A Chinese businessman’s huge donation to his Yale University graduate school has sparked a nationalist Web backlash, with some calling him a “traitor” for not giving the cash to a school in China.
However, many other Web postings and Chinese media commentaries have come to the defense of Zhang Lei (張磊) over his US$8,888,888 donation, saying universities in China were not worthy of such largesse.
Zhang, who previously attended Renmin University in Beijing before his graduate business studies at Yale, said he donated the money because the Ivy League school had changed his life, the Global Times newspaper reported.
The paper’s Web site first reported the gift on Friday. Zhang chose the sum because of the belief that eight is an auspicious number.
But his donation did not sit well with Chinese Web users.
“Scum, trash, dog feces, traitor,” read one comment posted on the Global Times Web site.
“The Chinese education system helped you, but Americans have only ever given us trouble. Helping them hurts China. Got it?”
Zhang is a founder and managing partner of Beijing-based Hillhouse Capital Management.
Others lauded Zhang’s move, with one saying it amounted to a “silent protest” over the lamentable state of Chinese universities.
“Any money you donate in China eventually falls into the pockets of corrupt officials. Donating the money where it will help is wise,” another Global Times reader said.
“What does China’s education system give graduates? Unemployment and bogus degrees,” read another commentary, posted on the Web site of China National Radio.
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