I had to leave, Aids activist says
Wan Yanhai , the mainland's leading activist on Aids and sexual minorities, has left China for the US with his family, saying harassment from the authorities has forced him into a self-imposed exile.
The director of the Aizhixing Institute - arguably the mainland's most vocal NGO - told the South China Morning Post that he and his family arrived in Los Angeles on Thursday night last week. For now, he is staying at a friend's place in Philadelphia.
'Before we left China, I was under a lot of pressure and was harassed by many [government] departments,' Wan said in a phone interview late on Saturday.
Wan said not only had the local tax, commerce and industry bureaus investigated his group in recent months, but the fire department had also visited his office checking if any regulations had been breached. Beijing police also made dozens of phone calls to him last month and visited his home when he was out of town, he said.
Phone calls to the departments went unanswered yesterday.
'I felt my personal safety was at stake,' he said. 'The mental pressure was just too much, so I've come out for a bit of breathing space.'
Wan said his family had not received political or financial assistance from the US. He said he and his wife were travelling on business visas that were issued in September when they went to the United States for an alumni reunion at Yale University. Wan was on the Yale World Fellows Programme in 2003.
Wan said he hoped to seek short-term research positions or fellowships at universities in the US to maintain his family. His four-year-old daughter is with them.
He said he would also seek collaboration with international organisations to look for ways for the Aizhixing Institute to continue receiving overseas financial aid.
Asked whether his departure would affect the morale of his staff and fellow Aids activists, Wan admitted this might happen but believed his staff would be capable of running projects smoothly in his absence.
'Even if I hadn't left, I wouldn't be able to carry on working normally,' he said. 'I kept getting phone calls from the police and five, six government departments are after me - I just could not concentrate on my work.'
Wan said he did not know the reason behind the harassment but believed officials may be sending a message that they would like him to leave the country.
'I'm not sure but it looks like they might be forcing me to leave ... the aim of the harassment is probably to give you pressure so you'll leave of your own accord,' he said.
Wan's fellow Aids campaigner, Dr Gao Yaojie , the mainland's most high-profile HIV/Aids whistle-blower, also left China for the US last year.
Another fellow activist, Hu Jia , was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison on the charge of 'inciting subversion of state authority' in 2008.
While acknowledging that the central government has also made significant progress in its Aids projects, Wan said it did not like criticism, especially when it could potentially embarrass officials. Wan had accused provincial officials in Henan of covering up a blood-selling scandal in which at least 150,000 people became HIV-positive.
'If you criticise them and tell the truth about the blood [contamination], they'll persecute you,' he said.
Wan said he did not know how long he could stay in the US, but hoped to remain for two or three years. 'In China, I was a bird in a cage ... by leaving China I'll be out of their control and they might have more consideration for your influence,' he said.
