Early last Friday morning, a crowd of people waited outside Taipei’s Grand Hotel hoping to catch a glimpse of Chen Guangbiao, a Chinese businessman and philanthropist on a personal mission to hand out T$500m ($16m) in cash to the poor in Taiwan.

They had been encouraged by Mr Chen’s first act of charity after arriving in Taipei on Wednesday night. Stopped by an unemployed lady who told of having to take care of her 88-year-old mother, Mr Chen immediately gave her T$70,000 in red envelopes commonly handed out around Chinese New Year.

Mr Chen’s philanthropy, however, has drawn a storm of criticism in Taiwan from politicians and commentators, highlighting Taiwan’s deep-seated distrust of Chinese money, even as it is advancing economic ties with its bigger neighbour.