In response to online criticism that the Red Cross Society of China had exaggerated the expense for water it provided to quake-hit areas of Gansu province, the charity’s Gansu branch director confirmed on Wednesday that the 1,900 cases of water were donated by the company. From Global Times:
The explanation came after a Sina Weibo posting by the RCSC Tuesday evening that its Gansu branch had urgently transferred a batch of Aershan drinking water worth 194,400 yuan ($31,687) to the quake-hit counties of Minxian and Zhangxian following the 6.6-magnitude quake that hit the province on Monday.
The post soon attracted many negative comments as a bottle of this brand costs around 4 yuan, while other brands cost only 1 to 1.5 yuan.
“The water was not purchased by the Red Cross. It was donated by its producer, and the value is in accordance with its retail price,” Yuan Bo, director of Gansu Red Cross, was quoted by people.com.cn as saying.
RCSC clarified the issue on its Weibo Wednesday and posted a receipt it issued Tuesday to Aershan for the donation. [Source]
Click through for a series of photographs by Leanne Burden Seidel from the Boston Globe documenting the aftermath of the 6.6 magnitude earthquake that hit Dingxi, Gansu on Monday.
Meanwhile, Apple’s pledge to donate 50 million yuan to aid victims of a 7.0 earthquake that hit Sichuan province in April has been questioned by the People’s Daily. The Communist Party’s official mouthpiece accused the tech giant of “being unwilling to confirm how much of the donation had been made.” Patrick Boehler at South China Morning Post reports:
“Apple was not willing to reveal the progress in the donations,” China’s Communist Party’s official newspaper wrote, singling out the maker of computers, tablets and mobiles among 13 companies which have each pledged more than 15 million yuan to the reconstruction of the disaster stricken-zone.
Similarly, when the South China Morning Post contacted Apple on Wednesday, a spokesperson avoided answering a direct question asking how much of the 50 million yuan it had paid.
It said it was continuing to work with international and local NGOs to support relief efforts and added that it had already provided tens of thousands of families with hygiene kits and counselling for children – but did not specify how much that aid amounted to.
[…] The article conceded that the company had already provided 26,000 hygiene kits and would look into providing further aid, an unnamed person with the China Foundation for Poverty told the People’s Daily. [Source]
Nine more people were reported dead in the earthquake, bringing to total death toll to 94 people.
