The Red Cross Society of the Republic of China (ROC) yesterday came under heavy criticism for the manner in which it has handled disaster relief funds raised for earthquake victims in Japan.
The semi-governmental organization has raised more than half of the NT$1.8 billion (US$62 million) pledged by Taiwanese for Japan after a devastating earthquake and tsunami on March 11.
However, figures from the organization show that only US$15 million has been transferred to the Japanese Red Cross Society, the bulk of which was only wired yesterday after an internal decision on March 31.
The rest of the money is sitting in a bank account as the agency awaits further information from the Japanese Red Cross Society.
The delay has caused anger among some Internet users, with many launching an online petition calling on the Red Cross Society of the ROC to immediately transfer the full amount to its Japanese counterpart, while others have called for a boycott of the organization.
Amid the Web onslaught, the Red Cross Society of the ROC also came under fire at the legislature’s Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee.
“The Red Cross Society claims it awaits further information from the Japanese Red Cross Society. What if the Japanese Red Cross never provides a list of the things it needs? Do we just keep the money in Taiwan?” Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Chieh-ju (陳節如) asked.
DPP Legislator Huang Sue-ying (黃淑英) said since the Red Cross Society of the ROC does not fall under the jurisdiction of the Charity Donations Act (公益勸募條例) and instead is subject to the Red Cross Society Act of the Republic of China (中華民國紅十字會法) — which does not stipulate any penalties for violations — the group was for all intents and purposes in a position to do what other organizations cannot do.
“[The Red Cross Society Act of the Republic of China] is an emperor’s law,” Huang said, calling for revisions and adding that it would be best if the Red Cross Society of the ROC could be brought under the jurisdiction of the Charity Donations Act.
Huang also voiced concerns about a rumor that the Red Cross was taking 15 percent of the total donations to cover administrative expenses.
In response, Red Cross Society of the ROC deputy secretary-general Robert Hsieh (謝昭隆) said: “We only wired about US$15 million of the money to the Japanese Red Cross Society because they told us they needed a total of US$30 million for the initial emergency response operations and that the American Red Cross had already given it US$15 million.”
The Japanese Red Cross Society would call a meeting of all Red Cross and Red Crescent organizations worldwide to give a presentation on how they could be assisted, he said.
“We will attend the meeting and then we’ll see how we can help and will probably transfer the rest of the money to them,” he said.
Hsieh said his organization did not deduct 15 percent from the donations for administrative expenses.
“We use some of the money for expenses that occur during the execution [of the fundraising project], such as meals for volunteers,” Hsieh said. “However, it’s no more than 1 percent of the total raised.”
If a donor designates his or her donations for a specific use, the group would not use even a cent of the donation elsewhere, he said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers, including Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆) and Chen Chieh (陳杰), also questioned the Red Cross Society of the ROC’s handling of the donations.
“I don’t think you should use any of the money elsewhere, even if it’s less than 1 percent,” Chen said. “Board members should help to cover those miscellaneous expenses. That’s what I do when I serve on the board of several different organizations.”
Lai said the public expected their money to reach the disaster areas as soon as possible.
Although most lawmakers criticized the Red Cross Society of the ROC, KMT Legislator Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) defended it by -saying that netizens were politically motivated.
“This is an ugly, politically motivated move [launched by Internet users],” Cheng said. “An organization that is trusted by the public and has never had any scandal has been sacrificed for political conflict.”
The Red Cross Society of the ROC is under attack because the organization’s president has close ties to the KMT and is a personal friend of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), she said.
A signaling system malfunction disrupted high-speed rail (HSR) services beginning at 8am today, with trains temporarily reduced to three northbound and three southbound trains per hour as authorities conduct inspections. The malfunction occurred on a section of track in Miaoli County during pre-operation checks early this morning, forcing northbound and southbound trains to use a single track, the HSR operator said. The regular schedule has been replaced with three hourly trains offering only nonreserved seating in each direction, stopping at every station, it said, adding that business class cars would still have reserved seating. Departures from terminal stations are scheduled at the top
Taiwan is still in the process of assessing the possibility of recruiting workers from Eswatini, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday, adding that its goal is to help Eswatini upgrade its vocational training centers. If there are plans to recruit workers from Eswatini, safeguarding national security, protecting public health and ensuring the employment rights of Taiwanese would be prerequisites, Department of West Asian and African Affairs Director-General Yen Chia-liang (顏嘉良) told a news conference. Key considerations would also include filling labor shortages in specific industries, and fostering bilateral professional and technical exchanges, he said. Yen was asked about the progress of labor
VERBOSE VESSELS: A CGA cutter and a China Coast Guard exchanged verbal barbs for more than a day in Taiwanese-controlled waters before the Chinese vessel left The Taiwanese and Chinese coast guards had a standoff near the strategically located Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the north of the South China Sea, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. The two sides engaged in intense radio exchanges over sovereignty claims during the 33-hour standoff. China Coast Guard vessel 3501 eventually left the restricted waters, 26.6 nautical miles (49.2km) west of the Pratas Islands, at 5pm yesterday, the CGA said. Lying approximately between southern Taiwan and Hong Kong, the Taiwan-controlled Pratas are seen by some security experts as vulnerable to Chinese attack due to their distance — more than
A US uncrewed surface vessel (USV) encountered multiple Chinese warships during an autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait, US defense company Seasats said in a statement on Wednesday. Seasats announced that a Lightfish USV had completed the first autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait. Over five days, the USV traversed the entire length of the Strait while constantly monitoring surface vessel traffic, the company said. The Lightfish encountered multiple Chinese warships, one of which was a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) Type 056 corvette, it said. The Chinese vessels were operating “well within Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone without transmitting their identity via the
RSS