The Red Cross Society Of China
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Chinese should reflect on billionaire’s Caltech donation
By Su Tan Billionaire couple Chen Tianqiao and Chrissy Luo, founders of Internet games giant Shanda, recently donated $115 million to the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) for advanced brain research. Chen hopes that with the donation scientists can help people understand how the brain works and hence enable people to cure and accept death. There is no doubt that the neuroscience research will benefit all of us, and Chen's vision is commendable. But the huge donation has, not unexpectedly, set off hot discussions among Chinese neuroscientists and netizens. Many Chinese scholars lauded that the country's entrepreneurs now show interest in fundamental scientific research, but they felt more regret that the donation didn't come to underfunded Chinese institutes of brain research, which are developing so fast and can catch up with the US in a few years. Rao Yi, former dean of the School of Life Sciences at Peking University, even slammed the donation as a "typical mistake." A similar controversy was sparked two years ago when Pan Shiyi, chairman of SOHO China, and his wife Zhang Xin donated $15 million to Harvard and $10 million to Yale University to fund disadvantaged Chinese students. An often asked question comes up again: why do Chinese philanthropists always prefer to donate to foreign institutions rather than Chinese ones? Maybe Chen's donation experience in China can reveal why. In a March interview with The Beijing News, Chen revealed that his previous donation to a Chinese university and a children's hospital unfortunately failed because they refused to provide him with a report on the planned use of the money. Despite China's notable development in education and scientific research, the country is still far behind in the management and use of donor money. Universities and research institutes are still rife with lax administration, low efficiency and lack transparency and supervision. There are often reports that donations do not go to those who need it. Scandals involving charity organizations like the Red Cross Society of China have almost drained the public's confidence in donating their money. With all these combined, there is no surprise that one netizen commented that "If I had the money, I wouldn't gift it to Chinese institutions either." In comparison, Western countries like the US, with a long philanthropic history, have a well-developed system to use the money in an efficient and professional way, and provide full access for donors to trace the use of the money. The institutes also maintain good communications with the donors to ensure they are fully informed. This offers China a lot to learn. China is attaching greater importance to scientific research and attracting more and more researchers from abroad. But in the meantime, it still has lots of deficiencies in funding the research projects. This needs much self-reflection and immediate action.
Alipay lets organ donors register online
Some 300,000 people wait for transplants of lifesaving organs each year－organs that are in short supply. It is a number that Alipay hopes to lower through its vast network of 450 million users in this country. In partnership with China Organ Transplant Development Foundation, the mobile payment tool is a new way for people to register as potential donors. Starting Thursday, Alipay users can search "organ donation registration" on the app's home page to access a registration form. The system was developed and is managed by the foundation, which is affiliated with the National Health and Family Planning Commission. According to Alipay, its real-name registration system makes it possible to complete the whole process in less than 10 seconds. "It is the traditional Chinese values of reciprocity and mutual affection that bolster the charitable cause of organ donation. Sometimes we just need a proper channel," said Huang Jiefu, former vice-minister of health, who heads the foundation. "There's a real emotional reward for doing the right thing. We are dedicated to adopting philanthropic endeavors through leading technologies and open platforms," Alipay's parent company, Ant Financial Services Group, said in a statement. A new report on organ donations showed that 83 percent of respondents to a survey in China said they were willing to become a donor, though fewer than 80,000 people are actually registered nationwide. The report was released by Alipay, the foundation and Xinhuanet, the website of Xinhua News Agency. The cumbersome registration is a major hurdle, the study suggested. Until now, those wishing to sign up had to locate the office to register, then fill out as many as 14 pieces of personal information. By combining voluntary registration with internet services, the collaboration is likely to exert a potentially profound effect on social mobilization, Huang noted. Others expressed concern. Safety should never be compromised to convenience in the donation process, said Gao Min, an organ donation coordinator with the Shenzhen branch of the Red Cross Society of China. "Here, we have strict procedures and supervision of our medical staff to make sure the donor is able to register properly. It certainly takes longer than 10 seconds, and it should, when someone has to collect so much important information," she said. "Ten seconds seems like an exaggeration," said Andrea Foo, a student at Shanghai American School. "I am not sure if I would trust it, though. Letting a company handle my medical information is not something that's 100 percent safe." China stopped using organs from executed prisoners on Jan 1, 2015, making voluntary donations the only legal source for transplants.
Leukemia girl dies, whose father trapped in donation controversy
Luo Yixiao, a 6-year-old girl in Shenzhen, died in the early morning of Christmas Eve after a three-month struggle with leukemia. She was known by the public for an online fundraising effort launched by her father, which had sparked a bitter controversy, reports the paper.cn. According to the report, the young girl passed way at six o'clock on Saturday morning. Her parents have donated her body to Shenzhen University donation center for medical research. Luo Yixiao was diagnosed with leukemia on September 8. Since then, her father Luo Er has kept journals about his daughter's progress on his personal account on the social networking app WeChat. Within half a month, the father had collected over 32,000 yuan after his journal entries were reposted thousands of times. As the girl's condition worsened in early November, Luo Er began to cooperate with marketing company Xiaotongren, which is owned by his friend Liu Xiafeng, to promote his journals. The company promised to donate 1 yuan for each repost of the journals published on its WeChat account, up to a ceiling of 500,000 yuan. Frantic reposts were seen across social media, and netizens also donated to Luo through WeChat's "reward" function, which allows users to give financial rewards to authors of posts. By November 30, Xiaotongren had received over two million yuan on its WeChat donation platform alone. The company said it will donate 500,000 yuan to support the sick girl, and the rest will be given to other charity programs. But the situation changed dramatically when reports surfaced that Luo Er's family owns three apartments and most of his daughter's treatment expenses can be covered by medical insurance. Many donors said they felt cheated. Luo's friend Liu was accused of taking advantage of the public sympathy to promote his company. Some argued that the company could have made its donation directly instead of devising ploys in order to boost its own exposure. Confronting the criticisms, Xiaotongren company announced on December 1 that the company and Luo will use all the donations to set up a leukemia foundation, and then from the foundation they will apply money for Luo's daughter's treatment through legal means. In another interview early this month, Luo said his daughter, who turned six on December 7, was in a complicated condition as she was also suffering from hemophagocytic syndrome. The father added he would only accept judicial investigation on related online allegations.
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1 The donation was coordinated by the Shenzhen branch of the Red Cross Society of China, the report said.
2 The Red Cross Society of China donated 50,000 U.S. dollars to Sri Lanka Red Cross Society (SLRCS) to support Sri Lanka's relief and rebuilding efforts in the ongoing disaster of flooding and landslides,a statement released by Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka said on Saturday.
3 Madugalle introduced the disaster situation and expressed appreciation and gratitude to the generous donation from the Red Cross Society of China.