Red Cross caught in investigation crosshairs

A Red Cross Society of China (RCSC) supervisory committee on Friday released the investigation results into two cases related to the Red Cross' transparency and donation management after a flood of doubts from the public and media.

The committee, consisting of 16 members with a range of academic, legal, financial, medical and media backgrounds, was established in 2012 as the RCSC is facing increasing criticism.

The two cases involved are that the Red Cross had purchased villas near the Olympic Park in Beijing and that Red Cross Chengdu had neglected to collect money from donation boxes, leaving the bills to grow mildew.　

Wang Yong, a spokesman of the independent supervisory committee, said at a press conference that an external investigation had found the Red Cross had nothing to do with the villas in Beijing but that the Red Cross in Chengdu was responsible for its failure in handling public donations.

Wang added the Chengdu case is still ongoing and that the committee will release the final result later.

"Our supervision of the Red Cross is limited because the committee has limited power and we are not a government agency. We are planning to reveal details of how we collect cases and about reports that are of high public interest," Wang said.

Huang Weimin, secretary and spokesman of the committee, added that they will process reports found online but that no agreement had been reached on how to do so.

The committee will accept reports coming through Weibo, e-mails or special Sina charity Web pages.

The press conference on Friday also revealed information about the supervisory committee's guiding chapter, which demands that the committee remain independent, fair, transparent and professional.

Public anger toward charitable organizations in the country was kickstarted when a young woman Guo Meimei showed off luxurious products on Weibo in 2011, claiming that she worked for an organization under the RCSC.

Donations to the RCSC plummeted by 59.39 percent year-on-year in 2011, Xinhua reported.