Chinese Activists Question Charity Run by Donor’s Daughter

Internet activists in China are raising doubts about the management of a charity to build schools in Africa that is run by the daughter of a prominent businessman and philanthropist, according to China Daily.

Online critics contend that Lu Xingyu was put in charge of the China-Africa Project Hope because of her father, Lu Junqing, a leading Chinese donor who chairs the World Eminence Chinese Business Association. The association, a network of Chinese entrepreneurs, co-founded the charity, which seeks to raise $235-million to build 1,000 elementary schools across Africa.

Chinese online activists have taken on a watchdog role with regard to the nation’s growing nonprofit sector, particularly amid a recent string of controversies involving the Chinese Red Cross.

Responding to the criticism online, Ms. Lu wrote that she is capable of leading fund raising and outreach for the project and that efforts by Chinese entrepreneurs “to help those [African] children go back to school should be applauded.”