Daughter of ‘Chinese Schindler’ protests use of father’s WWII legacy to sell homes
When Manli Ho saw her father’s name being used to advertise US$40,000 houses in his hometown in China, she was outraged. “He Saved 18,000 Jewish Lives in WWII. His Hometown Has Homes for $40,000,” one headline on the now-removed English-language webpage read. Manli Ho, 75, is the daughter of Ho Feng-shan, the Chinese diplomat widely known in the West as the “Chinese Schindler” for issuing…
When Manli Ho learned that her father's name was being used to market US$40,000 homes in his hometown of Yiyang, China, she was deeply upset. Her father, Ho Feng-shan, was known as the "Chinese Schindler" for issuing thousands of visas to Jewish refugees during World War II. Manli, 75, expressed her outrage, stating that the website exploiting her father's legacy to sell properties was "horrifying and unconscionable."
The website, YiyangFangchan, markets real estate in Yiyang, a city in Hunan province with 4 million residents. The site, which appears to have both Chinese and English sections, targets both local and overseas buyers, promoting Yiyang as an affordable option for property purchase or relocation. Manli Ho contacted local authorities in Yiyang, who informed her that a preliminary investigation had confirmed her suspicions and that the district's market regulation bureau was handling the matter.
Manli has also sent a cease-and-desist letter to the US-based operators of the website, demanding that they remove references to her father and his humanitarian legacy from their marketing materials. The Yiyang local government did not respond to inquiries about the action they could take against the website.
Written by urgent.news from Reuters Business via SCMP's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
