- Scouting in Mainland China
Since the founding of the
People's Republic of China (PRC) by the Communist Party in 1949, Scouting has officially been bannedFact|date=February 2007, while theYoung Pioneers of China and theCommunist Youth League have become the dominant youth organization inmainland China for younger and older youth, respectively. Currently in mainland China, Scouting is found only in someinternational school s.Scouting is active in bothHong Kong andMacau ,special administrative region s of the People's Republic of China, whose legal systems are separate from that of the rest of the PRC.Scouting existed in mainland China before 1949 under the
Republic of China (ROC). In 1949, the ROC government withdrew toTaiwan , where it remains today, and Scouting has continued in Taiwan under the nameScouts of China .In 2004, the Scout Club of Hainan (海南童子军俱乐部), borrowing heavily from Scouting in terms of emblems, uniforms and activities, was founded in Hainan Province; it is, however, not affiliated with worldwide Scouting. An attempt to organize a nationwide Scouting organization in
Wuhan was ended by the government in 2004. [ [http://www.voanews.com/chinese/archive/2004-08/a-2004-08-03-5-1.cfm 武汉童子军被取缔 创办者坚持再申请(04年8月3日) - 2004-08-03 ] ]History
Following the birth of the
Republic of China , the first Scout troop was organized byReverend Yen Chia-lin inWuchang onFebruary 25 ,1912 and the Scouting movement spread rapidly all over the country.Russian Scouts fleeing
bolshevism followed White Russian émigrés from 1917 to 1922 throughVladivostok to the east intoManchuria and south into central China, where very large groups of thousands of Russian Scouts came into being in cities such asHarbin ,Tientsin andShanghai .The General Association of the Scouts of China was formally established in
Nanking in 1934, and became a member of the International Scout Bureau in 1937. Many Scouts actively participated in theSecond Sino-Japanese War from 1937 to 1945.In 1939 the United Rovers were founded by the Austrian
Scouter Fredy Mittler inShanghai . This group consisted of Austrian and Germanémigrés . It was affiliated to the The Boy Scout Association. At the end ofWorld War II there were 120 members. [cite book|title= Logbuch der Pfadfinderverbände in Österreich | pages = 143|language = German
year =2004|author= Kurt Pribich| publisher = Pfadfinder-Gilde Österreichs| location = Vienna]Registered membership reached 570,000 in 1941. However, all Scouting activities were interrupted in 1949, when the Chinese communists took over
mainland China . The Chinese Scout Association was reorganized in 1950 after the ROC government was relocated to Taipei, and resumed the membership of International Scout Bureau asScouts of China .Recent developments
Since the transfer of the sovereignty of
Hong Kong to PRC in 1997,The Scout Association of Hong Kong (SAHK) has been being actively organising exchange programmes in mainland China. [http://www.apr.scout.or.jp/publications/inbox%20Dec%2002.htm accessed on June 12, 2006] In 2004, the SAHK, theShenzhen Youth Federation and the Working Committee of Young Pioneers in Shenzhen organized the first joint camp with 490 Hong Kong and 360 Shenzhen participants. The SAHK held five regional camps in mainland China in 2005: inXinjiang ,Gansu ,Qinghai ,Jilin andInner Mongolia . [http://www.scout.org.hk/en/history/hohks/00002513.html accessed on June 12, 2006] All mainland China activities of the SAHK are coordinated via its "International and Liaison Branch".The
Hong Kong Girl Guides Association has also established partnerships with youth and women organizations in mainland China. [http://www.wagggsworld.org/en/about/chiefexecutive accessed on June 12, 2006]A first local Scout organization emerged in the Tianjin municipality in 1997 mainly aimed at disadvantaged children. It was still active in January 2004 with 40 local groups and more than 4,000 members of both genders, but its actual status is unknown. [http://www.china.org.cn/english/China/85680.htm accessed on June 12, 2006]
An attempt to start a nationwide Scouting organization in
Wuhan was curtailed by the government in mid-2004. [ [http://www.voanews.com/chinese/archive/2004-08/a-2004-08-03-5-1.cfm 武汉童子军被取缔 创办者坚持再申请(04年8月3日) - 2004-08-03 ] ] The website of the incipient organization continues to exist [zh icon [http://www.chinascout.org 搜游网 - -中国童军公益网、中国探险旅游户外休闲拓展童军运动网络家园! ] ] as an active community of people interested in the subject, but the organization has not been restarted.Also in mid-2004, the Scout Club of Hainan was started in
Hainan province. It borrows heavily from international Scouting in terms of its emblem, ideals, uniforms, and activities, and has organized frequent outdoor camps since its founding. It is, however, not affiliated with international Scouting.There is also the Shanghai Scout Club founded in
Shanghai in December 2006. [http://shanghaiscoutclub.clubspaces.com/Default_css.aspx accessed on April 6, 2008] This group participated in JOTI 2007. [https://www.jotajoti.org/weblog/view.php?orderby=&ordersort=&group=50&sa accessed on April 6, 2008] It also borrows heavily from international Scouting in terms of its emblem, ideals, uniforms, and activities.This group was mentioned as a Radio Scout group in the Austrian Scout magazine Telescout-News in December 2007. [cite journal|journal = Telescout-News|volume = 15| pages = 1|language = German
date = December 2007|year =2007|url =http://www.telescout.org/cms/pdf/Telescout_News_15.pdf Telescout-News 15|author= Ernst Tomaschek| publisher = Pfadfinder und Pfadfinderinnen Österreichs| location = Vienna|title= Die Pfadfinderfunker in Shanghai]Hong Kong and Macau
Hong Kong andMacau arespecial administrative region s of the People's Republic of China, i.e. with legal systems separate from that ofmainland China (i.e. the rest of the country). The two territories were European possessions until 1997 and 1999 respectively. Scouting has continued after the transfers of sovereignty. In Hong Kong,The Scout Association of Hong Kong has 99,591 Scouts, and The Hong Kong Girl Guides Association has 40,576 Guides. In Macau Scouting is organised by theAssociação de Escoteiros de Macau , a WOSM associate member.International Scouting units in mainland China
In addition, British Scouts have units of
The Scout Association in various cities including Nanjing. USA Girl Scouts Overseas inthe People's Republic of China are serviced by way of USAGSO headquarters inNew York , with troops inBeijing ,Guangzhou ,Nanjing ,Shanghai ,Shekou ,Tianjin andZhuhai . Also, there are both American Cub Scout packs and Boy Scout troops in Beijing and Shanghai, as well as Lone Scouts inXiamen (Amoy) and possibly other locations, linked to theDirect Service branch of theBoy Scouts of America , which supports units around the world.Chinese Scouting ideals
The
Scout Motto in Chinese is 準備, translating as "Be Prepared" (pronunciation may vary by spoken variant). The Scout Motto in Uyghur is "Tayyar Bol", translating as "Be Prepared".See also
*
Liu Bocheng
*Sun Li-jen
*Yang Huimin References and notes
External links
* [http://www.cnscout.com/ Scout Club of Hainan]
* [http://shanghaiscoutclub.clubspaces.com/Default_css.aspx Shanghai Scout Club]
* [http://www.scout.org.hk/en/department/intl/ The Scout Association of Hong Kong: International and Liaison Branch]
* http://www.pinetreeweb.com/left5-2.htm
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