{"id":122167,"date":"2011-07-03T16:05:45","date_gmt":"2011-07-03T23:05:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/?p=122167"},"modified":"2011-07-03T17:54:13","modified_gmt":"2011-07-04T00:54:13","slug":"an-online-scandal-underscores-chinese-distrust-of-its-charities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2011\/07\/an-online-scandal-underscores-chinese-distrust-of-its-charities\/","title":{"rendered":"An Online Scandal Underscores Chinese Distrust of Its Charities (Updated)"},"content":{"rendered":"

The New York Times reports on the scandal of pseudonymous microblogger Guo Meimei Baby<\/strong><\/a>, a 20-year-old woman who flaunted her luxurious lifetyle while stating that she worked for the Red Cross Society of China, thereby launching a national discussion about corruption among charities in China (Update: It has been confirmed that Guo Meimei’s boyfriend is an influential charity official,<\/a> who had gifted her with many of the luxurious items she has flaunted, according to China Media Project.):<\/p>\n

\nNone of it was outrageous by the standards of China\u2019s nouveau riche. What ignited a firestorm was the fact that the woman, Guo Meimei, 20, appeared to hold a senior position at the Red Cross Society of China, a government organization that is the country\u2019s largest charity. Under the name \u201cGuo Meimei Baby,\u201d she had boasted on her microblog that her title was \u201ccommercial general manager\u201d at the Red Cross, a claim that had apparently been verified by Sina, the Internet company hosting the microblog.<\/p>\n

At the same time, she posted photos and entries detailing her jet-set life, writing of the orange Lamborghini she drove in the south (her \u201clittle bull\u201d) and the white Maserati she had in Beijing (her \u201clittle horse\u201d).<\/p>\n

Since an Internet user pointed out the scandalous posts in late June, Ms. Guo and the Red Cross have been the most talked-about subjects on the Chinese Internet. The Red Cross of China, which has no relationship to its international namesake, has denied any ties to Ms. Guo, who some Internet users speculate got her title because she is the mistress or relative of a top Red Cross official. The police are investigating her.<\/p>\n

Some people fear the scandal and the accompanying increase in suspicions of corruption in charities could deal a major blow to philanthropy here, even as some officials increasingly rely on nonprofit groups to deal with growing social needs like health care and education. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The case of Guo Meimei Baby has been widely covered by chinaSMACK<\/a>, ChinaWhispers<\/a>, China Buzz<\/a>, Shanghaiist<\/a> and other China blogs. See also: “Charitable Donations Transparency in China<\/a>” from the Corporate Social Responsibility in Asia blog. See more photos of Guo Meimei Baby and her indulgent lifestyle<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The New York Times reports on the scandal of pseudonymous microblogger Guo Meimei Baby, a 20-year-old woman who flaunted her luxurious lifetyle while stating that she worked for the Red Cross Society of China, thereby launching a national discussion about corruption among charities in China (Update: It has been confirmed that Guo Meimei’s boyfriend is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2,7,10,5,1051],"tags":[850,203,15090,4701],"class_list":["post-122167","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-economy","category-information-revolution","category-law","category-society","category-top-article","tag-charity","tag-corruption","tag-guo-meimei","tag-red-cross","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\nAn Online Scandal Underscores Chinese Distrust of Its Charities (Updated)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2011\/07\/an-online-scandal-underscores-chinese-distrust-of-its-charities\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"An Online Scandal Underscores Chinese Distrust of Its Charities (Updated)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The New York Times reports on the scandal of pseudonymous microblogger Guo Meimei Baby, a 20-year-old woman who flaunted her luxurious lifetyle while stating that she worked for the Red Cross Society of China, thereby launching a national discussion about corruption among charities in China (Update: It has been confirmed that Guo Meimei’s boyfriend is […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2011\/07\/an-online-scandal-underscores-chinese-distrust-of-its-charities\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"China Digital Times (CDT)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ChinaDigitalTimes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-07-03T23:05:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2011-07-04T00:54:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/CDT-logo.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"186\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"177\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Sophie Beach\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@cdt\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@cdt\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Sophie Beach\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2011\/07\/an-online-scandal-underscores-chinese-distrust-of-its-charities\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2011\/07\/an-online-scandal-underscores-chinese-distrust-of-its-charities\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Sophie Beach\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/#\/schema\/person\/7f19e31b674d57a7dc20aab8e908c663\"},\"headline\":\"An Online Scandal Underscores Chinese Distrust of Its Charities (Updated)\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-07-03T23:05:45+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-07-04T00:54:13+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2011\/07\/an-online-scandal-underscores-chinese-distrust-of-its-charities\/\"},\"wordCount\":373,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"charity\",\"corruption\",\"guo meimei\",\"Red Cross\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Economy\",\"Information Revolution\",\"Law\",\"Society\",\"Top Article\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2011\/07\/an-online-scandal-underscores-chinese-distrust-of-its-charities\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2011\/07\/an-online-scandal-underscores-chinese-distrust-of-its-charities\/\",\"name\":\"An Online Scandal Underscores Chinese Distrust of Its Charities (Updated)\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-07-03T23:05:45+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-07-04T00:54:13+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2011\/07\/an-online-scandal-underscores-chinese-distrust-of-its-charities\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2011\/07\/an-online-scandal-underscores-chinese-distrust-of-its-charities\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2011\/07\/an-online-scandal-underscores-chinese-distrust-of-its-charities\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"An Online Scandal Underscores Chinese Distrust of Its Charities (Updated)\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/\",\"name\":\"China Digital Times (CDT)\",\"description\":\"Covering China from Cyberspace\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/#organization\",\"name\":\"China Digital Times\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/CDT-logo.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/CDT-logo.jpg\",\"width\":186,\"height\":177,\"caption\":\"China Digital Times\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ChinaDigitalTimes\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/cdt\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/#\/schema\/person\/7f19e31b674d57a7dc20aab8e908c663\",\"name\":\"Sophie Beach\",\"description\":\"Sophie Beach is CDT's Operations and Communications Manager. From 2003-2021, she served as Executive Editor of CDT English. She lives in Berkeley, California.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/author\/sophie-beach\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"An Online Scandal Underscores Chinese Distrust of Its Charities (Updated)","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2011\/07\/an-online-scandal-underscores-chinese-distrust-of-its-charities\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"An Online Scandal Underscores Chinese Distrust of Its Charities (Updated)","og_description":"The New York Times reports on the scandal of pseudonymous microblogger Guo Meimei Baby, a 20-year-old woman who flaunted her luxurious lifetyle while stating that she worked for the Red Cross Society of China, thereby launching a national discussion about corruption among charities in China (Update: It has been confirmed that Guo Meimei’s boyfriend is […]","og_url":"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2011\/07\/an-online-scandal-underscores-chinese-distrust-of-its-charities\/","og_site_name":"China Digital Times (CDT)","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ChinaDigitalTimes","article_published_time":"2011-07-03T23:05:45+00:00","article_modified_time":"2011-07-04T00:54:13+00:00","og_image":[{"width":186,"height":177,"url":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/CDT-logo.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Sophie Beach","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@cdt","twitter_site":"@cdt","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Sophie Beach","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2011\/07\/an-online-scandal-underscores-chinese-distrust-of-its-charities\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2011\/07\/an-online-scandal-underscores-chinese-distrust-of-its-charities\/"},"author":{"name":"Sophie Beach","@id":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/#\/schema\/person\/7f19e31b674d57a7dc20aab8e908c663"},"headline":"An Online Scandal Underscores Chinese Distrust of Its Charities (Updated)","datePublished":"2011-07-03T23:05:45+00:00","dateModified":"2011-07-04T00:54:13+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2011\/07\/an-online-scandal-underscores-chinese-distrust-of-its-charities\/"},"wordCount":373,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/#organization"},"keywords":["charity","corruption","guo meimei","Red Cross"],"articleSection":["Economy","Information Revolution","Law","Society","Top Article"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2011\/07\/an-online-scandal-underscores-chinese-distrust-of-its-charities\/","url":"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2011\/07\/an-online-scandal-underscores-chinese-distrust-of-its-charities\/","name":"An Online Scandal Underscores Chinese Distrust of Its Charities (Updated)","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/#website"},"datePublished":"2011-07-03T23:05:45+00:00","dateModified":"2011-07-04T00:54:13+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2011\/07\/an-online-scandal-underscores-chinese-distrust-of-its-charities\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2011\/07\/an-online-scandal-underscores-chinese-distrust-of-its-charities\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2011\/07\/an-online-scandal-underscores-chinese-distrust-of-its-charities\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"An Online Scandal Underscores Chinese Distrust of Its Charities (Updated)"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/#website","url":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/","name":"China Digital Times (CDT)","description":"Covering China from Cyberspace","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/#organization","name":"China Digital Times","url":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/CDT-logo.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/CDT-logo.jpg","width":186,"height":177,"caption":"China Digital Times"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ChinaDigitalTimes","https:\/\/x.com\/cdt"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/#\/schema\/person\/7f19e31b674d57a7dc20aab8e908c663","name":"Sophie Beach","description":"Sophie Beach is CDT's Operations and Communications Manager. From 2003-2021, she served as Executive Editor of CDT English. She lives in Berkeley, California.","sameAs":["http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net"],"url":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/author\/sophie-beach\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122167","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=122167"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122167\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=122167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=122167"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=122167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}