Charity is not just publicity

Chinese tycoon and philanthropist Chen Guangbiao has proclaimed, with a typical maverick gesture, that Chinese millionaires are also big spenders when it comes to helping those in need. In full-page advertisements in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, Chen invited 1,000 "underprivileged" New York citizens to have a free lunch with him at the Loeb Boathouse in Central Park on Wednesday and promised to give each of them $300 cash.

Some Chinese netizens criticized him, because in their opinion the many people struggling for life under the poverty line in China are in greater need of such help. But in fact, charity is an expression of humanity and cultural communication without boundaries, said a Xinhua website commentary.

According to Chen himself, his high-profile philanthropic endeavor is aimed at mobilizing more people to do good deeds. Although many have benefited from his philanthropy, his high profile has raised questions and made some others, including the beneficiaries, feel uncomfortable. As a result, it prompts us to ask after genuinely spending large sums of money on charitable causes, why Chen has still not won a good reputation as a philanthropist.