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美国中文网
2024.8.8
感谢大家群策群力,草稿已出炉,欢迎大家讨论,补充和提出修改意见。暂定今明两日收集意见,后天定稿发出。并寻求以下帮助:
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Dear Sir or Madam,
We are a group of individuals who read the news report titled “Lawyer: Deal reached to care for paralyzed gymnast” By Larry Neumeister, Associated Press. After reading that report, we felt that some of the important statements in that report are inaccurate and misleading. And we would like to share our thoughts and some key facts that the reporter might have missed. And below is an incomplete list of misleading or inaccurate statements in the report as well as the facts we discovered to challenge those statements.
1. "The lawyer, Ming Hai, said he could not divulge details of the deal. Still, he said it will provide up to $10 million in cash and health care over the lifetime of the 30-year-old gymnast, Sang Lan."
What we found: the statment of "(TIG) will provide up to $10 million in cash" is not true, and "(TIG) will provide health care over the lifetime of Sang Lan" is what she already got in 1998. In other words, what Sang Lan is eligible for now is exactly the same as the benefit that the original insurance policy granted in 1998.
Under the current insurance policy established in 1998, Sang Lan already has a coverage up to $10 million dollars, which of course is not in cash. This information is available at https://www.sinovision.net/blog/ksliu/details/85486.html. Unless there is a a cheque with a big dollar amount issued to Sang Lan (which was denied by TIG Insurance Company), Ming Hai’s statement about the "up to $10 million in cash"is evidently incorrect and obviously made to mislead the readers.
We have contacted TIG Insurance Company to verify Ming Hai's statement. The Director of Litigation Richard Fabian denied that TIG paid a fat cheque to Sang Lan. Apparently $10 million is a big dollar amount. Although both parties didn't disclose the amount of the monetary compensation, what Ming Hai said is contrary to what TIG stated.
Also, Richard stated that TIG denied all the allegations that Sang Lan made in her complaint, since they didn't do anything wrong; TIG has been paying for Sang Lan's medical expense claims in the past 13 years, fully in compliance with the insurance policy. Richard also stated that Sang Lan's insurance policy has not been revised during the settlement.
Furthermore, some documents from TIG dated 1998 (please refer to https://www.sinovision.net/blog/ksliu/details/85486.html) already explained that what she got is a life-long insurance, and the injury-related medical expenses are eligible for claim. This is in agreement to TIG’s original agreement or insurance policy.
2. "The settlement will provide money to cover Lan's health care in China. Previously, her health care was paid for only in the United States."
What we found: Sang Lan's health care has been paid by three parties: TIG, the national health insurance in China and her employer in China, while most of the Chinese people only have coverage from the national health insurance.
First, as Richard stated, TIG has been paying her for her health care in compliance with her insurance policy. And that includes her eligible medical expenses in China. Please refer to the explanation to the insurance policy (https://www.sinovision.net/blog/ksliu/details/85486.html)
Second, Sang Lan herself have stated a few times (both in the past and recently), that she has medical expense coverage by the national health insurance in China according to the health plan's policy.
Third, again, Sang Lan stated before that her rehabilitation expenses (which is not an eligible expense for the above-mentioned health insurance in China) have been paid by her employer in China.
For Sang Lan's own statements about her medical expense coverage in China, please refer to her own blog: http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_47420b930100cj4p.html
3. "He said she was staying ... for another month before returning to Beijing, where she will live with her boyfriend and continue to earn about $230 a month at speaking engagements and other public functions."
What we found: the above statement about her income in China is incorrect, and is contrary to what Sang Lan and her boyfriend have been saying in the past. Sang Lan has been living a very good life in China. She is much wealthier than most of the Chinese people, and her monthly income is around $4,500 (in USD), which is much more than the $230 Ming Hai claimed.
According to their statements before (one example would be an interview conducted by a Chinese media; please refer to http://sports.cn.yahoo.com/10-08-/324/2bpa1.html ), following is a list of facts about Sang Lan's financial situation:
- She owns two real estate properties in China, both fully paid. And one of them is in Beijing, one of the cities with the highest real estate price in the world.
- In 1998, She was paid $50,000 (in USD) by the insurance company. Other than that, she got another $50,000 (in USD) from General Administration of Sports of China.
- Her current monthly employment income is about $4,500 (in USD), which translates to an annual salary of $54,000 (in USD). Please note that the average monthly income for a white collar in China is about $500.
- There was a trust fund set up in 1998, with Sang Lan being the beneficiary. The fund raised $170,000 USD through donations in 1998. From 1998 to 2008, this fund had provided Sang Lan a monthly support in the amount of $600-$770 USD (depending on the foreign exchange rate), which translates to $7,200-$9,200 USD a year. And in 2008, the trustees provided all the remaining fund (over $140,000 USD) to Sang Lan.
- She owns a Van.
- She hires a live-in home personal care attendant who gets paid $540 a month (she also accompanied Sang Lan to US this time).
On another note, according to Ming Hai's blog post, Sang Lan rented a single house with a swimming pool for her temporary place in New York, and paid $4,000 for the two-month stay.
4. ""Thirteen years ago she had a tragic fall that almost killed her," Hai said. "She got her life back again. The American people gave her a second life. She'll always remember that in her mind. She loves this country. She loves whatever this country has done for her.""
This is the most important part, and this is why we wrote to you. “We are not what we say; we are what we do.” Ming Hai stated that Sang Lan thinks that the American people gave her a second life and she'll always remember that in her mind. But what did she do?
Here’s what she did (please refer to her complaint, http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_857060240100siii.html):
- She sued US Gymnastic Federation, which gave her help after she fall in 1998. (the Gymnastic Federation was dismissed now)
- She sued the insurance companies, which have been paying for her medical expenses in 1998 and all the years until today. (the insurance companies were dismissed now)
- She sued an American family (Kao Sung Liu, Gina Hiu-Hung Liu and their son Winston Sie).
And here're some facts about the American family:
-Who are they? They are the family that voluntarily took care of Sang Lan for 10 months after her fell in 1998. To save the donation Sang Lan got for her future days, they didn't even hire anybody. Instead, they did everything for free for 10 months. Furthermore, they are the major donor of the above-mentioned trust fund for Sang Lan.
- And how much is Sang Lan asking for? ONE BILLION dollars.
- What did the American family do? They can probably write a book about it. Long story short, from a third party's perspective, they didn't do anything obviously wrong. And most importantly, Sang Lan had been expressing her gratitude numerous times towards that American family in the past 13 years until she sued them. And in 2008 she even came to US and specifically visited Liu family to thank them.
"Don't bite the hands that feed you." Sang Lan stated that she always remembers the American people who helped her. Based on the above things she did, does she really think so? Or suing the American people who helped her is her special way of remembering them in her mind & thanking them for their help?
All of the facts we stated in this note are solid and backed by evidence. And should you have any questions, or need more information, we are more than happy to assist you. We understand that due to the language barrier, not all of the relevant information flows smoothly to the US media, and we will do what we can to let people know the true story.
We do hope that you will be able to disclose the information we provided here, to make your coverage of the case accurate and to make the picture complete.
Thank you for your time. We look forward to your response. Please feel free to contact us at aiai.young@gmail.com.
To: luren 你曾经说:还有一点: 桑受伤后美国社会各界还给她捐了价值近100万的康复器材.
艾艾的信写得很好, 你的补充也很好!谢谢各位! 我也有点小补充 (根据以前网上批露的资料):
A. 关于桑的财产:
1. 她目前的收入 (3万RMB/月) 在中国是普通白领的十几倍.
2. 保险公司1998年赔了她5万美元 (在当时至少是一个普通白领40年的收入)
3. 国家1998年赔了她40万人民币. 在当时至少也是一个普通白领40年的收入.
4. 国家免费送了她一套宽敞方便的住房 (在她的老家宁波,靠近
To: luren 你曾经说:不好意思, 匆忙中补充里有些错别字, 如“披露“而非“批露“, “负债累累“而非“负债类类“... 请谅!
艾艾的信写得很好, 你的补充也很好!谢谢各位! 我也有点小补充 (根据以前网上批露的资料):
A. 关于桑的财产:
1. 她目前的收入 (3万RMB/月) 在中国是普通白领的十几倍.
2. 保险公司1998年赔了她5万美元 (在当时至少是一个普通白领40年的收入)
3. 国家1998年赔了她40万人民币. 在当时至少也是一个普通白领40年的收入.
4. 国家免费送了她一套宽敞方便的住房 (在她的老家宁波,靠近
To: dogwood 你曾经说:艾艾的信写得很好, 你的补充也很好!谢谢各位! 我也有点小补充 (根据以前网上批露的资料):
同意属真名。
关于信件,有两点建议,1,需要英文过关的人修改。2.以简洁为上,比如关于住房子而不是公寓。3.在桑兰的收入方面,我觉得没必要提黄建,倒是应该提她有一个北大的新闻学士学位。(相当于一个哈佛学位?)另外,不知4500是否准确,如果能确定,只要说明她的开销远多于230是不是更好。
To: dogwood 你曾经说:同意你的修改建议,特别是在中国的收入部分,应该指出的是$230是国家给她的,不是什么演讲费,家政服务也是免费的,我们应该说其它收入不清楚,但是她的生活方式和开支绝对不是$230元可以支持的。金钱的数量可以用人民币为单位,在括号中注上等额美元。保险公司部分还应该再明确一些,在引用海鸣的说明之后,首先要强调的是两点:一是这个保险不是海明才争取来的,是一直存在的;二是这个一千是终生医疗费用限额而不是赔付总额。
同意属真名。
关于信件,有两点建议,1,需要英文过关的人修改。2.以简洁为上,比如关于住房子而不是公寓。3.在桑兰的收入方面,我觉得没必要提黄建,倒是应该提她有一个北大的新闻学士学位。(相当于一个哈佛学位?)另外,不知4500是否准确,如果能确定,只要说明她的开销远多于230是不是更好。