Chinese tycoon hands out cash in Taiwan
TAIPEI (AFP) – China's most famous philanthropist on Thursday started handing out cash on the first day of a controversial trip to Taiwan that has sparked criticism and protests from anti-China groups.
Chen Guangbiao, who made his fortune recycling construction materials, handed three traditional "red envelopes" containing a total of Tw$70,000 ($2,300) to a woman who had been waiting for him at his hotel in Taipei.
"I've never counted so many banknotes. I don't know what to do. I will use the money to take care of my 88-year-old mother," the woman told reporters, her voice cracking with emotion.
Chen, who is well-known in China for his flamboyant style of charity, held up a wad of Tw$2,000 notes spread out in a fan shape, surrounded by a crowd of photographers and cameramen.
Chen, leading a group of businessmen from China, arrived in an airport outside Taipei late Wednesday where he was greeted by some anti-China protesters holding a banner reading "Welcome to the group of hypocrites".
"I will deliver every penny that I've promised... and I hope to come every year," the tycoon told reporters at the airport.
Chen has said that he planned to give away more than $15 million to the poor in Taiwan, in a high-profile gesture suggestive of a shift in relative wealth between China and Taiwan.
He was scheduled to travel to the central county of Hsinchu later Thursday where he would give red envelopes each containing Tw$10,000 to about 300 under-privileged families, officials said.
The visit came at a time of easing tensions between China and Taiwan, although Beijing has sworn to retake the island ever since the two sides split in 1949 after a civil war.
Taiwan is five times wealthier than China in terms of gross domestic product per capita, even though the mainland's economy is more than 10 times larger than its neighbour's.
