Zhang Ziyi apologizes for "false donation"

File photo: Zhang Ziyi
On the afternoon of Feb. 8, Ji Lingling, the agent of Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi made a public apology over the matter of the stars "false donation". She said it was a fact that Zhang had donated 160,000 yuan less to the Red Cross, but that was because of an error by working staff, and that part of the money had been donated to the Red Cross on the day.

In addition, Ji, who takes charge of Zhang's team of brokers, blamed her own bad management and would accept any criticism from the public.

Back in May 15 2008, Zhang Ziyi said she donated 1 million yuan to the people of earthquake-hit Sichuan in her blog. However, after a period of time, the public discovered the actual donation was only 840,000 yuan. Because the "false donation" Zhang suddenly became untrustworthy in the eye's of the public.

As Zhang's agent, Ji finally admitted her mistake finally citing her own bad management of the brokers' team. In her apology, Ji was totally different from her strong attitude couple of days ago.

According to Ji, Zhang did ask her brokers in Beijing to donate 1 million yuan to disaster-affected area after the earthquake happened. However, because both Zhang and Ji were abroad at that time, they did not keep eye on the executive donation process until the "false donation" was exposed by the public.


Zhang Ziyi's blog, in which she wrote the story of her 1 million donation to the Red Cross.
When Ji investigated she found the donation was indeed 160,000 yuan short, and that it was because of a communication problem between the two executive brokers for this program. After knowing the truth, Ji told Zhang the story and she immediately donated another 160,000 yuan to the Red Cross following Zhang's request.

In addition, Ji said she felt deeply sorry about bringing so much bad press on Zhang because of her mistake and as a consequence she would like to accept all the criticism from the public.

After Ji's apology, a representative of the Red Cross said that the 160,000 yuan had been transferred to there account through the Industrial Bank.

Some netizens said the apology was much better than their earlier tactic of denial. What the public needs is the sincere apology, not silence.

Related: Charity groups release donation details to end debate dogging Zhang Ziyi

Peking Times contributed to the stroy

By People's Daily Online