As agreed at the U.S.-China Social and Cultural Dialogue in September of this year, the U.S. State Department met with the Chinese government on December 14 to discuss U.S. NGOs in China. Though the State Department’s press release does not detail which entities and individuals from the Chinese side participated in the consultation, reference to the Ministry of Public Security’s (MPS) commitment to meet with foreign NGOs next year suggests that it was a key participant. The full text of the press release is as follows:
The United States and China held the inaugural U.S.-China Consultation on Foreign Nongovernmental Organization Management on December 14, 2017 in Beijing, China. The two sides discussed the critical role that NGOs play in facilitating people-to-people exchanges between the United States and China. Both sides believe that the strength and success of all countries depends on protecting and supporting civil society. The United States urges China to ensure that the new Foreign NGO Management Law will guarantee the continuous operations of U.S. NGOs in China. The two sides decided to meet again in 2018 and continue working-level consultations to address the concerns of civil society leaders. The Ministry of Public Security and related public security organizations decided to meet with representatives of NGOs and Professional Supervisory Units early next year in order to resolve their questions and concerns about registration.