Washington Post Examines Chinese AIDS Advocate’s Government Struggle To Maintain Operation of School for AIDS Orphans
The Washington Post on Tuesday profiled a Chinese HIV/AIDS advocate's battle with the country's government over a private orphanage and school for children who have lost one or both parents to AIDS-related causes. Li Dan became an AIDS advocate after witnessing the effects of HIV/AIDS on Henan province as a doctoral student and subsequently began filming documentaries about the province. However, he became "frustrated by the slow pace of progress" by the government on HIV/AIDS and opened the Dongzhen School for AIDS Orphans in a mosque in Shangqiu, according to the Post. Although the school attracted donors and media attention, local Chinese officials said the school "drew unwanted attention to the AIDS epidemic" in Henan and shut the school down, the Post reports. Li later re-opened the school in a dormitory after registering his organization as a private business, but officials evicted the children in July while Li was attending the XV International AIDS Conference in Bangkok, Thailand. Li -- who has undergone beatings and intimidation by some government officials -- has said he will concede to some demands of county AIDS official Zhang Zhongyin if he is permitted to re-open the school, the Post reports (Pan, Washington Post, 9/14). The complete article is available online.
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