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A30 FEATURE/PEOPLE & ARTS
Tuesday 7 april 2020
China's big donors are pitching in to deal with the new coronavirus

– and not just in their own country

Charles Sellen IUPUI pledged US$144 million in vate jet the New England demic illustrates how this In 1994, China's leaders of-
(The Conversation is an in- medical supplies for Hubei Patriots football team uses, generosity is beginning to ficially admitted that phi-
dependent and nonprofit province and its capital to Boston on April 3. extend far beyond China's lanthropy and socialism
source of news, analysis city Wuhan. Separately, China Ever- borders. could be compatible. Its
and commentary from ac- Soon after that Jan. 29 an- grande Group, China's Chinese charity philanthropy is fueling Chi-
ademic experts.) nouncement, Chinese bil- largest real estate compa- Ma is, according to Forbes na's worldwide influence
Charles Sellen, IUPUI and lionaire Jack Ma, Alibaba's ny, has set up a $115 million Magazine, the 21st wealthi- through what's known as
Fabrice Jaumont, Fonda- founder, said he was giving effort in Boston that brings est person in the world with "soft power" – an effort
tion Maison des Sciences away $14 million through together researchers at top a pre-pandemic fortune to persuade others to do
de l'Homme (FMSH) – USPC his own foundation to de- universities such as Harvard estimated to be worth ap- what it wants without force
(THE CONVERSATION) Less velop a COVID-19 vaccine. and the Massachusetts In- proximately $43 billion. or coercion.
than a month after China These gifts from Ma, a for- stitute of Technology Chi- In the fall 2019, he stepped Other Chinese billionaire
confirmed the emergence mer high school teacher, na's Guangzhou Institute away from his leadership philanthropists
of what soon became and the company roughly of Respiratory Health along role at Alibaba, the com- The proliferation of Chi-
the new coronavirus pan- equaled everything else with local biotechnology pany he founded in 1999 nese philanthropists is di-
demic, the Chinese e- given by that point to fight companies to develop that now has more than rectly linked to the rise of
commerce giantAlibaba coronavirus. tests, treatments and do 100,000 employees. The massive Chinese fortunes
Ma has continued to step other work aimed at halt- entrepreneur stated at that and "wealth polarization."
up. On March 3, he donat- ing the pandemic. time that he wanted to de- There were 325 billionaires
ed 1 million masks to Ja- All told, Chinese donors, vote himself to philanthro- in mainland China and 436
pan. On March 13, he an- foundations and corpora- py, especially causes tied in greater China in 2018 –
nounced that he was ship- tions are already planning to education. the second-largest number
ping500,000 test kits and to kick in some $900 mil- Large-scale private charity anywhere after the United
a million masks to the U.S. lion, about a fifth of the only emerged in modern States, where 607 billion-
Three days later, he an- estimated $4.3 billion in this China after 2000. aires live.
nounced a donation of 1.1 initial wave of worldwide After China embraced Ma isn't the only self-made
million test kits and 6 million donations raised by April capitalism, it experienced Chinese entrepreneur to
masks to be distributed to 2 to deal with COVID-19 meteoric economic go big with philanthropy.
all 54 African countries. and its many repercussions, growth, which generated Charles Chen Yidan, a Ten-
By the end of March, every according to Candid – a not just islands of wealth cent co-founder, left the
other region of the world group that tracks charities but also vast inequalities. company in 2013. Like Ma,
benefited from his largesse, and funders. China's first private founda- he's emphasizing educa-
including Western Europe, We have observed through tions flourished in the 1980s tion. The Yidan Prize – which
Latin America, Asia and our research that private and 1990s in attempt to amounts to $3.8 million – is
Russia. philanthropy is flourishing halt this process and help the world's most gener-
A wave of giving in China. The response by the government establish a ous award for educational
This wave of Chinese giv- Chinese donors to this pan- safety net. research.q
ing goes beyond Ma's own
checkbook. CBS' 'All Rise' to produce coronavirus
The Chinese search en-
gine company Baidu has episode at a distance
pledged $43 million to sup-
port drug research and
help disseminate public LOS ANGELES (AP) — CBS'
health information in Chi- courtroom drama series "All
na. Rise" is resuming production
The giant tech company with an episode reflecting
Tencent Holdings says it the coronavirus crisis in the
donated $211 million in lives of its characters, the
February for medical sup- network said Monday.
plies, efforts to fight the The episode will follow so-
new coronavirus in China cial distancing rules and be
and other related priorities. taped remotely using so-
In addition, on March 24, cial media and other digi-
Tencent announced the tal technology, CBS said.
creation of a $100 million "All Rise," as with other TV
global fund to support in- programs and movies, had This image released by CBS shows Simone Missick in a scene
ternational efforts to deal suspended production be- from "All Rise."
with the pandemic. The cause of the pandemic. Associated Press.
company seeks to harness "It's a unique chance for hosts working remotely, involves an argument be-
the power of internet by our 'All Rise' family to band freshman drama "All Rise" tween brothers and a sto-
providing faster access to together — in our different appears to be the first se- len car.
health care services online, homes, even cities —- to tell ries to return to production. The cast includes Marg Hel-
facilitating remote working a story about resilience, jus- The episode set to air May genberger, Wilson Bethel
and battling misinforma- tice and the power of com- 4 will reflect the pandem- and Jessica Camacho.
tion. munity," Greg Spottiswood, ic's impact on the justice Footage will be shot in cast
Tencent also played a key the drama's executive pro- system, CBS said. Series members' homes, with spe-
role in getting more than ducer said in a statement. star Simone Missick's Judge cial effects used to cre-
a million N95 masks deliv- Although late-night shows Lola Carmichael will virtu- ate the necessary back-
ered, courtesy of the pri- are back on air with their ally preside over a trial that grounds, CBS said. q