Already in her 50s, retired Chinese musician Han Hong (Yangjan Zhoma) has been doing charity work for more than a decade and she was especially active during the pandemic. As a celebrity, the media naturally followed her and the publicity sparked a storm of donations.
Unlike most donation drives in China, Han Hong’s was completely transparent. She declared every single yuan she received from the public and accounted for every single yuan spent. This practice is virtually unprecedented in China. Not only that, her organisation demonstrated far greater efficiency than many government initiatives mired in bureaucratic roadblocks and corruption. Not having all the necessary permits in order would prove to be her Achilles heel.
Eventually, the sheer amount of money she received from the trusting public and her meteoric rise in popularity resulted in many other charities being left out and certain “interested parties” unable to gain much from donation drives. Having repeatedly put some politically motivated, self-serving people to shame, her organisation became subjected to brutal auditing and her downfall was meticulously orchestrated.