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DPP lawmaker calls
for Red Cross transparency
THROUGH A GLASS DARKLY: At present, the Red
Cross Society does not have to make public any details about the donations it
receives or observe the Charity Donations Act
Staff Writer, with CNA
A Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmaker yesterday called for a legal
amendment to make the operations of the Red Cross Society of the Republic of
China more transparent.
DPP Legislator Huang Sue-ying (黃淑英) issued the call one day ahead of a scheduled
report to the legislature by Minister of the Interior Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) on the
charity’s donations to help Japanese disaster survivors.
Jiang is also expected to explain to the legislature’s Social Welfare and
Environmental Hygiene Committee how much the Red Cross receives from the
government in subsidies and how the funds are used.
ROC Red Cross president C.V. Chen (陳長文) has also been invited to attend the
legislative hearing, but it is not compulsory for him to do so, said DPP
Legislator Liu Chien-kuo (劉建國), who is a member of the welfare committee.
The charity has been criticized for disbursing only about 25 -percent of the
donations it has received for earthquake relief in Japan.
Chen has explained that the Red Cross usually sends donations in stages to
disasters areas, as was done following the South Asian tsunami in 2004, the
earthquake in Sichuan Province, China, in 2008 and Typhoon Morakot in Taiwan in
2009.
In each case the Red Cross sent donations based on the different needs of
post-disaster work; emergency rescue, temporary shelter and reconstruction, Chen
said
The society received NT$1.87 billion (US$64.48 million) in donations between
March 11 and April 7 for relief work in Japan. It has so far disbursed about
NT$450 million.
Huang said the Red Cross Society was not required to make public the details of
the donations it receives, nor does it need to abide by the Charity Donations
Act (公益勸募條例).
Given this lack of transparency, the Red Cross Society Act of the Republic of
China (中華民國紅十字會法) should be amended to make the collection and disbursement of
donations more transparent and to cap the charity’s administrative fees, he
said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) whip Hsieh Kuo-liang (謝國樑) said the party caucus
would respect any reasonable amendments and welcomed discussion on the issue.
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