Youth Foundation Accuses Ex-workers of Attacks on Reputation

Home>>China

Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, March 21, 2002

Youth Foundation Accuses Ex-workers of Attacks on Reputation

The China Youth Development Foundation on Wednesday accused two of its former employees of launching a "terror attack" on its reputation and credibility. Foundation spokesman Tu Meng blamed the "attack" on former employees Liu Yang and Yi Xiao.
The foundation is responsible for Project Hope, a public welfare project designed to help poor children to attend school.

DISCUSSION

CHINESE

SEND TO FRIEND

Profile of the Case

Liu Yang was the deputy director of foundation's financial department and resigned in 1998.

In 1991, Yi Xiao served as deputy director of the office responsible for handling donations made by the Dutch company Phillips.

However, Yi was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve in 1997 for graft involving a large sum of money. In 1999, Yi's sentence was reduced to 20 years in prison. Last year, Yi was given the chance to serve his sentence outside prison because he was ill.

Yi then began to collude with Liu to try to reverse Yi's conviction by collecting documents to "slander" the foundation, Tu said.

Tu Wednesday claimed that Liu stole a lot of internal documents from the foundation and passed these on to the Hong Kong-based Ming Pao Daily.

The daily reported last month that the foundation had misappropriated 100 million yuan (US$12 million) meant for Project Hope by investing it in stocks and high-risk enterprises nationwide.

The report said some of the money has since been lost because of low returns and inefficiency.

The foundation defended itself against the allegations, saying that all of its investments had been made according to the law.

It said its investments were "legal, safe and efficient."

Case Settled Under Public Supervision

Last week, more than 20 National People's Congress deputies from Hong Kong submitted a resolution during the congress session urging the central government to conduct a full audit of the foundation's accounts. They also urged the foundation to publish information on the donations it had received.

Xu Yongguang, the foundation's legal representative, said that the foundation had asked the National Audit Office to audit its accounts.

Xu said that the foundation accepted auditing by the government and accountant's office each year and published all results.

Tu Meng said that the foundation had reported Yi Xiao's alleged activities to the Ministry of Justice, which has now returned Yi to prison.

Whether Lawsuit to Be Launched Unknown

Tu did not say whether or not the foundation would launch a lawsuit against the two former employees.

Several years ago, a Hong Kong-based magazine implied that huge sums from donations were missing or had been abused.

The foundation filed a lawsuit against the magazine and was awarded 3.7 million yuan (US$447,500) in compensation after a six-year legal battle.

About China Youth Development Foundation

Founded in 1989, the China Youth Development Foundation (CYDF) works to raise awareness of issues facing Chinese children and youth and to promote their education in social skills, science and technology, culture, sports, and community service.

Among CYDF's many programs and initiatives is Project Hope, a program providing underprivileged children in poor areas with improved educational opportunities and a financial aid fund to help dropouts return to school. Through the program, CYDF funds the construction of Hope Schools in remote rural areas, with more than 7,100 schools built to date. Since its founding, CYDF has enabled more than two million dropouts in underprivileged areas to access educational opportunities.

As of the close of 1998, CYDF had raised more than US$195 million in support of its efforts.

Questions?Comments? Click here

Hope Project to Run Telnet Education Programs

CYDF to Extend Online Education to 8,000 Hope Schools Within 3 Years