Jet Li's One Foundation faces uncertainty
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Action film star Jet Li's charity organization, the One Foundation, might be suspended in the future over questions of blurry legal identity, according to Li.
In a CCTV "One on One" interview on September 12, Li said his charity foundation "is like a 3-year-old child, healthy but lacking an ID card. Soon he (the kid) will be questioned by those who seek more transparency and professionalism in China's charity development."
Ye Wan, an employee in the public relations department of One Foundation's Beijing office, Tuesday confirmed to the Global Times that the foundation delivered its latest application for charity accreditation to the Ministry of Civil Affairs this month.
Ye said the organization is awaiting the results.
Li established the foundation in April 2007 under the now well-known motto: "1 person + 1 yuan + 1 month = 1 big family", meaning that if every person donated at least 1 yuan ($0.15) per month, the individual donations would amass to create an enormous charity fund.
Li, an action star known around the world for his martial arts movies, said the legal identity of the One Foundation is quite blurry.
It is attached to the official Red Cross Society of China and has no independent bank account.
The resulting inconveniences have hindered the foundation from performing its duty.
"Private individuals cannot establish public charity foundations. The One Foundation must be attached to an official foundation in order to raise public money for charity," Fan Ming, the director of the "One-on-One" interview wrote on his blog.
"We have tried very hard to get approval from the civil affairs department, although there has been little cause for optimism so far," Ye said.
