2014-12-01
Volunteers distribute flyers on AIDS prevention to passengers at the Zhengzhou Railway Station in Zhengzhou, capital of central China’s Henan province, Nov. 30, 2014.
Li An/Xinhua
Authorities in the central Chinese province of Henan on Monday clamped down on public activities by AIDS activists in the provincial capital Zhengzhou to mark World AIDS Day, holding a key participant under house arrest.
Wang Qiuyun, an activist based in Henan’s Chibi city, said she had been unable to attend the event highlighting rampant discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS.
“I am at home under surveillance, because I had planned to go to this activity in Zhengzhou, but I can’t now,” Wang told RFA from her home.
“The Women Against AIDS Network had planned a news conference and was going to give interviews about medical discrimination.”
“There was also an event planned by students from Zhengzhou University, including discussion forums and panels, but I can’t go to any of them now,” she said.
Wang, who is HIV-positive, said the authorities also confiscated her passport.
“They took it away when I tried to attend a conference in Geneva, and they haven’t given it back to me,” she said. “They have been keeping an eye on me since October; they have taken over my e-mail account.”
Yuan Wenli, a spokeswoman for the Chinese Women Against AIDS Network non-government group, said she hoped around 100 people would attend the event.
“This was an educational event to try to combat discrimination,” Yuan told RFA on Monday. “The students are giving speeches, and they invited me and Wang Qiuyuan to tell the story of people living with HIV.”
Rights lawyer released
Henan authorities have meanwhile released a prominent rights lawyer who campaigned for the rights of people living with HIV/AIDS.
Chang Boyang, who was detained in May as one of the “Zhengzhou 10” for attending a memorial event to mark the 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown, was released on bail on Saturday after more than 100 days in criminal detention.
Chang, one of the founders of healthcare NGO Zhengzhou Yirenping, which has campaigned for the equal rights of people living with HIV to receive healthcare, had been held in the Zhengzhou No.3 Detention Center, his lawyer Feng Yanqiang told RFA.
“This bail means that he is still under criminal enforcement measures, so his status has changed from being formally arrested,” Feng said. “This was entirely decided by the judiciary. There is no need for him to agree, once they have decided.”
The release of political detainees “on bail” is sometimes used by China’s state security police as a means of exerting continued control over their actions and movements, knowing that they can be redetained at any time.
