While I was in China, there were a lot of appeals for donations to the Sichaun earthquake relief effort on television. This came in the form of ads and what appeared to be telethon type programs. What I found interesting was that philanthropy on this scale seems to be a new thing for China. There was a program on CCTV International that was discussing this new development. While they do have video of the program on their website, I can’t get it to run so I will have to depend on the notes I jotted on the hotel stationary. I apologize for not having more details. I just happened upon the program while waiting to go to dinner so there was a period where I was casting about for a pen and pad.
The participants in the discussion mentioned that people were learning about how to give due to the earthquake. An American working for a foundation in Beijing mentioned the benefits of philanthropy. One example he gave was developing solidarity and morale within a company when employees at overseas branches donate to help their counterparts in China and vice versa.
What I found most interesting was the concept of recognition for donations. There seemed to be an unmentioned back story behind the host’s question regarding public recognition. I almost wondered if there were a lot of people expecting public recognition for their largesse and it might be sapping energy from the relief effort. The American foundation person pointed out that yes, while there were public monuments to large donors in the United States, there was a strong tradition of anonymous donation as well.
The discussion also touched on the idea that recipients of donations should be held highly accountable for the way they administered the money they received. And as in the U.S., donors should investigate these organizations and decide if the charities are using the donations in an effective manner.
There was also mention of whether China should institute an inheritance tax to provide an incentive for the growing affluent class to donate.
None of these concepts are new for the U.S. It was rather interesting to watch people begin to think about what it means to be charitable outside one’s local situation for the first time. I will be interested to see what develops. Despite all the input they can garner from the biggest and best charities and foundations in the world, I am sure the Chinese will create their own method of philanthropy, partially of necessity and partially based on their cultural values.
I know very little about Chinese history, but I wonder what traditions of philanthropy there are prior to communism. My guess is that charity is not a new concept that the Chinese are learning for the first time but rather something that was replaced for a time by the State.
Darren-
According to the International Herald Tribune, you would be correct. (http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/05/20/asia/20citizens.php) “Beijing is instinctively wary of public activism and has long maintained tight restrictions on private charities and religious, social and environmental groups that operate outside government control.”
The earthquake has resulted in a spontaneous outpouring of good will that the government has decided not to quash. Some of this is a result of the decision not to keep the earthquake news and images off the television. I was careful talk about previous charitable efforts being more localized because I didn’t want to imply that the Chinese don’t have a tradition of helping each other. More widespread philanthropy hasn’t been common simply because the knowledge of the need has been suppressed.