11. An Approach to Chinese Global Governance: The Case of Non-governmental Organizations

Before returning to the proposal of the 天下 tiānxià, it is necessary to analyze its terminology as well as its structure and writing. The character tiān means heaven or nature, and refers to naturalness on a divine scale. The role of the tiān is to legitimize the sovereigns. The mandate of heaven refers to a natural conception of the tiān, whose role is the origin of the legitimacy of the politician. In imperial China the “mandate of heaven” acted as a model of government. The tiānxià was established in the Zhou dynasty (1046–256 BC), an unstable period that reflected an example of unity in diversity. At that time, China was not unified, but was ruled by several tribes that were under strong territorial disputes. For this reason, the objective of the Zhou dynasty was to ensure control and order in the region, seeking legitimacy through non-coercive power, since it was not the most powerful tribe at that time. Due to the asymmetry of power, they knew that the path could not be direct confrontation or imposition. The main characteristic of the system established by this dynasty was the fact that it was made up of a general world government and other sub-state governments. The world government was in charge of global order, of universal rules and laws, and arbitrated in conflicts between sub-states, while the latter, which had a lot of autonomy, were in charge of their own political, economic, social and cultural affairs (Margueliche 2019).

Regarding this type of organization, there are: popular organizations and their grassroots organizations that participate in the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, such as the China Federation of Trade Unions, the Chinese Communist Youth League, the Chinese Women’s Federation, China Science and Technology Association, and the Federation of Overseas Chinese, among others; there are also grassroots associations and organizations approved by the State Council as exempt from registration, such as the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, the China Writers Association, the China Journalists Association, the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, and the Chinese People’s Institute of Foreign Affairs, among others.

Such as urban and rural residents’ management committees (including urban neighborhood committees and rural village committees), social groups, private non-business units and foundations registered with the civil affairs department, NGOs registered with other departments of government (e.g. homeowners committees, places of worship, etc.), NGOs registered as corporate entities, branches of foreign NGOs in China, NGOs affiliated with legal organizations, various interest groups on the streets or in the park, and virtual associations on the Internet, etc.