Charitable deeds are commendable, but they become repulsive if they lack genuine empathy and compassion and the giver treats the recipients as inferior. However, a political agenda veiled by an act of charity is even more despicable yet.
Such are the concerns expressed by some Taiwanese as local media reported yesterday that Chinese tycoon Chen Guangbiao (陳光標) plans to hand out red envelops of cash to some of Taiwan’s poorest families ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday.
While charitable works are certainly laudable and most people would say the more the merrier, what if such an action is carried out in a way that diminishes its moral worth? Chen, who recently made a donation in China where he piled up a wall of banknotes, reportedly plans to have Taiwanese recipients line up for his cash donations, a move tantamount to adding insult to injury, stomping the recipients’ dignity into the dirt.
Some are quick to point to Chen’s record as a long-time philanthropist and call on Taiwanese not to view his charity in a political light, but Chen’s own remarks and actions clearly have “united front” written all over them.
Local media reported that the roughly 50,000 red envelopes Chen has prepared for the cash handout are embossed with the inscription: “The day is cold, the ground freezing, but the people’s hearts are warm. The Chinese race is one family and a fire in the winter (中華民族一家親,冬天裡的一把火).”
In his previous visit to Taiwan last month in preparation for the handout project, China’s Xinhua news agency reported that Chen “was warmly welcomed and received high appraisal from all parts of Taiwan, who think Mr Chen Guangbiao’s arrival in Taiwan conveyed the [blood compatriots] sentiment shared by people on both sides of the Strait.”
Chen’s stunt has also received the endorsement of China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, with its spokesperson Fan Liqing (范麗青) saying yesterday that “we will definitely support and encourage” more people to take part in cross-strait charity work.
From the looks of a survey released by the Apple Daily yesterday, it seems the cash-for-hearts tactic is working.
According to the survey, 39.80 percent of those surveyed saw the handout as an insult, while 36.16 percent of respondents expressed gratitude, saying there’s nothing wrong with it, and 24.04 percent said they have no opinion.
In other words, the poll suggests that more than half of the public are not opposed to Chen’s act, sending an alarming indication that China has polished its “united front” tactics to the point that its efforts to promote unification can advance undetected by many Taiwanese.
However, at the end of the day it is the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government that deserves the most criticism.
For one thing, this whole undertaking has exposed as a lie the KMT government’s trumpeting that the nation’s economy is improving. If the economy is so strong, then there should not be so many people in need. Furthermore, the KMT government approved Chen’s application to come to Taiwan and make substantial donations to local governments. Eyebrows are raised about the mindset that must be prevalent in the government to even allow such a thing in the first place.
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