China’s rich and famous judged on social media for donations to coronavirus relief

Social media in China is praising or blaming celebrities based on the size of their relief donations to the fight against the pandemic

US$400,000 gift makes Taiwan’s Jay Chou patriotic, but US$30,000 donations by pianist Li Yundi and actresses Li Bingbing and Angelababy are seen as stingy

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Hannah Quinlivan and Jay Chou have donated three million yuan (US$422,000) to the fight against the coronavirus. Photo: Getty Images

Published: 5:30pm, 27 Mar 2020Updated: 8:35pm, 28 Mar 2020

It’s hardly a competition – and it really shouldn’t be one – but when it comes to disaster relief, celebrities in China are being judged by its increasingly unforgiving (social) media, not only for their generosity, but also their patriotism (or lack thereof).

Take the recent coronavirus outbreak, for example. Some who gave over a million yuan (US$140,000) in donations to the relief effort have been crowned magnanimous philanthropists who did not think twice about helping their fellow countrymen in times of need.

So at one end of the generosity scale are Zhao Benshan, farmer-turned-showbiz tycoon, who gave 10 million yuan to the city of Wuhan, where the outbreak in China began; and Jay Chou and his wife, Hannah Quinlivan, who donated 3 million yuan through a charity in Hubei, the province surrounding Wuhan, in support of frontline medical personnel.

At the other end, trailing way behind, are those who made smaller charity pledges. Screen darlings and golden couple Huang Xiaoming and Angelababy, for instance, donated 200,000 yuan to the China Siyuan Foundation For Poverty Alleviation, which, accidentally, disclosed the amount in a Weibo post.

Angelababy and Huang Xiaoming were lambasted after donating a “paltry” 200,000 yuan. Photo: Getty Images

Indignant responses on the internet quickly followed. “How much do you earn a year?” one poster asked. “Are you looking down on the coronavirus victims by making such a small donation?” said another. In response to these online attacks, the couple subsequently increased the donation to one million yuan.

A list showing the amounts donated by various Chinese stars began to circulate among the public.