Yang Xuejiao

Civil servant

As the world is not simply divided in black and white, business and charity are not necessarily antagonistic. Obviously, companies do charity to increase their sales, and celebrities do charity to improve their image. If we can allow those, why do we have to be so harsh to this bottled water company?

The company has the right to sell its products in any way it wants as long as it doesn’t break the law, and consumers also have the right to buy or not. It is a fact that the company is using charity to incite consumers to purchase its products, but at the same time it is also taking the risk that consumers refuse to do so. In any case, the water bottles spread the information and draw public attention to the issue.

Some worry that the information on the bottles may cause problems for the families of the missing children or put them in danger. But this should not stop us from acting, because public exposure is an effective way to mobilize the whole society to look for the missing children. Meanwhile, the company should cooperate with the police to collect and evaluate the feedback before passing it on to the families.

There is no need to keep charity separated from business as long as we find a proper way to integrate the two aims. Society and mass media should also give a chance to the companies that show interests in charity and be encouraging so that more companies will participate in the future.