In his interview, published in the Global Times on November 30, Professor Zhou Xiaozheng of Renmin University of China states that Chinese millionaires' lack of philanthropy should not be compared with their Western counterparts, because China has only had 20 years of the market economy.

But Chinese people pride themselves on being a "collectivist society." Therefore it seems to me that caring for others in society should be the highest priority of the wealthiest Chinese, and something that Western millionaires should be trying to emulate, not the other way around.

Confucian principles, which guided China for 2,500 years, also teach social responsibility. So China should be taking the lead here.

And viewed in historical context, the period of the planned economy was only a brief blip in China. China had merchants, guilds, and trade routes to the West from early on. 

When we look at the development of Western millionaires, we also see that they too had very difficult times at the beginning.

They did not have guanxi, by which I mean friendships with local, provincial or central government officials, that made it easy for them to buy land cheaply, obtain cheap bank loans or keep workers' wages low.

Chinese millionaires became rich by exploiting Chinese workers and Chinese land. Is it fair that they now have no responsibility to return such support?

I believe that Professor Zhou is much closer to reality when he states "You cannot expect a person who makes money through evading tax and illegal business to shoulder social responsibility. And obviously many rich Chinese don't want to expose how rich they are." How many of the "illegal businesses" are based on corruption, which weakens the fabric of society?

So, are these millionaires exercising their right to individual choice, or are they actually traitors to the country that has provided them with so much?

He Shuyuan, commenting on Global Times website.