Institute denies $3.26m came from Red Cross

The Red Cross Society of China (RCSC) hasn’t embezzled 20 million yuan ($3.26 million) in donations to build the China Philanthropy Research Institute, formerly known as One Foundation Philanthropy Research Institute, Beijing Times reported on Monday.

That the RCSC made 20 million yuan in donations to the institute is something out of thin air, said Wang Zhenyao, the director of the China Philanthropy Research Institute, and also a member of the RCSC social supervision committee.

“Neither the Wenchuan earthquake nor the RCSC were involved with the 20 million yuan in donations,” said Yang Peng, secretary-general of One Foundation, denying earlier reports and adding that One Foundation will give an explanation on Monday morning through its official website and Weibo account.

The 20 million yuan in donations came from the Lao Niu Foundation and a number of other entities for the establishment of the institute, and One Foundation hasn’t altered the purpose of the donations, according to an anonymous source with One Foundation.

Earlier reports alleged the RCSC embezzled tens of millions of yuan to build the China Philanthropy Research Institute and that the money was originally intended as disaster relief donations that the RCSC collected through the One Foundation after the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake hit southwest China.

The RCSC social supervision committee is responsible for supervising the group’s donation spending and can investigate any major issues involving RCSC, but its supervisory work has been far from perfect since it was launched in December while the members’ independence has also come into question.