Apple has donated $1 million to the efforts of the China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation (CFPA), following China’s worst flood in years.
“Our thoughts are with all those devastated by the flooding along the Yangtze River,” Tim Cook wrote in a note on Chinese social networking site Weibo, which he first joined back in May 2015.
South China has been suffering from heavy rain fall and flooding since the end of June, with upwards of 31 million people currently affected in more than 500 cities and towns around the country. 164 people have so far lost their lives in the flood, with an additional 26 are still missing. 73,000 buildings have also collapsed in the disaster, while close to 2 million people have been moved to safer ground.
This isn’t the first time Apple has donated money to China following a natural disaster. In 2008, it donated around $8 million to victims of the Wenchuan Earthquake in China’s Sichuan region.
Apple’s relationship with China has been complex so far in 2016. While Apple continues its slew of retail store openings in the country, it has also suffered slumping iPhone sales, lost its exclusive iPhone trademark ownership, and been sued by the country’s media watchdog regarding an old Chinese propaganda war film from the 1990s.
Still, philanthropy goes much further than just politics — and, as Tim Cook has said before, some things are more important than just ROI (return on investment.)
Source: USA Today
