Red Cross under fire
By Lu Feiran |
August 1, 2011, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
An online information system allowing people to track donations to the Red Cross Society of China has come under fire just hours after it was introduced.
A list of people who donated money to help the victims of 2010's Yushu earthquake seemed to include amounts given by celebrities even before the disaster took place.
The database showed that Zhang Ziyi donated 200,000 yuan to the organization on March 31 last year. Andy Lau donated 200,000 yuan one day earlier.
The earthquake hit on April 14.
On weibo.com, thousands of users questioned the information provided. "It seems that the stars are so powerful that they can predict an earthquake," said microblogger Ikalu.
But Wang Rupeng, Red Cross secretary general, explained yesterday that while details of donations for the Yushu County earthquake in Qinghai Province were the first to be released under the new system, the database had also included all donations made from January 11, 2010. Hence the confusion.
Information about donations for the Zhouqu landslide and Japan earthquake would be disclosed later.
According to the database, the organization received almost 2.4 billion yuan (US$373 million) by the end of June. About 2.38 billion has been spent on the construction of residential buildings, schools and hospitals in Yushu.
There were also questions about the amount of money spent on "supervision." According to the information it released, about 5.8 million yuan of Yushu donations was for "supervision and auditing." "Yushu is a place with a population of 300,000, so do they really need that much money for supervising the reconstruction after the disaster?" microblogger Zuoyeben said.
The Red Cross said as the database was so huge that the system may well have flaws. "We accept people's challenge and advice on how to make it closer to perfect," Wang said.
The new database will allow people who donate more than 100,000 yuan to track the specific projects where their money was being spent, the Red Cross said. The public could also search donations made by specific individuals for Yushu by inputting their names.
Meanwhile, the Red Cross denied online rumors that one of its deputy directors was helping police with an investigation. Rumors spread over the weekend that the official had been taken in, along with Guo Meimei.
Guo sparked accusations of malpractice and corruption in the Red Cross after she claimed to be general manager of "Red Cross Commerce" and was flaunting her wealth online.
Police have said Guo had no direct links with the Red Cross. But, as a result of subsequent criticism of the organization, it promised to set up the platform which came online yesterday.
A list of people who donated money to help the victims of 2010's Yushu earthquake seemed to include amounts given by celebrities even before the disaster took place.
The database showed that Zhang Ziyi donated 200,000 yuan to the organization on March 31 last year. Andy Lau donated 200,000 yuan one day earlier.
The earthquake hit on April 14.
On weibo.com, thousands of users questioned the information provided. "It seems that the stars are so powerful that they can predict an earthquake," said microblogger Ikalu.
But Wang Rupeng, Red Cross secretary general, explained yesterday that while details of donations for the Yushu County earthquake in Qinghai Province were the first to be released under the new system, the database had also included all donations made from January 11, 2010. Hence the confusion.
Information about donations for the Zhouqu landslide and Japan earthquake would be disclosed later.
According to the database, the organization received almost 2.4 billion yuan (US$373 million) by the end of June. About 2.38 billion has been spent on the construction of residential buildings, schools and hospitals in Yushu.
There were also questions about the amount of money spent on "supervision." According to the information it released, about 5.8 million yuan of Yushu donations was for "supervision and auditing." "Yushu is a place with a population of 300,000, so do they really need that much money for supervising the reconstruction after the disaster?" microblogger Zuoyeben said.
The Red Cross said as the database was so huge that the system may well have flaws. "We accept people's challenge and advice on how to make it closer to perfect," Wang said.
The new database will allow people who donate more than 100,000 yuan to track the specific projects where their money was being spent, the Red Cross said. The public could also search donations made by specific individuals for Yushu by inputting their names.
Meanwhile, the Red Cross denied online rumors that one of its deputy directors was helping police with an investigation. Rumors spread over the weekend that the official had been taken in, along with Guo Meimei.
Guo sparked accusations of malpractice and corruption in the Red Cross after she claimed to be general manager of "Red Cross Commerce" and was flaunting her wealth online.
Police have said Guo had no direct links with the Red Cross. But, as a result of subsequent criticism of the organization, it promised to set up the platform which came online yesterday.
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