Artists across the Chinese mainland are busy preparing benefit performances to raise money for the victims of the Asian tsunami.

Film directors Feng Xiaogang, Chen Kaige, Zhao Baogang and Li Shaohong; and actors Chen Hong, Zhang Guoli, Deng Jie, Zhang Tielin and Wang Gang are working with China Central Television's (CCTV's) popular show The Same Song to put on a show Thursday at the Beijing Workers Stadium.

"All of us want to do something for these people. As well as donations from ourselves, we hope our performance will encourage more people to join us," said Feng Xiaogang, a member of the organizing committee.

Pop singers such as Pu Shu, Jing Gangshan, Yu Quan and Huang Zheng have confirmed their appearances.

More than 20 of Beijing's newspapers have signed an agreement to organize another charity show, "Love from China," to be held on Sunday at the Capital Gymnasium.

The Beijing municipal government is in charge of the event.

Tickets are being sold for 100 yuan (US$12) and all proceeds will go to the Red Cross/Red Crescent Society of China. Tickets may be reserved by calling 6851 1557, or to make a direct donation call the Red Cross 24-hour tsunami relief hotline at 6513 9999.

Zhang Shurong, director of the Big Event Office, said that more than 30 singers including such stellar names as Song Zuying, Peng Liyuan, Dong Wenhua, Liu Huan, Na Ying and the Twelve Girls Band had confirmed their appearances.

Zhang said that they all responded within two hours of the time the show was announced on Tuesday.

"I am honored to participate. I hope my songs can help raise money as well as my own donation," said pop singer Tian Zhen.

"People in the disaster area will see that we, the Chinese people, are supporting them. People's care and charity can overcome natural disasters. It is a show for tsunami victims and a show for the people's common future," said Shen Qiang of the Guangming Daily, one of the sponsors.

Many individual ensembles are also contributing portions of their box-office take. The China Pingju Opera Troupe, for example, will donate all the proceeds of tomorrow's performance of Chang Xia.

But the outpouring of goodwill is also creating some problems.

The China Charity Federation (CCF) says that a website it hired IT firm Unet Beijing to set up for it in 1998 is being operated without authorization. The unauthorized site, www.chinacharity.cn.net, contains a different bank account number for donations than the official site.

The URL for CCF's official website is www.chinacharity.cn.

The CCF says the unauthorized site was operated temporarily to raise money for victims of the 1998 floods. The site should have been closed down at the end of that campaign, according to Shao Jiayan, CCF's director of publicity.

Shao says the CCF has asked Unet Beijing to shut the site down, but it has refused. "If the company still refuses to close the website, we will report it to the police," said Shao.

However, an executive with Unet Beijing says that his company merely designed and created the site for the CCF. All rights of access and control belong to the charity organization, he told the Beijing Youth Daily, and Unet Beijing is unable to shut down or otherwise alter the website.

Search engines such as Yahoo, Baidu and Google still lead to the incorrect site.

Neither the CCF nor Unet Beijing could say who has access to the bank account number listed on the incorrect site. Shao said that the CCF is currently investigating that issue.

Meanwhile, the Red Cross issued warnings against depositing donations into personal accounts after some people received mobile phone short messages asking for donations in the name of the Red Cross.

Attempts at defrauding people of money in the name of aid to the tsunami victims have been reported elsewhere in Asia as well as in Europe and North America.

(China.org.cn, China Daily January 6, 2005)