Donation Gate: Zhang Ziyi's Missing Earthquake Donations

Have you heard of Zhang Ziyi’s “Donation Gate” [诈捐门, zha juan men]?

From Tianya:

Zhang Ziyi, the earthquake donations, where did they go?

The “Ink Splash Gate” posts are always at the top, so I believe a lot of people, like me, are curious about Zhang Ziyi’s fund-raising efforts after the May 12th Sichuan earthquake.

[“Ink Splash Gate” is when some people splashed black ink on a big Zhang Ziyi poster advertisement last December.]

I know Tianya’s human-flesh search is very strong, so let’s find out the truth together.

If any Zhang Ziyi fans know the whereabouts of the relief money, then please don’t hide it — post the location.

The facts will not be made clear unless they are disputed, and the truth will not be apparent unless it is sorted out.

This post will only be dealing in facts.

Commenters, please post links to videos, news, pictures or the source so people won’t think you are making it up or altering it.

Will anyone take this pledge?

Comments from Tianya:

淘宝马甲0neonone:

I have the same questions!!!!!!!
Making money off a national disaster!!!
May god strike you down!!!!

timtim1:

I’ll help with a ding, I want to know the truth.

ddttjay:

As a Chinese person, I simply must ding this post.

byawgg:

I really want to know the truth

jadezhrui:

Even though from the beginning I personally thought that not knowing the whereabouts of the money raised at the Ghana film festival was very suspicious,

I still hoped that the Zhang fans could post evidence to the contrary, because, I can’t bear to see Ziyi Zhang, the ultimate female Chinese actor, doing something like embezzling the Sichuan donations!

见三爷:

I’ve been following this since page 2… it’s page 13 now and still no Zhang fans have provided an explanation… Sigh…

sea491707639:

Ding this up.

zhxix0756:

Disgusting cockroach of a whore.

于元滋:

What did she do with the money? Spent it herself???
What of your character!!

fwc20100227:

If you make money off our nation’s disaster, your whole family should die.

danxin5608:

Awaiting the truth. To tell the truth I am hoping she’s not a liar. But if she is, then the people of Sichuan need to tell her to cough it up!!!

cngzbft:

I’m really suspicious of this international whore star’s character!

货真价实老爷子:

Why don’t you first ask the ZF [what happened to the Sichuan money]?

A follow-up post on Tianya also from the same poster:

Re: Zhang Ziyi, the earthquake donations, where did they go? Enclosed a reply from the Bureau of Civil Affairs

I made a phone call and a “Mr. Z” answered the phone.
What follows are his replies:
They didn’t know anything about the location of Ms. Zhang’s contributed funds.
Also, he said to me that because Miss Zhang Ziyi established the foundation in America,
even though she was raising funds in the name of the Sichuan Earthquake,
because of her establishing it in America,
the Bureau of Civil Affairs can do nothing.

If she really did not donate the money,
then we can only judge her from a morality standpoint.

Another thing is, at the time of the earthquake, all the (accounts) of various major forums and media of stars donating
were not actually provided by the Bureau of Civil Affairs. The Bureau has never contributed anything of the like.
So, this news is probably fake.

Perhaps there are some aspects the Bureau of Civil Affairs also did not ask about.
I suggest we consult other organizations of authority

I suggest waiting for Ms. Zhang to come out before making a final verdict.

But, I really will never believe her again.

If there are any questions about the content of my phone call, everyone can call and ask [themselves].

Civil Affairs Bureau # 01058123137

Those cursing me with SMS text messages, you guys can continue.
But I truly have a clear conscience.

A statement from Zhang Ziyi:

To media and friends:

Hello everyone,

The past several days the media and internet have been requesting explanations about the whereabouts of donations made for the Wenchuan earthquake at the Ghana film festival. I welcome these requests, and I will relay the [current] situation of the aid funds with all truthfulness.

What the 2008 Wenquan earthquake did was deeply traumatize all Chinese. Being Chinese, I really hope to be able to do everything in my own power and ability to help my compatriots in the disaster area. At the time [of the earthquake], the situation was extremely urgent. So, in a very short period of time I set up a provisional “Ziyi Zhang Foundation” in California. Due to the fact that most of the donations came from kind-hearted foreigners verbally promising to donate, the process of pursuing donations and fulfillment of pledges is extremely difficult — as any philanthropist will tell you. But, from the beginning to the end, I have never given up.

All along, I’ve been working with the specialized charity organization “Care for Children” in preparations for the setting up of the “resource center”. “Care for Children” has been in charge of project preparation, investigation and verification. Whenever the item is approved, all the donations to the “Ziyi Zhang Foundation” — no matter how much they are — will be used in the establishment of the “Relief Center”. The rebuilding of a disaster area is a long-term process, and we need to be patient in our wait. After everything is in order, I believe those who promised to donate money will follow through on their own commitment. At that time, we will announce all the facts, and publicize the details of the books.

I want to thank everyone from all walks of life for their interest in this charitable organization, and I welcome your oversight at any time.

Zhang Ziyi

2010 January 28

Zhang Ziyi’s latest response, on Netease:

Zhang Ziyi: “Did not steal donations, only lacks experience”

March 12th (early morning), Ziyi Zhang finally came out in the open and granted an exclusive interview, responding in detail to the torrent of suspicious questions from netizens. She denied any “donation theft” or other illegal acts. However, she did admit that she personally “lacks experience” in handling charity events. She also explained that she was unable to respond to the public’s inquiries because she was involved with the private matters of donors and needed to confer with a lawyer.

See also:

“Unhappy Birthday: CCTV Questions Zhang Ziyi’s Earthquake Donations” (China Real Time Report)
“Raymond Zhou (China Daily) Interviews Zhang Ziyi” (EastSouthWestNorth)
“Zhang Ziyi crying over award dropout or Sophie’s Revenge?” (Danwei)

Note from Fauna: There are also many rumors that there are people, a group, who are intentionally trying to hurt Zhang Ziyi’s reputation.