Recently, the Red Cross Society of China came under fire when netizens erroneously linked the organization to a microblogger named Guo Meimei Baby who had written posts about her luxurious lifestyle. Netizens found that Guo Meimei Baby was 20 years old and was the general commercial manager of the Red Cross, stirring up criticism for the humanitarian society.

As it turned out, Guo Meimei Baby has no relations with the Red Cross, which reported the case to the police. But the Red Cross shouldn't blame Guo Meimei Baby. It should instead thank her for her "contributions" to the construction of the organization.

The Red Cross had drawn criticism before the Guo Meimei Baby incident. Several months ago, the society's Shanghai branch hosted a lavish banquet for which patrons paid 9,585 yuan (US$1,467) for a seat. The cost and the lavishness caused many people to question the Red Cross's philanthropy mission. "By now, what interests us is not the identity of Guo Meimei," said Liu Yuan, a blogger. "She is just a breakthrough point for us to rethink the charitable undertakings in China."

Fortunately, netizens have not found any connection between Guo Meimei Baby and the Red Cross, so the lost trust is gradually coming back. A fault on the right side, the Red Cross Society of China should thank Guo Meimei Baby for it. Another of her "contributions" is that she has improved the Red Cross's response to public relation crises. At first, the organization was very slow to respond, but it has since taken an offensive approach by accepting media interviews, increasing transparency into its operations, admitting problems and promising an internal investigation to find solutions.

But there is still a long way for the Red Cross to win back public trust. The key issue is to make sure as much of donations goes to charities as possible. In other countries, the Red Cross is very open about how their money is used. For example, administrative costs cannot be more than 5 percent of its whole budget and administrators discuss which causes should have priority. Donors can check and trace their donations online or over the phone. In China, the Red Cross does not have clear accounts. Only through fiscal transparency, accounting accuracy and lower administrative costs can China's charity institutions establish their credibility.

Thus for the Red Cross Society of China, the Guo Meimei Baby's case could be the perfect opportunity to improve its system.

(This article was first written in Chinese and translated by Li Shen.)

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