238 CultureShock! China
member. One of the reasons that having an intellectually
handicapped child creates challenge for the family is
that in a one child world, your child is meant to be your
retirement insurance.
Their ability to support carrying forward the family line
through marriage, as well as creating financial success, assures
the parent a serene, enjoyable old age. An intellectually
challenged child is able to do neither. He or she is a guarantee
that the parents will have to work until old age and that the
family line will be broken.
Special Olympics has come to China providing a support
network for parents and a platform for the intellectually
challenged to achieve personal success, greater confidence
and value. After being awarded a chance to host the Special
Olympics World Summer Games in Shanghai in 2007, the
Chinese government has dedicated itself to identifying
and involving intellectually challenged citizens nationally.
It has gone from a handful of athletes and their families
being involved in Special Olympics, to more than a half a
million.
In addition to the message that the Games brings to China
about the potential of the intellectually challenged, those
involved with the Games will undergo screening by a team
of doctors that attends the Games and be provided with
glasses, hearing aids, nutritional information and special
athletic gear.
Special Olympics is a good example of the Chinese
government’s evolution in embracing charities. It has taken
to heart the intent of Special Olympics, involved citizens
and corporations, and created a seminal change in the way
society views the intellectually challenged.
China law still considers social and environmental welfare
to be the domain of the government. It is immensely difficult
to set up a registered charitable organisation in China.
Many that exist at present are better described as GONGOs,
‘government organised non-government organisations’. This
process is so cumbersome that many charitable organisations
and non-profit business groups operate in China without
being officially registered, although they are recognised by