The Children’s Charity Association in Mainland China has been embroiled in another scandal. The head of the “9958 Child Emergency Rescue Project” in Henan province was exposed for deceiving mothers of sick children into accompanying him to bed in exchange for donations. This person, previously praised by the Chinese Communist Party as a “good person of China,” has been engaging in these unethical practices for years.
On August 3rd, several influential social media users revealed on Weibo that Lei Ke, the person in charge of the “9958 Child Emergency Rescue Project” of the Children’s Charity Association in Henan province and also the head of the Volunteers Association in Wolong District of Nanyang City, coerced mothers of sick children into sleeping with him in exchange for donations.
Screenshots of conversations between Lei Ke and the mothers of sick children circulating online showed Lei Ke making promises such as “I love you, I will love you forever” and “I have never loved the wrong woman.”
Netizens commented, “Lei persuaded sick children’s mothers to sleep with him once, give a donation, sleep with him again, receive a donation again, until the sick child was exhausted and the donations were swallowed.”
Public information indicates that Lei Ke was previously awarded as a “Model Volunteer” by the Henan provincial government in December 2017. In a report by Xinhua News Agency in 2019, Lei Ke was praised as an “outstanding individual from Henan.” Earlier reports by Henan Daily promoted Lei Ke as someone who “gave up a steel business with an annual profit of millions, and devoted himself to sick and helpless children he did not know; he sold his car, rode an electric scooter, but tirelessly engaged in charity work…”
Weibo records show that in May 2020, a netizen posted accusing the Children’s Charity Association of hiding dirty secrets, mentioning a Henan province “Model Volunteer” who threatened parents of sick children for donations, engaging in misconduct towards women, and being labeled as the “worst of the worst.”
Discussions among Weibo users:
“The officials do whatever they want.”
“Shocking, they squander the donations like this.”
“I remember someone once said, charity is business.”
“The Chinese ‘good person’ list, how ironic.”
“Most of those who do good deeds and seek fame are usually hypocrites rather than genuinely good people.”
“Worse than beasts.”
“The term ‘charity’ has also been tainted.”
“Why is this not trending?”
“Thank goodness for the ‘good person’ list, the judges might be in on it too.”
According to mainland media Hai Bao News on August 2nd, when journalists contacted the Civil Affairs Bureau of Wolong District in Nanyang City, the staff said they were temporarily unable to reach Lei Ke, the person in charge of the Volunteers Association in Wolong District, and confirmed that relevant departments were investigating the matter.
Lei Ke previously served as the Vice President of the Nanyang Volunteer Federation and is now the legal representative of the Volunteers Association in Wolong District, Nanyang City. In 2014, Lei Ke signed an agreement on behalf of the Federation with the “China Children’s Charity Association 9958 Rescue Center.”
According to the official website of the Children’s Charity Association, it was established in 2010 and is a nationwide public fundraising foundation under the supervision of the Ministry of Civil Affairs of the CCP. By the end of 2022, it had raised over 5 billion yuan. The 9958 project is a self-branded project of the association, with public fundraising activities starting in 2017. The audit report of the association shows that in 2022, the 9958 project had a total income of 227.2 million yuan, the highest among 27 major charity projects.
The CCP monopolizes charitable fundraising and relief channels in mainland China, from the earlier Project Hope, to the Red Cross Society of China, the China Charity Federation, and now the Children’s Charity Association, all of which have been repeatedly involved in donation fraud scandals.
In September of last year, several family members of sick children accused Ke Mouxiao, the head of the 9958 Langfang team, of embezzling more than tens of millions of yuan in “matching donations” from over 80 families of seriously ill children. Most of these seriously ill children suffered from neuroblastoma or leukemia and were mainly treated in Shandong and Hebei provinces. The Children’s Charity Association issued a statement claiming that Ke Mouxiao was just a volunteer, not a “staff member.”
In June of this year, the Ministry of Civil Affairs of the CCP confirmed that from June to August 2023, Ke Mouxiao privately raised nearly tens of millions of yuan in the name of the “9958 Project” of the Children’s Charity Association from parents of sick children.
Additionally, in 2020, Wu Huayan, a female university student who weighed only 43 pounds due to long-term malnutrition, was hospitalized, sparking public sympathy. The 9958 platform of the Children’s Charity Association raised over one million yuan online in the name of Wu Huayan, but only transferred 20,000 yuan to the hospital. The hospital confirmed that they did not receive this 20,000 yuan either. Wu Huayan eventually passed away, causing public outrage after the truth was revealed.