Foreign Donations are Insults to China

Vice-Chair of the Financial and Economic Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) Mr. He Keng said foreign donors were evil minded to insult China.

The comment was made in the context of a joint mega yard sale organized by the foreign consulates, commissions and diplomatic agencies in southern city Guangzhou on Dec 9, 2012 for disabled local residents. The yard sale raised about RMB 330,000, or $50,000.

Mr. He posted on Weibo that official Chinese charities raised way more money annually inside China from Chinese people. Comparing to the amount Chinese government spent on disabled people, the $50,000 is not even close to pocket changes. Foreigners who donate to China are evil minded to shame Chinese people. Mr. He's exact wording is, quote: "the only intention of foreign missions was to ashame Chinese people. Those yard sale organizers are shameless," unquote.

Mr. He Keng is a member of the standing committee of NPC, and formal vice director of the National Bureau of Statistics of China.

To set the record straight, we, Chinese people welcome any help to our needs. As of today, we do not have a government that bothers to take care of regular people, who do not have a voice. We appreciate every penny and will put them into good use.

Update: Mr. He further justifies his accusation with more postings, in which he questions the necessity of holding such a yard sale to raise funds. "The US Counselor in Guangzhou earns more than $50,000 in 6 weeks. Why didn't he just donate his salary if he were sincere?' asked Mr. He.

China Red Cross Clarified on Restaurant Receipts

A snap shot of a restaurant receipt was posted on the Internet by anonymous people. It showed Red Cross paid $1,600 (Y9859 RMB) for a meal on 2/28/2011 in a private club 'Hui' in Shanghai. No other information was revealed. Many Chinese netizens were shocked by the bill, and demanded an explanation as well as an investigation on government corruption.

The Shanghai Red Cross clarified on Saturday that the money was from its own operating budget, rather than from accounts of donations. Also, as many as 17 persons, including clients and collaborating agencies were involved, therefore the per person bill was not high.

To read the figures with perspective, Shanghai's local poverty line is $75 per month for urban and suburban residents and $55 per month for rural residents, or about $2 per day per person.

On the other hand, the Communists Central Propaganda Department argued, comparing to the per diem rate published by the US State Department for Shanghai was $131 for meals and $229 for lodging per day for government employees, the exposed dining expense was by and large within this range.

Chinese Prefer Direct Donate

Charities with Chinese background performed miserably in the latest round of Facebook Charity giving contest, a sharp contract to the glorious victory of last time, when Chinese charities claimed the top 2 slots, with 100 times more votes comparing to groups ranked tenthish. This time, the previous champion OCEF ranked 40, with 10 times less votes comparing to groups ranked tenish.

The difference? Last time people can participate by direct donation with a credit card on a regular website. This time people have to hold a Facebook account plus be a fan of 'Chase Community Giving'. In addition, no actual money is being donated by participants. The success of a charity's fundraising campaign will be evaluated by the number of votes they received, rather than money donation they received.

First of all, Facebook, among other web 2.0 websites, is blocked by the communist government. Chinese within the Great Firewall of China couldn't participate, even those English speaking elite working at international companies. But more critical was, Chinese people by and large don't like the idea of offering 'symbolic support'. Many Chinese people in the US don't bother to register a Facebook account; those who do have Facebook account don't bother to click to vote. And down to the bottom, there are simply not many Chinese representation in the total US population, where Facebook is popular. In the last round, participants can cast multiple votes by making multiple monetary donations. This time, each person can only vote for one organization once.

Anyway, there are still hours before the ending of the campaign. If you are a Chinese, or if you care about helping underprivileged people in China, please (register a Facebook account and become a fan of the 'Chase Community Giving' Cause, if you haven't done so) cast your vote for the following charities. Your vote could help them win the contest to be eligible to receive support from Chase.

Current Standing (Rank, Organization, Votes):

No. 1, ......, 98621;
No. 6, ......, 47489;
No. 32, 半边天基金会(Half the Sky), 8504;
No. 40, 海外中国教育基金会（OCEF）, 7054;
No. 47, 爱心传递慈善基金会(PLCF), 6259;
No. 50, 海外中国儿童援助基金会（OSCCF), 5740;
No. 61, 欣欣教育基金会(Shin Shin Educational Foundation), 3912;
No. 77, 海外华人互助会CMAIN, 2284;
No. 80, 手牵手教育基金会HBHEF, 2019
No. 84, China Care Foundation, 1724;
No. 87, 全美华人文化教育基金会(ACCEF) (致力于中国贫困地区教育), 1496;
No. 92, Chinatown Youth Initiatives, 817;
No. 100, ......, 611.

Each person can cast five votes. If you happened to reside behind the Great FireWall, this page tells you how to flip over the wall to vote.

80% of Earthquake Donations Ended Up in Government Accounts

A study by Qinghua University revealed that 80% of earthquake donations after last year's Sichuan Earthquake ended up in government accounts. A historic 76.7 Billion RMB Yuan was raised after the 5/12/2008 earthquake. Many of the donors are themselves in need, but still gave whatever they had in hand to the victims of the disaster that took away thousands of lives.

A team led by Guosheng Deng of the Public Management College of Qinghua University conducted a study on the donation. They found 80% of the donation made by individuals and companies ended up in government accounts in the form of extra tax revenues. Although only 58% of the donations were directly made to government accounts, those made to various charities were in the end taken away by the government.

The study was publicized on the 'Exhibition of Charity Projects and Community Organization 5.12 Activity Forum' held on August 12, 2009 in Beijing.

Guosheng Deng is an associate professor and director of the NGO Institute of the Qinghua University. He received a J.D. from the People's (Renmin) University.

Refugees Assulted After Questioning Relief Supplies

An 70 years old lady was beaten when she questioned a group of people on apparent misuse of relief supplies. On May 20, 2008, a group of people were witnessed partying in a relief tent on the May First Square of Mianyang. When an old lady approached and questioned the source of the tent, several guys beat the old lady, and assaulted by-passers who denounced the brutality. Soon hundreds of refugees who had been camping on the square surrounded the mobs and blocked their way out. The mobs were able to leave only with local police escort.

The Chinese government had vowed to keep track of the relief donations and supplies. However, every time a misuse of relief supply case surfaced, the government would claim it couldn't found those thefts involved. This time the government would have no excuse because the alerted Chinese Netizens had dug out the name and address of one of the crooks. The world will watch want would happen, which is the real metric of whether the Chinese government back up its big mouth with real action.

There is no excuse if the police can't locate the crook. The name on the registration of the car left behind by one of the mobs was Fan Xiaohua, his address is 4-5-8, 208 Huayuanzhong Rd, Zhongba Township, Jiangyou. The license plate of the car was Chuan-BD3732.

Another donated tent stolen, and another innocent people beaten by party officials for questioning their behavior. Ten days had passed, and now, the world is watching.

NetEase Terminated Partnership with China Red Cross

Netease (Nasdaq: NTES) issued an announcement to terminate partnership with China Red Cross in the earthquake relief operation after China Red Cross refused to make the amount of donations available to the public. Effective 22:00 of May 14, 2008, donations made through Netease will be passed to other charities that accept openness. China Red Cross is the original designated beneficiary.

It is not rare to see disaster relief money fail to reach the hands of victims. In a publicized incident after a disaster in 2003, in a RBM 59,060,000 relief grant from the National government, only RMB 500,000 reached hands of victims after two years.

Where did your donation go? In this picture posted by a Netizen of Shifang, a tent printed 'RELIEF' appeared in an area not suffered from the earthquake last week.

One Qinghua University student was banned from using the campus forum for 14 days, because he post a message asking how much of the donation will be used on actual relief.

Do NOT donate to Chinese Government Sponspored Foundations!

While all Chinese people mobilized by themselves to do something for people in the disaster area, the government sponsored foundations and charities are busy in making money. It is inspirational to read the Chinese Red Cross received 60 Billion YMB ($10 Billion USD) in a few days, but what ordinary Chinese people do not know is how the money will be used, which is always a top secret. From what has been revealed, Wuxi Red Cross will keep 60% of the donated money with earthquake designation. Yantai Red Cross plan to give "a fraction (literately translated from their official release in Chinese)" of the earthquake donation to the disaster area.

Do, Not, Donate, to Chinese government sponsored organizations!

Wuxi Red Cross Announcement at Xinhua Net (published by Wuxi Daily):

得知汶川地震的消息后，无锡市民纷纷自发捐款，支援灾区。来自市慈善总会的信息显示，截至昨天下午5时，已有37150元捐款到账。市慈善总会相关负责人表示，由于灾区交通还没有恢复，所以目前接收救灾捐赠还是以资金为主。市慈善总会捐赠热线电话：0510－82820143。市慈善总会的开户银行为农业银行无锡市中山支行，账号：630801040000019。 （小徐）

又讯　无锡市红十字会昨天发出开展“援助四川地震灾区　无锡人道万人捐”的紧急捐款呼吁书，呼吁全市社会各界发扬人道主义精神，伸出援助之手，捐款赈灾。

据悉，市红十字会将本次救灾募捐与“人道万人捐”善款的60%通过上级红十字会直接援助地震灾区，其余的纳入市红十字备灾救助基金，用于本市红十字会的备灾救助。所有捐款的情况都将在无锡市红十字会网站公布。

社会各界和市民，可通过市红会捐赠热线：0510-82707192联系捐赠事宜，也可直接汇款。开户名称：无锡市红十字会备灾救助基金。开户银行：无锡市江苏银行梁溪支行。账号：887010198500009911。（尚志）

Yantai is even worse, only "a fraction“ will go to the disaster area

烟台爱心捐款首日达４２０．０８万元
　　　　　　将抽取一定比例支援灾区
　　　　　　
　　　　　　来源：齐鲁晚报 日期：2008-5-15 作者：□记　者　柴叶 □通讯员　于茳　张君
　　　　　　
　　　本报烟台５月１４日讯　１４日上午，烟台市召开全市支援地震灾区爱心捐助工作动员大会。当天，烟台各界捐款达到了４２０．０８万元。烟台将根据灾区需要，从爱心捐款里抽取一定比例支援四川灾区。
　　　在今天上午举行的“烟台支援地震灾区爱心捐助工作动员大会”上，烟台市政府向全市发出了爱心捐助的倡议。在会后举行的市直机关支援地震灾区爱心捐款仪式上，市直机关共捐助资金３１．８１万元。
　　下午，烟台民政局临时设立的“支援地震灾区爱心捐助办公室”里一片忙碌，民政局的工作人员忙着登记、填表、点钞、开发票。不断有单位的相关负责人将同事捐献的爱心款送来，同时，还有不少市民打电话前来咨询。记者在现场看到，不少市民捐款以后都没有留下姓名。一些在外地施工或出差的职工获悉后，打电话委托在单位的同事或亲属代为捐款；机关离退休老干部、老职工也纷纷回到单位参加捐款活动。因为今年四川地震灾难属于突发事件，所以每个人的爱心捐款都比往年多，共捐助爱心款８０万元，其中集体捐款５０万元，个人捐款３０万元。
　　据悉，截至１４日下午４时，莱州市捐款９２万元，芝罘区捐款６０万元，招远市捐款５５．４６万元，烟台市公路局捐款８０万元，烟台市城市管理局捐款２２．６万元，山东渤海轮渡股份有限公司捐款１５．７５７５万元，烟台市地税局捐款１５．６４万元，隆华集团有限公司捐款１０万元，烟台海风置业有限公司捐款１０万元，全市共收到捐助资金４２０．０８万元。

Call for Help: Earthquake Relief

Dear Colleagues,

As you have heard from the news, south-western areas of China were struck by a deadliest earthquake two days ago. As I am reading and monitoring all news sources, the death toll has been mounting from a few thousands to the current 14 thousands confirmed, with more still buries under rubbles and many remain missing. While most attention has been drawn to the central of the disaster, Wenchuan, it is likely that peripheral regions such as Mianzhu suffered worse. Also, as the earthquake happened in school time, many of the victims are children attending classes. In some areas, a whole generation were lost when a major school building in the town collapsed. The most devastated areas are located in deep of mountains of Sichuan Basin. The most significant bottleneck of the relief operation has been to get more rescue people and resources into the area due to bad weather, mountain collapses and consecutive landslides.

My family in northern China was not affected by the earthquake. Thank you for your caring and comforting messages. While rescue teams are risking their lives racing with time trying to help people who lost, suffered, and many still waiting to be found, I would kindly ask that you make a donation, large or small to the relief effort of this disaster. In a disaster of this scale, any help could be used, and any help would make a difference.

I am not sure on the College EMail list policy, so I am sending this to you, my colleague in the same department, or had been in a same department. Please feel free to forward it to other colleagues and friends you know. I find following charities who are accepting donation for the earthquake online:

• American Red Cross
  
• Mercy Corps
  
• International Red Cross
  

Thank you for taking time reading this message. I will try to answer any questions you may have regarding the disaster and the relief effort. You may tell me the amount of your generous gift. For each dollar you give, I pledge to run one mile in local race events, the registration fees of which should benefit local charities and schools. Thank you very much.