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Chinese AIDS activist says Beijing not helping

Gao Yaojie (高耀潔) shakes her head, stabbing hard at the air with her forefinger, when asked if the Chinese government is helping fund her efforts to expose the country's AIDS problems.

"Not even a dime," the 79-year-old -- some say she is 80 -- AIDS activist said on Monday.

This is a message some Chinese authorities were reluctant to have Gao deliver in the US.

blocked

Officials in Beijing had repeatedly blocked her from going abroad until finally allowing this trip after her case received widespread media attention.

Gao said the government is beginning to understand the enormity of the AIDS problem.

Speaking through an interpreter, the retired gynecologist praised Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) for allowing her to travel to Washington to receive an award this evening honoring her work. She also praised high-ranking health officials.

But despite many changes in government attitudes, she said: "Sometimes they support me; sometimes they don't."

She is tenacious in her efforts, using her own money and funds from foreign awards she has received to pay for her work.

facing reality

Officials, she said, should "face the reality and deal with the real issues -- not cover it up."

In the 1990s, Gao embarrassed the Chinese government by exposing blood-selling schemes that infected thousands with HIV, mainly in her home province of Henan.

Operators often used dirty needles, and people selling plasma -- the liquid in blood -- were replenished from a pooled blood supply that was contaminated with HIV.

Provincial officials initially attempted -- with some success -- to cover things up.

The Chinese government and the UN said China's problem of tainted blood has improved.

But surviving victims face discrimination and have not been adequately compensated for their suffering.

Gao has also faced difficulties because of her activism.

In 2001, she was refused a visa to go to the US to accept an award from a UN group. In 2003 she was prevented from going to the Philippines to receive a public service award.

Last month, authorities kept her under virtual house arrest for about 20 days to keep her from traveling to Beijing to arrange a visa for the US.

Gao says she persists in her work because "everyone has the responsibility to help their own people. As a doctor, that's my job. So it's worth it."
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