Yet more bad news from the Middle Kingdom: Wan Yanhai, the founder of the "Aizhixing Institute" has left for the USA. HIV tests continue to be carried out on people who want to live in China for a longer period of time
At the end of April, it looked as if things were finally moving in China: the entry ban for HIV-positive people was lifted shortly before the start of the World Expo. Shortly afterwards, the news from the Middle Kingdom clouded over again: the best-known Chinese HIV/AIDS activist Wan Yanhai fled to the USA. He and his organisation are said to have been exposed to increasingly severe threats from the Chinese government.
The activist became internationally known in 2002 when he almost single-handedly publicised the blood scandal in Henan province by passing on confidential government documents to the international press. Thousands of Chinese blood donors had been infected with HIV due to poor hygiene in the industrialised blood collection centres. China's government tried to cover this up.
The former employee of the Ministry of Health set up China's first information hotline for questions about HIV and Aids back in 1994. Two years later, he founded the "Aizhixing Institute", which endeavours to take preventative measures and fights against discrimination against positive people in China.
The institute has come under even more scrutiny from the authorities in recent months and has been temporarily closed several times. Yanhai's private flat was also searched. He was "virtually followed" by the authorities by telephone, he told journalists.
The 46-year-old felt "forced into exile", but hopes to return to his home country in a few years when the climate for non-governmental organisations such as the "Aizhixing Institute" may have improved.
There is still a lot to do before then. Although the entry ban has been lifted, China's approach to the issue remains repressive: foreigners who want to live, work or study in China still have to be tested for HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases such as hepatitis and syphilis. This has just been pointed out by the Chinese website german.china.org, where German tourists can find out about China's latest news. The government argues that foreigners are more likely to be sexually active than locals. They are only trying to protect their own population.
(Paul Schulz)
Youtube video: A Chinese activist reports on the blood scandal
