001年6月獲得國際扶輪理事會及扶輪基金會保管委員會的特准，可以參加扶輪及基金會各項計劃。
3450地區負責擴展
我想要指出的是，只有3450地區可以在中國進行擴展活動，因為國際扶輪理事會已將中國列入本地區。這是根據2003年2月理事會268號決議，以及根據政策彙編18.070.1.條規定。國際扶輪理事會並未授權扶輪社員個人代表國際扶輪從事擴展活動。歡迎所有有興趣協助擴展活動的扶輪社員與國際扶輪擴展委員會接洽，以利他們得以在委員會的總協調之下，繼續出色的擴展工作。此點非常重要，以免有許多扶輪社員在同一國家努力擴展卻不知道其他扶輪社員也在努力。這類重複的努力不僅浪費寶貴的扶輪社員資源，更可能讓非扶輪國家的政府及人民產生扶輪是一個紊亂的組織之印象。
前總監鄭慕智（電子郵件：mcheng@compuserve.com）以及當然還有我們的地區總監王仲熹Jones
C.H. Wong（電子郵件：jones127@netvigator.com），歡迎隨時提出關於在中國擴展扶輪的任何意見、提議、建議等等。對於擴展扶輪至中國這一主題，如有任何問題疑問，本人歡迎隨時指教。
國際扶輪3450地區
地區擴展主委
劉敬恆Herbert K. Lau
3450地區網站：www.Rotary3450.org
電話: (852) 9310 4873
電子郵件: herbilau@netvigator.com
2003年11月13日
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