CHINA:Foreign NGOs and even Catholic groups have been operating relatively freely, boosting optimism for the future, writes Clifford Coonanin Chengdu.
SISTER THERESA Wang, who has spent all week delivering tents to people left homeless by the Sichuan earthquake, learnt her English at Maynooth College.
She is using the language skills to marshal foreign aid workers in relief HQ in Chengdu, capital of the earthquake-shattered province. She waxes enthusiastically about Ireland, but is tired from driving with a truck with 500 tents to Jiangyou, only getting back in the wee hours of the morning.
The energetic Sichuan native is marvelling at how four Chinese bishops had no qualms about rolling up their sleeves to help foreign relief workers from the giant Catholic aid agency Caritas, as well as nuns, priests and other volunteers, to carry the tents to those in need around the quake zone.
The bigger picture is even more remarkable than just the sight of senior clerics getting their hands dirty. The fact that foreign non- governmental organisations (NGOs) are allowed to operate in relative freedom when helping with the relief work is unprecedented in modern China.
That these should include organisations allied to the Catholic Church is even more significant.
"Through the earthquake many things will change. Maybe some good will come out of this terrible thing for the people and the church. And the earthquake is teaching people to care for each other," says Sr Wang.
Her view is reflected by Hong Kong cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, who has hailed the way Beijing has allowed foreign NGOs to operate in Sichuan.
"The government has accepted aid from other countries. It has also permitted foreign media to report on the situation in Sichuan. This is a demonstration of greater openness," he said during a Mass last week.
Communist China threw out foreign clergy in the 1950s and severed ties with the Vatican. Since then it has steadfastly refused to allow Catholics to recognise the authority of the pope. Instead they have to join the official Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, which has five million members, but the Vatican estimates that about eight million Chinese Catholics worship secretly in underground churches not recognised by the government. There are some 400,000 Catholics in Sichuan province.
Relations between the Vatican and Beijing have been getting warmer ever since the Holy See signalled it might be prepared to switch diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to the mainland Chinese, although there are deep divisions over issues such as the appointment of bishops, an area where Beijing wants to have a strong say.
However, the fact that Catholic agencies are working so openly in China is the most powerful sign yet that real change could be afoot.
In some ways, they operate like commercial entities - the foreign NGOs need good local parties to operate successfully. In the case of Caritas, they work with Jinde, a non-profit organisation operated by the Chinese Catholic Church to provide social services. It is based in Shijiazhuang, capital of Hebei province.
Foreign NGOs have to apply to the Charities Foundation and the Department of Civil Affairs for permission to operate in China, no easy task normally, but one that has been made considerably more straightforward since the May 12th earthquake, which has claimed 70,000 lives and left five million homeless.
"There has been unprecedented access," says Father Paul Han, a priest working for Jinde, which has previously worked with Trócaire. "The government has opened a door for foreign NGOs to reach out to victims of the earthquake. We've never had co-operation like this.
"Before all we could do was comfort the victims," he adds. "Now we can help with the relief work. This is historical! All of use are exhausted but we've come a long way.
"Our country has become more honest and mature in dealing with disaster."
Fr Han is rushing around the command centre in the Sichuan capital Chengdu, where the tents and other relief supplies spend only a short time before being brought out to those in need.
Frank Falkenburg, a project consultant with Caritas Germany, arrived with 6,500 tents brought in three planes from Pakistan, some €1.2 million worth of relief.
This kind of aid muscle is a sign of serious intent, something the Chinese government is happy to deal with. Caritas is of course interested in seeing how it can expand its role in China after the earthquake relief effort has become a more long-term process.
"It's of relevance for us to be here and the local authorities appreciate that. This is an area where we can deepen our cooperation," Falkenburg says.
"We will co-ordinate with state authorities. The government will focus on reconstruction and we will look at the civil society aspects. The relationship with the government is where we can serve the needs of the people. For example, Beichuan is shifting to a medium to long-term strategy."
Crucially, the earthquake has provided a way for the Beijing government to open up to foreign NGOs without losing face.
There is very likely a strategic dimension to granting foreign aid workers access to the sites too - this is after all an Olympic year, with the games taking place in Beijing, which has been criticised for its stance on human rights and Tibetan autonomy.
Allowing foreign NGOs in to operate highlights the difference between the Chinese government and organisations such as the Burmese junta.
However the scale of the disaster should also not be underestimated.
While the Chinese authorities are capable when it comes to dealing with natural disasters, the geographical spread of the quake zone meant that getting enough supplies together was going to need outside help. Foreign NGOs can also help with some of the longer-term issues.
Caritas, for example, operates psychological counselling programmes specifically aimed at people who suffered in natural disasters.
One of the disturbing developments in the quake zone is the way the constant aftershocks are driving some people to erratic behaviour, to say nothing of the psychological scarring suffered by orphaned children and the parents of children who died in the quake.
Looking ahead, there are fears that the environment could become more difficult again for NGOs. It has already become harder for foreign media to operate in the quake zone, for example, and it could be that the NGOs are sent away as quickly as they were asked to come.
Even if that worst-case scenario comes true, though, a precedent has been established. Things cannot go back to exactly the way they were.
Fr Han is philosophical.
"This is very new for the government. It's welcoming but it's a learning environment. We'll just do our best and let God do the rest," he says."