Alibaba clarifies donations to Clinton Foundation
- By Guo Yiming
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E-mail China.org.cn, August 3, 2016
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Two staff members walking past the logo of Alibaba at Alibaba Group's Xixi base in Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province on Nov. 12, 2014. [Photo/Xinhua] |
China's e-commerce giant Alibaba, among other enterprises and NGOs which were donors of the Clinton Foundation, has been caught in a charity row amid claims of the foundation's "pay-to-play" practice as the US election draws near.
On August 1, Alibaba posted a statement on its Weibo account saying that the company donated US$ 250,000 to the Clinton Foundation for "AIDS treatment and care in developing countries" in 2005 but cut down its sponsorship to the organization in 2012.
"As a globalized company from the world's second largest economy, we need to shoulder our due responsibilities," the statement said.
The statement came after the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) made a decision to look into "public corruption" allegations at the nonprofit organization headed by the Clintons.
The foundation has a wide source of donors, including foreign governments like Australia, Norway and Saudi Arabia as well as transnational companies like Coca Cola, Microsoft, HSBC and Citibank.
"Thanks to the Clinton Foundation, 9 million more people in our world have access to HIV/AIDS drugs because they negotiated contracts that made them affordable," said Hilary Clinton during a recent interview. "There is absolutely no connection between anything that I did as Secretary of State and the Clinton Foundation."
Alibaba's effort to clear its name was also echoed by Mei Xinyu, a researcher at the Ministry of Commerce, hoping that the allegation will not impair Chinese companies' efforts to expand their global market.
"If we mix all of these misunderstandings and controversies with our overseas affairs, it will undermine our own interests," said Mei.
Misunderstandings will not stand in the way of Alibaba's continuous dedication to charities, the company added in the statement.
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