China AIDS activist leaves for US with family after government harassment intensified

China AIDS activist flees to US after harassment

BEIJING — A prominent Chinese AIDS activist has fled China for the United States with his wife and 4-year-old daughter to escape increasing government harassment of him and his organization, he said Monday.

Wan Yanhai’s departure highlights the pressure that nongovernmental groups and activists face when operating in China, where the Communist Party leadership remains suspicious of independent groups or individuals as possible threats to their authority.

In March, the government decided to regulate overseas donations to aid groups for the first time, a move that has hurt the funding of organizations like Wan’s Beijing-based Aizhixing Institute.

The restrictions on foreign donations and other intimidation tactics drove Wan and his family to leave China on Thursday on a flight out of Hong Kong, Wan said in a telephone interview, adding that they were now staying with a friend in Philadelphia.

“The attacks from the government had become very serious for my organization and for me personally,” Wan said. “I had concerns about my personal safety and was under a lot of stress.”

“When I am in China, the authorities look at me like I am a bird in a cage. They say: ‘If you don’t listen to me, then I will eat you’,” he said. “But after I leave the country, they will see me in a new light because I am no longer in their cage.”

In recent years, China’s government has made huge strides in openly addressing the spread of HIV, but the communist leadership is deeply suspicious of independent activists, and Wan has one of the highest profiles among those working on AIDS in China.

Wan, a former Health Ministry official, founded the Aizhixing Institute in 1994 to raise awareness and fight discrimination. Among its most significant and politically sensitive work was the publicizing of the spread of AIDS in the 1990s among villagers in central China’s Henan province, where people who sold blood were re-injected with pooled blood after buyers had removed important components.

Wan has been detained or questioned by police several times in the past dozen years for his work, and in recent months he said he has felt increasing pressure from various government departments. The pressure started piling up this year with problems arising from the tax bureau, the state administration for industry and commerce, the central propaganda department and the education bureau.

In March, the government ruled that China-based aid groups — but not those connected with the government — must show proof that overseas nonprofit donor groups are registered in their home countries. The groups must strictly follow detailed agreements with foreign donors and not use the money in other ways.

“Funding became a major problem for us after that,” Wan said.

Later that month, he was invited to speak at the Southern China Science and Industry University on sexual orientation and mental health, but the event was interrupted by police from Guangzhou, he said. He later heard that a notice had been sent to universities nationwide to prevent them from inviting him to speak.

Wan said the final straw came when he was even getting harassed by the municipal fire department, which visited his office in Beijing on April 20 for a safety inspection and then sent a team from the local fire station the next day.

“To be honest, I was becoming very worried. I felt like if we had acted slower, it would not have been good,” he said, adding that he and his wife used a trip to Hong Kong for business to make the decision to leave.

“Before we left, we didn’t tell a lot of people,” he said. “We waited until Thursday evening after we got to Hong Kong, bought the flight tickets and passed through the security checks at the airport before we called a few friends.”

Aizhixing Institute, meanwhile, will continue operating despite his absence from China, Wan said. In the coming days, he hopes to meet with international organizations to discuss ways to cooperate on projects and for funding.

Wan’s move was met with support by Chinese activists, many of whom posted messages on Twitter, although some also expressed regret at his departure and worries about the future of his organization.

After hearing the news, human rights activist Zeng Jingyan wrote on her Twitter: “Shocked. Immediately, I tried to call him and his wife, but the call did not go through. I was crying, the tears covering my face. On the one hand, I wish him and his family peace and freedom. On the other hand, I feel unbearable.”

When contacted via Skype, Zeng would only say “I empathize with Wan’s feelings. Although I feel a little regret toward his decision. Still, I fully understand and wish them a happy life.”

Zeng is married to the activist Hu Jia, who has championed AIDS victims in the past and is serving a 3 1/2-year jail term for sedition that is set to end in June 2011.

On the Net:

Aizhixing Institute: www.aizhi.net/