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The Chinese Association for Relief and Ensuing Services (also known as the CARES) (), formerly the Free China Relief Association (), is a non-governmental organization headquartered in
Taipei , nickname = The City of Azaleas , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Taiwan#Asia#Pacific Ocean#Earth , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country ...
,
Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
(Taiwan). The organization specializes in forced migration, refugee assistance and disaster relief.


History

The Free China Relief Association was founded in 1949 and incorporated on 4 April 1950, as the "Chinese Mainland Relief Association" (), following the defeat and retreat of the
Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
from the mainland. The Association was tasked with providing assistance to frontline troops, the many refugees fleeing the Mainland after the war, assisting the Nationalist insurgents operating within mainland China and generally promoting the values of free China on behalf of the ROC. The
articles of association In corporate governance, a company's articles of association (AoA, called articles of incorporation in some jurisdictions) is a document that, along with the memorandum of association (where applicable), forms the company's constitution. The ...
listed 100 people as directors including
Ju Zheng Ju Zheng (; November 8, 1876 – November 23, 1951) né Ju Zhijun (居之骏), was a Chinese politician who was a leader in the Chinese Nationalist Party, or KMT, in the 1930s and 1940s. As president of the Judicial Yuan, he administered China's ...
,
Soong Mei-ling Soong Mei-ling (also spelled Soong May-ling; March 4, 1898 – October 23, 2003), also known as Madame Chiang (), was a Chinese political figure and socialite. The youngest of the Soong sisters, she married Chiang Kai-shek and played a prom ...
,
Ku Cheng-kang Ku Cheng-kang or Gu Zhenggang ( zh, t=谷正綱, p=Gǔ Zhènggāng; 30 April 1902 – 11 December 1993) was a Chinese people, Chinese politician, scholar and ranking member of the Kuomintang in service to the Republic of China (1912–49), Repub ...
, Fu Ssu-nien,
Fang Chih Fang Chih or Fang Zhi ( zh, c=方治; 23 November 1895 – 28 March 1989), courtesy name: Xikong (希孔), was a politician, provincial governor, diplomat, author and a high-ranking Kuomintang official of the Republic of China. Family hist ...
, , , and Zheng Yanfen. An additional 61 people were listed as supervisors including
Yu Youren Yu Youren (; April 11, 1879 – November 10, 1964) was a Chinese educator, scholar, calligrapher, and politician. Early life He was born on April 11, 1879, in the town of Hedaogang (), Sanyuan County (north of Xi'an), Shaanxi Province, Qing Chin ...
, ,
Chiang Monlin Jiang Menglin (; 20 January 1886 – 1964), also known as Chiang Monlin, was a Chinese educator, writer, and politician. Between 1919 and 1927, he also served as the President of Peking University. He later became the president of National Che ...
, Yu Jiaju, , Huang Chaoqin (黃朝琴) and . The first meeting took place between 12 and 24 April 1950.


1950s

In 1950, with the CCP was strengthening its hold over the former
Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
. The FCRA conducted hundreds of operations to airdrop 70,000 tons of rice from Taiwan and anti-Communist propaganda leaflets throughout
Eastern China East China () is a geographical region in the People’s Republic of China, mainly consisting of seven province-level administrative divisions, namely the provinces (from north to south) Shandong, Jiangsu, Anhui, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Fujian, a ...
. These drops were called "Mainland Disaster Relief Drops From Taiwanese Compatriots" beginning a long history of operations involving supply airdrops by FCRA in Greater China and Southeast Asia. In May 1950, the FCRA raised US$10 million with the goal of aiding refugees in
British Hong Kong Hong Kong was under British Empire, British rule from 1841 to 1997, except for a Japanese occupation of Hong Kong, brief period of Japanese occupation during World War II from 1941 to 1945. It was a crown colony of the United Kingdom from 1841 ...
who had set up a camp at Rennie's Mill. In summer of 1952, the FCRA was informed that the Social Welfare Office of British Hong Kong intended to end food rationing at the Rennie's Mill camp the following year in an effort to disperse the camp's inhabitants. The move by British authorities created a vacuum of authority which was filled by the FCRA and the ROC government by extension, essentially creating an enclave of the
Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
inside British Hong Kong that would last until around 1997.


1960s

In May 1960, the FCRA hoarded around 100,000 tons of rice in an attempt to ship it to the Mainland. The offer was rejected by the PRC, after which the FCRA prepared around 10,000 ration kits, each weighing around 1 pound, to be airlifted and dropped or otherwise smuggled into the mainland. Chiang Kai-shek said the following of the PRC's attempt to ignore the Nationalist relief offer:


1970s

In 1971, the ROC was expelled from the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...
and replaced with the PRC. Despite this, the Free China Relief Association conducted an operation to send 170,000 balloons filled with relief aid and propaganda leaflets across the Strait to the
Mainland Mainland is defined as "relating to or forming the main part of a country or continent, not including the islands around it egardless of status under territorial jurisdiction by an entity" The term is often politically, economically and/or demogr ...
in collaboration with the
Ministry of National Defense A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divide ...
after the
1976 Tangshan earthquake The 1976 Tangshan earthquake () was a 7.6 earthquake that hit the region around Tangshan, Hebei, China, at 3:42 a.m. on 28 July 1976. The maximum intensity of the earthquake was XI (''Extreme'') on the Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli sca ...
. The move was made following an official rejection of aid shipments from the ROC by the PRC.


1980s

In the 1980s, the association provided the
Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT) is a major political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). It was the one party state, sole ruling party of the country Republic of China (1912-1949), during its rule from 1927 to 1949 in Mainland China until Retreat ...
-affiliated Yunnanese communities in Northern Thailand with assistance in Chinese language education, including textbooks, teachers, and teacher training, as well as economic assistance. In 1984 the organization gave financial and lifepath assistance to the hijackers of CAAC Flight 296. In 1988, the FCRA sent the PRC US$100,000 to help Chinese flood victims. This marked the first successful instance of direct humanitarian assistance to the PRC from an ROC institution.


1990s

In 1991, the association changed its name to the China Relief Association (中國災胞救助總會). In July 1992, the FCRA donated US$300,000 to the Chinese Red Cross after a series of floods and droughts had affected six mainland Chinese provinces. In December 1993, the association donated NT $1,371,767 to benefit the victims of a tsunami that struck South Asia.


2000s

In 2000, the association re-branded itself as the Chinese Association for Relief and Ensuing Services or "CARES" (中華救助總會) after significant downsizing and a transition away from international relief work, transforming itself effectively into an internal social welfare organisation with some international work still ongoing.


2010s

The organisation's mission currently includes assisting the integration of Mainland spouses into Taiwanese society, providing services to disadvantaged, elderly and aboriginal groups on Taiwan, providing emergency relief to the same groups including care and assisted living services, participation in international humanitarian work, providing assistance to former refugees and their descendants in Thailand and Burma and Organising a regularly held Social Welfare Forum to improve existing welfare services.


2020s

In early 2020, the
Democratic Progressive Party The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is a centre to centre-left Taiwanese nationalist political party in Taiwan. As the dominant party in the Pan-Green Coalition, one of the two main political camps in Taiwan, the DPP is currently the ...
government concluded that organisation was a Kuomintang party asset and froze its finances.


Publications

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External links


Homepage


References

{{Authority control Chiang Kai-shek Anti-communist organizations International political organizations Organizations established in 1949 1949 establishments in Taiwan Organizations based in Taipei International organizations based in Taiwan Foreign relations of Taiwan