One detail is enough to drag down credibility. Along with the news of the fight against the "epidemic", the Hubei and Wuhan Red Cross Societies have been quickly put on the cusp in the past two days, from "selling vegetables", "returning to the single door", and then to "Putian Department Gate", the Hubei and Wuhan Red Cross Societies have fallen into the whirlpool of public opinion one after another. This afternoon, the leader of the Wuhan municipal government admitted that "there are some gaps in the relevant work, such as the turnover is not fast enough and the allocation is not timely enough."

Admittedly, this is related to the extraordinary period, the eyes of the people of the whole country are fixed on Hubei, the ordinary people "have more than enough and insufficient strength", can not charge the front, like soldiers, white angels rush to the front, what we can do, is nothing more than donate money and materials, what we hope is nothing more than medical staff in the conditions of masks, protective clothing, goggles as much as possible to save lives and help the wounded, so that our country can restore tranquility and health as soon as possible. We are not afraid of donating, we are afraid that our "hearts" will be disappointed and wasted. Because of its "special nature", the staff of the Red Cross may not be able to do anything in ordinary times, but their political consciousness, management level and ability to assume responsibility in the special period will be infinitely amplified, and they will be "harshly" supervised and tested by all the people.

Leaving aside the "merits" of the Hubei and Wuhan Red Cross Societies, today the author intends to sort out the relevant legal issues of the "Red Cross" from a legal perspective.

I. Legal Basis

At present, China's laws related to the "Red Cross" mainly include: the Red Cross Law of the People's Republic of China (2017 Revision) and the Charity Law of the People's Republic of China (2016).

2. The Red Cross is a social organization legal person and a non-profit legal person

According to the Red Cross Law, the Red Cross Society of China has the status of a social organization legal person; Local Red Cross Societies and Industry Red Cross Societies at all levels acquire the legal personality of social groups in accordance with law.

According to the General Provisions of the Civil Law, social organizations are non-profit legal persons, that is, legal persons established for public welfare purposes or other non-profit purposes and do not distribute the profits obtained to investors, founders or members... Social groups that meet the requirements of a legal person and are established for non-profit purposes such as public welfare purposes or the common interests of members based on the common will of their members are registered and established in accordance with law and obtain the status of social group legal person; Where it is not necessary to register as a legal person in accordance with law, it has the status of a social group legal person from the date of establishment. In summary, the Red Cross Society of China, from the date of its establishment, has the status of a social group legal person; Local Red Cross Societies at all levels acquire the status of social group legal persons after being registered and established in accordance with law.

3. The responsibilities of the Red Cross

In accordance with article 11 of the Red Cross Act, the Red Cross performs the following duties:

(1) Carry out rescue and disaster relief related work, and establish a Red Cross emergency rescue system. Provide emergency relief and humanitarian assistance to the wounded, sick and other victims in emergencies such as war, armed conflict and natural disasters, accidents and public health incidents;

(2) Carry out emergency care training, popularize knowledge of first aid care, disaster prevention and avoidance, and health care, and organize volunteers to participate in on-site first aid;

(3) Participating in and promoting unpaid blood donation, body and human organ donation, and participating in efforts related to hematopoietic stem cell donation;

(4) Organizing and carrying out Red Cross volunteer service and Red Cross youth work;

(5) Participating in international humanitarian relief work;

(vi) disseminating the fundamental principles of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols;

(7) To complete matters entrusted by the people's government in accordance with the basic principles of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement;

(h) to carry out work in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols;

(9) Assist people's governments in carrying out other humanitarian service activities related to their duties.

In summary, according to the Law of the Red Cross, with the development of the Red Cross Movement, the responsibilities of the Red Cross have changed from the traditional "three rescues" (rescue, rescue, rescue) to "three donations" (blood donation, hematopoietic stem cell donation, body and organ donation), in addition, including volunteer service, Red Cross youth work, humanitarian law dissemination, international humanitarian assistance, people-to-people diplomacy, etc., these responsibilities have far exceeded the scope of "rescue, rescue, rescue".

4. Relationships with charitable organizations

According to Article 3 of the Charity Law, charitable activities refer to the following public interest activities voluntarily carried out by natural persons, legal persons and other organizations by donating assets or providing services:

(1) poverty alleviation and relief;

(2) Supporting the elderly, saving orphans, caring for the sick, assisting the disabled, and providing preferential care;

(3) Rescue damage caused by natural disasters, accidents, public health incidents and other emergencies;

(4) Promoting the development of education, science, culture, health, sports and other undertakings;

(5) Prevention and control of pollution and other public hazards, protection and improvement of the ecological environment;

(6) Other public interest activities that comply with the provisions of this Law.

According to Article 8 of the Charity Law, charitable organizations refer to non-profit organizations established in accordance with law, complying with the provisions of this Law, and with the purpose of carrying out charitable activities for the society. Charitable organizations may take organizational forms such as foundations, social groups, and social service organizations.

In summary, although the Red Cross takes "humanitarian service activities" as the foundation, the relevant duties/activities of the Red Cross and charitable organizations include the relevant content of "rescue, rescue, and rescue", and humanitarian work contains the content of charity, but humanitarianism is not equal to charity, and the Red Cross is not a charitable organization in the general sense, but a humanitarian organization with legal status and legal duties. According to Article 2 of the Charity Law, this Law applies to natural persons, legal persons and other organizations carrying out charitable activities and activities related to charity. Where other laws have special provisions, follow those provisions. Therefore, the activities of the Red Cross should first and foremost be governed by the provisions of the Red Cross Act, in accordance with the principle of "lex specialis prevails over general law", and if the Red Cross carries out activities related to charity, which are not expressly provided for in the Red Cross Act, the provisions of the Charity Act.

5. Source of property

According to article 17 of the Red Cross Act, the main sources of Red Cross assets are as follows:

(1) membership dues paid by Red Cross members;

(2) Funds and materials donated by domestic and foreign organizations and individuals;

(c) income from movable and immovable property;

(4) appropriations by the people's governments;

(5) Other lawful income.

In addition, the Red Cross may conduct fundraising activities in accordance with the law. Fundraising activities shall comply with the relevant provisions of the Charity Law.

6. Use of Property

According to the Red Cross Law, the Red Cross should dispose of the donations it accepts in accordance with the fundraising plan, the wishes of donors or the donation agreement, which is also the basis for the Hubei Red Cross Society to explain when replying to "why 36,000 masks flowed to Putian hospitals".

According to the Charity Law, when donors and charitable organizations agree on the use and beneficiaries of donated assets, they must not designate interested persons of the donor as beneficiaries. Charitable organizations determining charitable beneficiaries shall adhere to the principles of openness, fairness, and justice, and must not designate interested persons of charitable organizations' management personnel as beneficiaries. In other words, if the donor providing the mask is an interested person with the "Putian Hospital", such donation is illegal.

In addition, according to the relevant provisions of the General Provisions of the Civil Law, the Charity Law and the Red Cross Law, donors have the right to inquire about and copy relevant information on the management and use of their donated assets, and the Red Cross shall promptly take the initiative to give feedback to donors on the relevant situation. The Red Cross shall establish financial management, internal control, audit disclosure and supervision and inspection systems. Information disclosure systems shall be established and completed, information release shall be regulated, and the income and use of donated funds and materials shall be promptly announced to the public on a unified information platform, and public oversight shall be accepted.

7. Tax incentives

According to Article 20 of the Red Cross Law, donors enjoy tax benefits in accordance with the law. According to Article 80 of the Charity Law, natural persons, legal persons, and other organizations who donate assets for charitable activities enjoy tax benefits in accordance with law. The portion of the charitable donation expenditure of a corporation that exceeds the amount permitted for deduction in the current year when calculating the taxable income of the enterprise income tax is allowed to be carried forward within the next three years and deducted when calculating the taxable income. Materials donated abroad for charitable activities are subject to reduced or exempted import duties and import value-added tax in accordance with law.

According to the interpretation of the official website of the Red Cross: the pre-tax deduction qualification for public welfare donations is related to the enthusiasm of charitable donations. According to the spirit of the Notice on Issues Related to the Pre-tax Deduction of Public Welfare Donations through Public Welfare Mass Organizations issued by the Ministry of Finance and the State Administration of Taxation, the Red Cross is a public welfare mass organization, and as long as it applies for the pre-tax deduction qualification for public welfare donations according to the requirements of the document, its donor enterprises and individuals can make pre-tax deductions in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Enterprise Income Tax Law and the Individual Income Tax Law and enjoy preferential tax policies.

https://www.redcross.org.cn/html/2019-10/62573.html

(There are different understandings in practice as to whether donated property enjoys tax "incentives", please refer to the opinions of the tax authorities for details)

8. Legal Consequences

According to the relevant provisions of the General Provisions of the Civil Law, the Charity Law and the Red Cross Law, if the Red Cross abuses the donated property in violation of the fundraising plan, the donor's wishes or the purpose stipulated in the donation agreement, the donor has the right to request correction; Where corrections are refused, donors may complain or report to the civil affairs department of the people's government, or file a lawsuit in the people's court.

Chinese people have never lacked patriotic enthusiasm and passion, and have never been afraid of bloodshed and sacrifice. During the Sino-Japanese War, Deng Shichang chose to ram ships without ammunition, and in peacetime, we cannot let medical personnel "go into battle shirtless" without equipment. In the extraordinary period of fighting the "epidemic", the love of ordinary people should be implemented, the country is in trouble, and stop sleepwalking!

(This article is translated by software translator for reference only.)