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Han Li

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 thousands of visas to Jews fleeing Nazi persecution while serving as China’s consul-general in Vienna, Austria, from 1938 to 1940.
The “Schindler” comparison refers to German businessman Oskar Schindler, who saved about 1,200 Jews by employing them in his factories in occupied Poland during the Holocaust. His story inspired the Academy Award-winning 1993 film Schindler’s List.
But now, a real estate website is using Ho Feng-shan’s legacy to sell homes in his hometown, drawing backlash from local authorities in Yiyang and his daughter in the United States.
The website, YiyangFangchan – “fangchan” means real estate in Chinese – markets property in Yiyang, a city in Hunan province with 4 million residents where Ho Feng-shan was born in 1901.

The website appears to have two distinct sections in Simplified Chinese and English. Its Simplified Chinese pages function as a conventional local property portal, featuring home listings and rental information.
Its English-language site, however, is linked to an American company and targets overseas buyers, promoting Yiyang as an affordable place to buy property or relocate while highlighting its connection to Ho Feng-shan.
The website also operates a pared-down Traditional Chinese-language page aimed at buyers in Hong Kong.
‘Crass exploitation’ of website ‘crosses clear boundaries’
“This crass exploitation of the name and legacy of a humanitarian and the tragedy of the Holocaust to sell houses is not only horrifying but unconscionable,” Manli Ho said.
Manli Ho said she had contacted local officials in Yiyang, who told her they had referred the matter to authorities in the city’s Heshan district and that a preliminary investigation had confirmed the situation she reported.
The district’s market regulation bureau was handling the matter, officials told Ho. They also told her they would “not tolerate the improper use of Ho Feng-shan’s humanitarian legacy” for advertising or publicity.
It remains unclear what action Yiyang authorities can take against the website, which is operated by a US-registered company.
The People’s Government of Yiyang City responded to the South China Morning Post through WeChat saying that they were taking the matter seriously and were investigating the use of Ho Feng-shan’s story by a website to market real estate. They said they would “properly handle” the matter as soon as possible.
She has also sent a cease-and-desist letter to the US-based operators of the website, demanding they remove references to her father, his likeness and his humanitarian legacy from what she describes as commercial marketing materials.

“Utilising a deceased humanitarian’s identity to drive commercial web traffic to private property sales crosses clear boundaries regarding postmortem publicity rights,” Manli Ho wrote.
The letter also alleged that using Ho Feng-shan’s story to market real estate, relocation services and investment opportunities in Yiyang is creating the impression that his legacy endorses the business.
Manli Ho, who lives in San Francisco, is a former journalist for the Boston Globe and China Daily.
She learned of her father’s wartime actions only after his death and has since dedicated herself to preserving and promoting his legacy.
She also claimed portions of the website’s narrative were copied from her own writings about her father.
Who’s behind the website?
According to publicly available domain registration records, the website was registered on May 12, 2026, with a partially redacted Hunan Province address and a US phone number. Other information about its ownership is limited.
The Chinese-language webpage lists a local address in Yiyang and Chinese telephone numbers on its “about” page, where prospective buyers can consult with property agents.
A representative of the website, reached through a US telephone number listed on the website, told SCMP that the company was in discussions with lawyers and declined to comment further.

“We take this matter seriously and are currently reviewing it with legal counsel,” the text statement said.
“We are not in a position to provide further comment at this time, but we will follow up as soon as we are able to.”
The English-language website identifies itself as “A Brand of SortLease LLC” and lists an address in Sheridan, Wyoming. SortLease describes itself on its website as a company specialising in “AI-powered parcel sorting equipment rental and sales”.
According to Wyoming business records, SortLease LLC is registered through Registered Agents Inc., a commercial registered agent.
In a statement, Registered Agents Inc. said it is not involved in clients’ business operations and will not share client information or comment on clients’ businesses.
‘Most offensive ad’
Since the legal letter served, all references to Ho Feng-shan appear to have been removed. One stand-alone page featuring his story remained online as of Wednesday, but was immediately removed after this story was published.
An archived page shows an article titled “He Feng Shan’s Last Visa”, which misspells his last name and compares Ho’s efforts to save Jews during the Holocaust with Yiyang offering refuge to Silicon Valley workers displaced by artificial intelligence.
“We invoke him not to be maudlin about it,” the page says.
“We invoke him because the structure of the moment rhymes: a particular group of people is being discarded by a system that no longer has use for them.”
The website continues: “Ho Feng-Shan offered a visa. Yiyang offers something slower but equally concrete: low cost of living, political stability, high-speed fibre, cheap power, and enough distance from Silicon Valley’s anxiety economy to think clearly again.”
Manli Ho blasted the comparison as “the most offensive ad”, arguing that it equated her father’s rescue of Jewish refugees during World War II with Yiyang’s effort to attract Silicon Valley workers seeking an alternative to the US tech industry.

If the company fails to comply, Manli Ho said she intends to pursue the matter through US authorities.
Her cease-and-desist letter states that she will file complaints with the Wyoming Secretary of State and the US Federal Trade Commission.
After leaving Vienna, Ho Feng-shan continued his diplomatic career in several overseas postings for the Republic of China government, which retreated to Taiwan in 1949 after losing the Chinese Civil War.
In 1972, he was accused of embezzling about US$300 in government expenses in Colombia and was later impeached on corruption allegations and denied a pension. He settled in San Francisco, where he died in 1997 at the age of 96.
Ho maintained that he had been unfairly persecuted by the Kuomintang government in Taiwan. Despite years of efforts by his family to clear his name, he has never been formally exonerated.
In 2015, then-Taiwanese leader Ma Ying-jeou commended Ho for saving Jews during the Holocaust and apologised to the Ho family for the government’s delayed recognition. SCMP has covered his story since 2000.
As the controversy continues, Manli Ho said she found it ironic that, after years of helping the local city preserve and promote her father’s legacy, a real estate website was now using his story to sell homes. She is also preparing to travel to Yiyang next month.
“Never a dull moment as I prepare to go to Yiyang in September to mark my father’s 125th birthday,” she said.


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Daughter of ‘Chinese Schindler’ protests use of father’s WWII legacy to sell homes

Ho Feng-shan served in China’s diplomatic corps for nearly four decades. Photo: Handout

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One of the homes for sale in Yiyang on the YiyangFangchan website. Image: YiyangFangchan

Manli Ho has sent a cease-and-desist letter demanding the website stop using her father’s legacy to promote property sales. Image: YiyangFangchan

A page on YiyangFangchan highlights Ho Feng-shan’s birthplace and reputation. Image: YiyangFangchan

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China

Manli Ho condemns real estate site for invoking her father’s rescue of Jews to promote US$40,000 houses in his Chinese hometown


Manli Ho condemns real estate site for invoking her father’s rescue of Jews to promote US$40,000 houses in his Chinese hometown.


Daughter of ‘Chinese Schindler’ protests use of father’s WWII legacy to sell homes

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Manli Ho condemns real estate site for invoking her father’s rescue of Jews to promote US$40,000 houses in his Chinese hometown

Manli Ho condemns real estate site for invoking her father’s rescue of Jews to promote US$40,000 houses in his Chinese hometown