[Joint House and Senate Hearing, 111 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
GAO YAOJIE: PHYSICIAN, GRANDMOTHER, AND WHISTLEBLOWER IN CHINA'S FIGHT
AGAINST HIV/AIDS
=======================================================================
ROUNDTABLE
before the
CONGRESSIONAL-EXECUTIVE COMMISSION ON CHINA
ONE HUNDRED ELEVENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
DECEMBER 3, 2009
__________
Printed for the use of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China
Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.cecc.gov
U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
55-539 PDF WASHINGTON : 2010
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing
Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512-1800; DC
area (202) 512-1800 Fax: (202) 512-2104 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC
20402-0001
CO N T E N T S
----------
Page
Opening statement of Charlotte Oldham-Moore, Staff Director,
Congressional-Executive Commission on China.................... 1
Story, Abigail, Manager of Outreach and Special Projects,
Congressional-Executive Commission on China.................... 1
Yaojie, Gao, physician, grandmother, and whistleblower in China's
fight against HIV/AIDS......................................... 4
APPENDIX
Prepared Statements
Yaojie, Gao...................................................... 17
GAO YAOJIE: PHYSICIAN, GRANDMOTHER, AND WHISTLEBLOWER IN CHINA'S FIGHT
AGAINST HIV/AIDS
----------
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2009
Congressional-Executive
Commission on China,
Washington, DC.
The roundtable was convened, pursuant to notice, at 10:07
a.m., in room 628, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Charlotte
Oldham-Moore, Staff Director, presiding.
Also present: Douglas Grob, Cochairman's Senior Staff
Member; Abigail Story, Manager of Outreach and Special
Projects; Kara Abramson, Advocacy Director; and Anna Brettell,
Senior Advisor, Congressional-Executive Commission on China.
OPENING STATEMENT OF CHARLOTTE OLDHAM-MOORE, STAFF DIRECTOR,
CONGRESSIONAL-EXECUTIVE COMMISSION ON CHINA
Ms. Oldham-Moore. I think we're ready to begin.
Good morning. We are very honored at the CECC to be hosting
Dr. Gao Yaojie this morning. Before we turn to the program, I
just wanted to make some quick announcements. The first, for
those of you who are new to the CECC, please visit our Web
site, www.cecc.gov. You can sign up for our releases, daily
bulletins, and newsletters.
Our senior researcher on public health, Abbey Story will
frame our discussion for today.
Before I turn to Abbey, I want to recognize the exceptional
people with us in the audience today. We have Dr. Wang, who has
done extraordinary work on HIV/AIDS in Henan Province and has
faced many of the difficult personal experiences that Dr. Gao
has confronted. Thank you for your presence here today.
I also want to acknowledge Mr. Jin Zhong, who is here. He's
the publisher of Dr. Gao's book. If you want more information
about Dr. Gao's book, please talk to Mr. Jin Zhong afterward.
Abbey, please begin.
STATEMENT OF ABIGAIL STORY, MANAGER OF OUTREACH AND SPECIAL
PROJECTS, CONGRESSIONAL-EXECUTIVE COMMISSION ON CHINA
Ms. Story. On Tuesday, World AIDS Day, about 20 people took
over the stage at a Red Cross event in Beijing to petition on
behalf of their family members who had been infected with HIV
through blood transfusions. They demanded not legal redress for
injustice, not monetary retribution, not due punishment for the
corrupt officials involved, but simply the treatment that their
sick loved ones could not afford. These are just a handful of
the countless numbers who have been brutally impacted by the
HIV/AIDS epidemic in China.
In February 2009, the Ministry of Health announced that
HIV/AIDS had become ``the deadliest infectious disease in
China.'' The Ministry of Health and U.N. AIDS have estimated
the number of HIV infections in China to be between 560,000 and
920,000, and the number of AIDS patients to be between 97,000
and 112,000; however, several NGOs both inside and outside
China have argued that actual numbers are much higher. Testing
and surveillance techniques are limited and reporting of cases
remains incomplete. Realistic figures are therefore difficult,
if not impossible, to ascertain.
China's first officially reported case of AIDS was found in
an Argentine traveler who died from the disease in a Beijing
hospital in 1985. In 1989, 146 cases of HIV were reported in
the injecting-drug-user community in Henan Province, but the
disease was viewed as having been ``contained.''
In the early- to mid-1990s, impromptu blood and plasma
donation stations, established by enterprising businessmen and
government officials, began to emerge in rural areas. Medical
procedures in these facilities were often unregulated, needles
and tubing were re-used, blood from donors was mixed, and once
plasma had been removed, it was re-injected into donors of the
same blood type. Such practices resulted in the rapid spread of
blood-borne diseases, including HIV.
Whistleblowers such as Dr. Gao Yaojie and Dr. Wang Shuping
independently began to link an outbreak of HIV infections in
several rural villages to these tainted blood and plasma
collection centers. Entire villages had been affected and
children had been orphaned as their parents died of AIDS. Yet
when these doctors reported their findings, they were met with
authorities' harassment, intimidation, and even physical
beatings.
In 1996, Dr. Gao Yaojie launched an aggressive campaign of
education, prevention, and treatment starting in Henan Province
and spreading across China. But even with these efforts, and
others, HIV/AIDS cases were rapidly on the rise. By 1998, HIV
had spread to all 31 provincial-level jurisdictions in China
and was in a phase of exponential growth. Government
authorities, however, maintained a policy of denial toward the
spread of the disease in China, preferring to call it a
``limited'' problem resulting from contact with the West. By
2005, China had an estimated 650,000 cases of HIV infections,
according to a joint report by U.N. AIDS, the World Health
Organization, and the PRC Ministry of Health.
Today, HIV/AIDS continues to spread in China and is
especially, but not exclusively, linked to needle sharing among
intravenous drug users, unsanitary medical practices in
underground blood and plasma centers, unprotected sex among
both heterosexuals and homosexuals, as well as in the
commercial sex industry specifically--which has grown in recent
years due in part to increased mobility of migrant workers. The
spread of HIV/AIDS in China is also linked to the general
stigma, fear, and discrimination that promote silence on the
issue instead of raising awareness.
The exposure of the official cover-up of SARS in 2003
brought change in the Chinese Government's attitude toward HIV/
AIDS. Lest their dirty laundry be aired again to the global
community about covering up another infectious disease
epidemic, authorities instead began to acknowledge that there
was an HIV/AIDS problem in China and that they were going to
proactively address it.
Then-Vice Premier and stand-in Minister of Health Madame Wu
Yi announced that HIV/AIDS statistics were no longer considered
a state secret, and admitted cover-up of HIV/AIDS cases at the
local level. The number of central- and local-level specialized
laws and regulations on HIV/AIDS has increased steadily since
2003, and the government has initiated public service
campaigns, including education programs, testing and treatment
programs, free condom programs, and free single-use needle
programs. These steps mark a progression from rejection to
recognition of HIV/AIDS issues by the government.
With the increase in official attention to, and action on,
the HIV/AIDS crisis has come increased crackdown on civil
society efforts. Non-governmental organizations and individual
activists play an invaluable role in HIV/AIDS education,
prevention, and treatment in China, but they face ongoing
government interference in many forms. Civil society
organizations continue to be subject to strict registration
requirements that limit their ability to legally function
independently from the government.
Individual HIV/AIDS activists also continue to face serious
obstacles in their work, including arbitrary detention,
harassment, surveillance, intimidation, restrictions on travel,
and other violations of their fundamental human rights. One
such HIV/AIDS advocate, Hu Jia, is in prison today, serving a
three-and-a-half-year sentence for inciting subversion of state
power. His wife and daughter are under constant surveillance
and are often prohibited from leaving their home.
We are honored today to have with us Dr. Gao Yaojie, who,
despite enduring similar pressure, continues to fight for the
cause of HIV/AIDS prevention, education, and treatment in
China.
I will now turn over the floor to Charlotte to introduce
Dr. Gao.
Ms. Oldham-Moore. Dr. Gao Yaojie is a renowned gynecologist
who sounded the alarm on a growing HIV/AIDS epidemic tied to
contaminated blood banks in Henan Province in the late 1990s.
In 1996, she launched a vigorous AIDS education, prevention,
and treatment campaign, relying on her own personal funds and
awards proceeds to support her work.
Despite authorities' continued harassment, intimidation,
and limits on her personal freedom, Dr. Gao has visited several
hundred villages in over 10 provinces, treated over 1,000
people, worked extensively with AIDS orphans, printed over 1
million copies of HIV prevention pamphlets and newsletters, and
self-published her own book, ``Prevention of AIDS and Sexually-
Transmitted Diseases.''
Dr. Gao has received an extraordinary array of awards for
her work on HIV/AIDS issues, including the Jonathan Mann Award
for Health and Human Rights, the government-run Central China
Television (CCTV) ``Ten People Who Touched China in 2003''
award, as well as the ``Vital Voices Global Leadership'' Award.
Dr. Gao's autobiography, ``The Soul of Dr. Gao Yaojie,''
was published in Chinese in July 2008 by the Mirror Publishing
Company in Hong Kong. An updated version of her book, ``China's
AIDS Plague: 10,000 Letters'' was released on December 1, 2009.
Okay. Thank you, Dr. Gao. Please begin.
STATEMENT OF GAO YAOJIE, PHYSICIAN, GRANDMOTHER, AND
WHISTLEBLOWER IN CHINA'S FIGHT AGAINST HIV/AIDS
Dr. Gao [via translator, Mr. Bob Fu]. Good morning, ladies
and gentlemen. Today I would like to introduce to you some true
situations about the AIDS epidemic in China. Actually, the
first report about AIDS came out in 1982, and then in 1984
Professor Zeng Yi, an academic with the China Academy of
Sciences in Beijing, reported blood contamination by the AIDS
virus in the blood banks of some hospitals. But Mr. Zeng Yi
told me, since he was working under government control, he
could not report directly so I was encouraged to report first.
Then in 1988, the AIDS epidemic was reported and spread in
Hebei Province first, and then in 1995, Dr. Wang Shuping first
reported about this epidemic and her discovery of the tainted
blood. I started my AIDS activist work from 1996, so this is
the 13th year of my work.
For the sake of time, I will ask my translator to read a
portion of my testimony.
Mr. Fu. Dr. Gao's written testimony, you have a copy
already. She has a few places she wants to emphasize.
Number one, the blood disaster and AIDS are national
disasters. At present, the AIDS epidemic is rising in China. If
you step in a village into an AIDS epidemic area, you will see
newly-built, but vacant, houses. The neighbors will tell you
that the house's owner built it with money earned by selling
blood. Now the owner has died of AIDS and many new tombs have
emerged in the fields.
According to an official report, the number of people
infected with AIDS has grown by about 30 percent annually. For
instance, from the following reports you can tell: from China
Philanthropy Times in Heilongjiang Province, they reported on
November 30, 2005; and Chinese Business Morning Review in Jilin
Province reported on December 5, 2005; and Chinese Business
Review in Liaoning Province reported on December 1, 2005; and
North News reported on November 30, 2005; and Lanzhou Morning
Post in Gansu Province reported on November 30, 2005.
In the 1990s, blood stations emerged like mushrooms after
the rain. AIDS, a disease never heard of 20 years ago, is now
spreading to all 31 provinces on the mainland of China. You may
have heard that Henan Province is the highest prevalence area
for, and the birthplace of, AIDS, but that is not true. AIDS is
spreading even more seriously in other provinces, such as
Shanxi, Shaanxi, Shandong, Anhui, Hebei, Hunan, Guangdong,
Guangxi, Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, and the three northeast
provinces.
You may know Wenlou village in Henan Province, a famous
AIDS village, but it is only one typical example of AIDS
villages and a template set by the government. Who knows how
many AIDS villages like Wenlou there are in the whole country?
How many of them can be treated in the same way Wenlou is
treated? The spread of AIDS in China is staggering.
According to official figures, in 2006, China had 840,000
AIDS patients. Only 5 percent of the AIDS virus carriers can be
located and the other 95 percent have merged into the
population. Since 1992, the contaminated blood has flown to the
whole country, from Shanghai in the east, to Urumqi in the
west, from Heilongjiang in the north, to Guangzhou and Hainan
in the south.
``Blood-mongers'' sell large volumes of contaminated blood
to bio-pharmaceutical companies in Shanghai, Wuhan, and other
places to produce a series of nutritional medicines, such as
albumin, globulin, interferon, and blood platelet components.
These medicines have been sold throughout the whole country.
In the 1990s, the whole country was under a cash rush. The
head of the Health Department in Henan Province proposed a new
idea for earning money: encouraging the establishment of blood
stations by all. The idea was called a ``money-earning policy
depending on seals internally and blood externally.'' They
depended on official seals to issue certificates and collect
money. They encouraged the local health departments and blood-
mongers to organize farmers to sell blood. Apart from the blood
stations run by health departments, many others were
established by various enterprises, associations, and military
units. In the early to mid-1990s, there were over 270 official
and ``legal'' blood stations and countless illegal ones in
Henan alone.
The official blood stations have been the most active
advocates for the ``blood economy.'' In those years, eye-
catching posters saying ``Honor to Blood Donors: Healing the
Wounded and Rescuing the Dying'' were common on the walls of
hospitals in Henan. Blood-mongers told blood sellers, ``Blood
is like water in the well. It remains at the same amount no
matter how much you have donated. Blood donation is like
substituting old blood with new blood. It is good for the
metabolism. Blood donors won't suffer from high blood pressure.
Your body will benefit from it.''
Disaster befell during the devilish back-transfusion. In
addition, there were many deadly loopholes in the entire
process. First, after blood extraction, both the disinfected
scissors for cutting the blood transfusion tube and the
disinfected clamp for clotting the blood bag would contact the
freshly-extracted blood.
The separating centrifuge used then had 12 containers
inside it, and each would accommodate two bags of blood. It was
easy for the blood bag to be damaged during the separation. If
the operator of the blood station operated casually and failed
to discard the damaged blood bag, the red blood cells
contaminated by the blood of other people would be transfused
back into the body of the blood seller. If one of the blood
sellers had AIDS or hepatitis, other blood sellers would all be
infected.
Since 1999, many people have died of a ``strange disease''
in many places in Henan, including Dongguan village of Suixian
County of Shangqiu, Shangcai County of Zhumadian, Wenlou
village, and Donghu village of Xincai County, and Qulou Village
of Weishi County of Kaifeng. People did not know that the
perpetrator was AIDS until too many people had died.
When the fact that all these people were blood sellers was
made known, the public began to understand the source of the
disaster to be blood selling.
By October 2004, 12 people had died in the infamous Wenlou
village, Shangcai County, Henan Province. Once, during a period
of 10 days, eight people died.
In the same year, 34 people died of AIDS in the neighboring
Houyang village, with the oldest aged 54 and the youngest 29,
and either sex making up half of the death toll. In eight
families, three generations were infected with AIDS and one
family went extinct. In one family, 10 members were infected
with AIDS, being the most amount of all infected families. Six
members of this family have died, three in 2004. A pair of
brothers died of AIDS within the shortest interval of 100 days.
Dongguan village of Suixian County had over 700 people, and
half of them sold blood in those days. Among these blood
sellers, over 100 were infected with the AIDS virus and some of
them, mostly young and middle-aged, had shown symptoms. Before
they were aware of AIDS, many people had died and their
symptoms were quite similar to that of AIDS patients. Nobody
could recall the exact death toll.
At this moment, the officials used their trump card:
classifying AIDS as ``secret'' and stifling media disclosure of
the truth. In fact, over a dozen reporters were dismissed and
expelled by Henan Province. Outsiders were prohibited from
visiting the AIDS villages, no matter what their intentions
were, investigating truth or helping AIDS patients and orphans.
Those who dared speak out were punished.
In this way, the truth about the AIDS epidemic in China has
been covered up. Even today, after more than two decades, the
truth about AIDS in mainland China is still unavailable. Many
people at home and abroad only know that there are AIDS
patients in Wenlou village, Shangcai County, Henan Province.
What they do not know is that there are many unknown AIDS
epidemic areas in China.
According to the latest official data, China had over 1
million AIDS virus carriers. Wang Longde, Vice Minister of the
Ministry of Health, said on November 7, 2005, that ``only 5
percent of the carriers could be located and the other 95
percent had merged into the population.''
Blood trading is rampant in China. Many farmers sell blood
from place to place. They may be in Henan or Hebei today, and
in Shanxi or Shaanxi tomorrow, and in Shandong or Anhui the day
after that. Each of the mobile blood sellers hold three to five
``blood donor certificates'' and they are professional blood
sellers. These are reported in Fujian Daily, China Youth,
Yangcheng Evening, Finance Magazine, and China Economic Times,
and reporters from the China Economic Times carried out three
rounds of investigation.
During a group consultation on April 7, 1996, I discovered
a patient infected with AIDS due to a blood transfusion during
a uterus operation. As she had received blood from a blood
bank, my keen sense told me that she would not be the only one
infected with the AIDS virus this way. It was strange, however,
that all of her family members, particularly her husband, did
not catch AIDS.
After knowing my concern, an official from the provincial
health department retorted, ``You are good at making a scene.
How can you be so lucky to see so many AIDS patients? '' From
then on, I began to doubt the past hearsay about AIDS spread by
drug abuse and sexual promiscuity. Recently, I learned that,
different from the situation in other countries, AIDS is spread
in China mainly through ``blood economy.'' However, government
officials do not bear responsibility. They are using every
trick possible to cover up the truth, safeguard their personal
interests and the interests of their own group, and keep
themselves in power. They have no concern about people's life
and death. I had to investigate the spread of AIDS on my own.
I found many people infected with AIDS via blood or plasma
transfusion. Take child patients, for example. They cannot take
drugs or be engaged in sexual activity. Their parents or other
close acquaintances showed negative results during HIV-antibody
testing. They received blood from AIDS patients and they were
totally innocent.
Seeing economic growth, the current government regards
China as a harmonious society and a rising power in the world.
However, what I saw in the countryside were poor people, badly
in need of clothing and food. Violent cases happen from time to
time in the whole country, and natural and man-made disasters
occur one-by-one, especially the AIDS epidemic. AIDS will
directly affect China's economic development and this is an
undeniable fact. However, present-day Chinese have three
characteristics: telling lies, practicing fraud, and faking.
In AIDS-related trade, there are numerous quacks--scam
artists--and fake medical practitioners. There are now even
fake patients. Chen Fengyao, a self-proclaimed businessman from
Taiwan, has fooled people from northeast China to Henan. He
spent 50,000 renminbi on hiring each fake AIDS patient to speak
in his favor. He claimed to have cured over 300 AIDS patients.
I find what the Chinese authorities dread most is that the
true situation of the AIDS epidemic will be made known to
foreign leaders. When former U.S. President Clinton came to
give a speech at Tsinghua University, I was invited to attend
the AIDS and SARS International Seminar held on November 10,
2003, and asked to give a speech in the afternoon. I arrived in
Beijing on November 7 and settled in at ``Tsinghua Unisplendour
International Center'' at about 2 o'clock p.m. on November 9.
At 5 o'clock p.m., Shi Ji, Party secretary of my unit in
charge of personnel, and Zhu Jinpin, chief of the old cadre
department, suddenly entered my room and said that they came to
see me. Giving them no more chance to speak, I left my room and
went to Beijing Normal University with the head of the Law
Institute of Beijing Normal University. Before I left, they
asked when I would be coming back. I said ``in the evening.''
That night I stayed at the Beijing Normal University and did
not return to the hotel. At 8 o'clock a.m. the next morning
when I was to enter the meeting room, both Shi and Zhu were
waiting for me at the entrance. They said, ``Do not mistake us,
we just want to have a word with you.'' I said, ``That is
unnecessary. I will attend this meeting. When I come back, it
is up to you to take whatever measures you like.'' Then a staff
member of Tsinghua University's meeting organizing committee
urged me to enter the meeting room. Shi and Zhu wanted to enter
the room, too, but were stopped by the meeting organizing
committee.
In the afternoon, foreign media made public the incident
and asked, ``Who said Gao Yaojie had personal freedom? '' On
November 12, I returned to Zhengzhou. Now, six years have
passed and no leader has ever talked to me about this incident.
In 2007, the United States awarded me the ``Vital Voices''
Award, but the authorities obstructed my going to the United
States and put me under house arrest for half a month. Thanks
to the efforts of Mrs. Hillary Clinton, China finally let me
go, however, they asked me to establish a foundation in the
name of Gao Yaojie upon my arrival in the United States. I
refused to do so. I was still under surveillance even in the
United States and they blocked my information channels, which
angered Zeng Jinyan, the wife of Hu Jia, to the point of tears.
After staying in the United States for over a month, many
friends asked me to settle down in the United States. They
said, ``For your safety, do not go back.'' My career was in
China and there are many AIDS patients and orphans who needed
me badly. I could not bear leaving them, so I returned.
In February 2009, the U.S. Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton visited China and requested to see me on February 22.
The authorities agreed, ostensibly. I arrived in Beijing on
February 19, and the following day they dispatched Zhao Fenli,
a long-retired Vice Party Committee Secretary of TCM College,
to Beijing, too. They even used the police to try to stop me.
Zhao thought I might stay at Zeng Jinyan's home, so the
national security personnel blocked Zeng's front door,
prohibiting anyone from going out or in. In fact, I did not
stay in Zeng's home. After two days of futile searching, Zhao
failed to find me. As for me, I was honored to be able to meet
with the Secretary.
According to some relevant literature, the AIDS virus, or
HIV, belongs to a human slow virus group within a slow virus
genus in the reverse virus family. There are different gene
types and biological types and molecule types. In central
China, most AIDS virus infection cases are caused by B-subtype
virus, which is rarely spread via sexual activity.
Let me wrap it up.
Ms. Oldham-Moore. Bob, do we have the complete testimony
out front?
Mr. Fu. Pardon me?
Ms. Oldham-Moore. Do we have of the complete testimony out
front?
Mr. Fu. Yes.
Ms. Oldham-Moore. Great. Okay. Good.
Mr. Fu. Yes.
Let me finish this that she wants to emphasize. At the end
of March 2009, a lady in the French Embassy called me: ``France
has decided to award you the `Women's Human Rights' Award.''
On the morning of May 6, my telephone line was cut again by
the authorities. At noon, a friend came to pick me up. She
said, ``You'd better leave. Trouble comes again.'' We had no
time for lunch and immediately took a bus to Beijing. Three
days later, I went to Langfang city. Over half a month later, I
went to Sichuan. In early June, I went to Guangzhou, and on
June 12 I settled down in Minglang village, in the suburbs of
Guangzhou, a quite remote area.
In the past three to four years, I have realized that the
AIDS epidemic is still serious in rural areas and blood
stations have turned underground. Now there is a plasma station
in Sunjiawan of Yunxian county, Shiyan city, Hubei Province.
The operators organized over 10,000 women from the mountainous
areas to sell blood at 168 renminbi per 600 milliliters, a
China Youth article reported on November 4, 2009. There are
many more undisclosed blood stations. So long as nobody speaks
out, the officials can make a fortune and keep their grip on
power.
They have five methods to deal with those who speak out:
(1) buying off with money--giving bribes, poverty relief,
disaster compensations, and so on; (2) material temptation--
presenting food, articles, furniture, electric appliances, even
houses, automobiles, and so on; (3) giving honors--awards,
promotions, Party membership, and so on; (4) showing severe
looks--suppression, punishment, threatening, monitoring, house
arrest, even making rumors, and so on; and (5) the last resort
for those unyielding to the aforesaid methods: fabricating a
charge to frame them and send them to reeducation through
labor, criminal detention, and even imprisonment.
These five methods are so effective, that many who have
dared to speak out before have surrendered to temptation and
threat. Some of them never speak out again. Some ``able men''
make an about-face turn and begin singing songs of praise: what
a peaceful and prosperous society: AIDS is set under forceful
control and the blood disaster is gone. They predict that in
the future, AIDS will be spread mainly by drug abuse and sexual
activity. Of course, the officials who have made a fortune by
selling blood have also made excellent political achievements.
Their personal interests and the interests of their group are
maintained. No one cares about the well-being of the ordinary
people.
Thank you.
Ms. Oldham-Moore. Thank you, Bob Fu, for doing that great
service for us.
Now we turn to questions from the audience for Dr. Gao.
When you stand up, you've really got to project your voice
because there's a fan in the background.
Does anybody have any questions for Dr. Gao? Yes. Hi.
Please say who you are if you want to, and your professional
affiliation.
Audience Participant. [Off microphone].
Ms. Oldham-Moore. For those who couldn't hear in the back,
U.N. AIDS said last week that the main source of AIDS in China
is sexual conduct, and I would think, intravenous drug use. Her
question is, to Dr. Gao: what is your assessment on the main
causes?
Dr. Gao. [Responded in Chinese.]
Ms. Oldham-Moore. She's giving you, I guess, a CD that will
answer your question.
Mr. Fu. She said: ``The first case I found is through blood
transfusion and many Chinese farmers sold blood and got
infected. So, I have these CDs with many photos showing these
facts. They are the results of my investigation.''
Ms. Oldham-Moore. Okay. Thank you. Did that address it?
Dr. Gao [via translator, Mr. Bob Fu]. The blood donation,
the blood transfusion, and the blood selling has never stopped.
So even in January 2008, I met with 58 AIDS-infected patients
who were infected through the blood transfusion. Over 200
people rose to rebellion and tried to report about the truth
about AIDS over 600 times and they were all suppressed by the
government.
I do acknowledge the existence of those infected with AIDS
through sexual activity, but only about 10 percent of them.
According to Professor Gao, he surveyed and found, among 500
people, only about 50 people were infected through sexual
activities. The type of AIDS virus is so radically different in
China than in other foreign countries, and there are A, B, C,
D, and E types of the AIDS virus. China belongs to the sub-B
type and it's rarely transmitted through sexual activities or
drug use. Among the first patients that I found, among his 10
family members, only 1 was infected. The rest of the nine had
no AIDS. That one was infected through blood transfusion.
My next book is a conclusion of my 13 years of
investigation and work. This little boy [shows picture] was
born in 2004, but got a blood transfusion in 2005, and died in
2006, this lovely kid. He couldn't do prostitution or drug
abuse; he was young, only a little over two years old. I don't
want to get all my books published by one publisher because I
could be accused by the government as collaborating for profit
with one publisher.
Ms. Oldham-Moore. Let's get another question from the
audience. Is that okay?
Mr. Fu. Yes.
Ms. Oldham-Moore. Okay. Great.
Another question, please? Anybody? Yes, ma'am.
Ms. Leopold. My name is Jennifer Leopold. I'm with RTI
International, so we--implementing--largely around--HIV. My
question is, why not ensure the blood supply? I don't
understand what the motivation is for the government. If this
is a financially lucrative business, the more community--the
less they're going to give blood, so if you want to be
competent and continue to build and sell blood, you would want
to make sure that people are confident that it's a safe
practice and continue the business as a lucrative entity. So I
don't understand; maybe you can explain. What is the government
motivation for not securing the blood supply?
Dr. Gao [via translator, Mr. Bob Fu]. Your question is very
hard to answer because the government officials are busy
selling and buying official positions and they got corrupted.
So, they're so busy doing their business and they won't care
about this. So, we have a different culture; don't use American
measures to measure China.
Ms. Oldham-Moore. Shellie Bressler, please.
Ms. Bressler. Hi. I am Shellie Bressler. I'm with the
Senate Foreign Relations Committee and I handle HIV/AIDS issues
for Senator Lugar. One of the questions my boss is very
interested in is the AIDS orphans. In these villages where
you've had a lot of family members die, who takes care of the
AIDS orphans? Does the government take any responsibility to
these children?
Ms. Oldham-Moore. Bob, did you hear that?
Mr. Fu. Yes.
Ms. Oldham-Moore. Okay.
Mr. Fu. Actually, Mr. To is here.
Ms. Oldham-Moore. Oh.
Mr. Fu. Yes. He's the foundation chairman.
Ms. Oldham-Moore. Yes. Do you want him to speak to this? Is
that what you're saying? He runs the AIDS Orphans Foundation.
Dr. To. My name is Chung To. I work with the AIDS-impacted
children in China. Just to answer quickly, the government has
been building AIDS orphanages. That's where most of the
children who are AIDS impacted stay. Sometimes they're taken
care of by their grandparents or other relatives. The group
that I work with, Chi Heng Foundation, has helped over 10,000
children impacted by AIDS in these villages. I'm--get
resources--with other children in the villages. But there are
other--who are also----
Ms. Oldham-Moore. Sir, if you don't mind me asking, just to
follow up a little bit on the question that was posed by the
Henan Province project, what is your understanding or
assessment of the failure to ensure the blood supplies?
Dr. To. I think Dr. Gao's answer was most correct in saying
that, although it may not be for the long-term benefit of the
industry, when you're down to the local level, there are
corrupt officials who are more interested in personal short-
term gains rather than long-term development. I think we can
see the same thing in--there might be long-term sustainability,
but when you're down to the local level it's going to affect--
corrupt officials who want to make some money to do things. So
in principle, it might be down to the local level----
Mr. Fu. So Dr. Gao also mentioned that of course the
government wants to set up some model village with some orphans
being taken care of, but when she and Mr. To traveled to those
villages to find and look for these AIDS orphans, they were
even chased and pursued by the government people.
Dr. Gao [via translator, Mr. Bob Fu]. There is another
serious problem actually besides the AIDS orphans, which is the
AIDS elderly, because the middle-aged died because of AIDS
infection and they can't labor and work anymore, so nobody
cares about them. So, it has become more serious now.
Ms. Oldham-Moore. Kara Abramson, please.
Ms. Abramson. I'm Kara Abramson with the Congressional-
Executive Commission on China. Dr. Gao, I was wondering if you
could talk about some of the challenges that HIV/AIDS patients
who are not Han Chinese face inside of China. Are there
specific efforts to address these communities? Are there
adequate materials in languages other than Mandarin Chinese?
Dr. Gao [via translator, Mr. Bob Fu]. This is actually more
terrible, the minority people who are infected, because they
live primarily in remote areas and there's no transportation,
no easy way to get there. The most serious thing is, they were
charged, accused of being infected through immorality--sexual
activity or drug use--so they're ashamed and they don't want to
tell the truth about the AIDS infection.
The most serious challenge is the fake doctors, fake
medicine, and the use of fraudulent examples, like, they will
pay 50,000 yuan to hire fake patients with AIDS, telling the
world that they are healed by these medicines. Unfortunately,
the government actually puts more resources toward dealing with
people like me than handling those fake doctors and fake
patients.
Like, somebody claimed that he was born from the eighth
generation of Chinese medicine, a medical doctor, with
expertise on healing AIDS. I said that's stupid because for
eight generations, how long it would be, and how long AIDS has
been in China. The other problem is, even some organizations
claim they're rescuing and helping these orphans, but their
main intention and purpose is to make financial gains.
Unfortunately, the government has paid no attention to
dealing with them because they receive bribes by the corrupted
officials. They even fooled the United Nations and the U.S.
Embassy, these fake rescuers. They would pull a few children to
dance on the streets saying that they were healed and being
taken care of, and then people start donating money, and really
it's for their own financial gain.
It's such an ugly situation, what these people did, that in
the name of rescuing AIDS orphans, they're making their own
gain, buying luxury houses. They are so despicable. Most of
these so-called rescuers and helpers of these AIDS orphans are
fake, and very few organizations are really helping. They are
just making their own gains.
Ms. Oldham-Moore. Except for him. He's the real deal.
Dr. Gao [via translator, Mr. Bob Fu]. One county Party
secretary of Shangcai County, Henan Province, received $500
million yuan just out of this economy, the blood economy.
Ms. Oldham-Moore. Okay. The next question. Abbey, do you
want to----
Ms. Story. I would like to ask a question that probably
many in the audience are asking right now. In short, what can
be done? I think we hear a lot of the negative, we hear about
corruption on the local level, we hear about NGOs and
foundations going in and doing the best they can, but being
thwarted by the situation in that particular locality. I'm
wondering, what do you, Dr. Gao, feel can be done to help this
situation?
Dr. Gao [via translator, Mr. Bob Fu]. It's a social system
problem. The question is a serious one, and it's hard for me to
answer because it's a systematic problem, a political system
problem, and because there are no officials without corruption
in China.
When I was traveling to a village one time I saw one AIDS
infected woman hang herself, with her little baby pulling her
mom's leg. By the time I released the mom, she was already
dead. It's so hard. Who can really solve this problem? I'm
already 82 years old and I didn't see lots of hope in solving
this. These are the three major issues in China: telling lies,
making fake claims, and fooling people.
They are on all sides of the room with children. One Party
official in Kaifeng city said, each child will receive 160 yuan
for AIDS, and he would hold 100 yuan for himself. He said if
anybody dared to report about this, they would receive zero
support. So the only way I can answer your question is with my
tears. So many people still, on all sides of China, did not
know this truth. I'm already 83 years old.
There's no other reason for me to continue to stay in this
world except to expose the truth with my books. I just want to
awaken people in the outside, to know the truth, and to help
them. Like, in this village when I visited there and saw both
the mom and the child were infected, we have no other way to go
but to just tell and leave behind the stories. That's very
common in such a terrible situation.
The real problem is, those with the AIDS virus usually
survive 10 to 20 years. Most affected are illiterate and
uneducated and they are not able to speak up. So unlike the
victims of the poisoned milk powder, these AIDS patients have a
death rate 10 times greater than those that are infected by the
poisoned milk, but who knows about them? They are now able to
speak for themselves about this disease. Who has slept on a bed
like this for all of you?
Ms. Oldham-Moore. Anybody else? I think we'll wrap up in a
few minutes. Does anybody else want to ask a question?
Yes. Doug Grob, please.
Mr. Grob. Doug Grob, Congressional-Executive Commission on
China. I'm wondering to what extent problems with the HIV/AIDS
epidemic in China exhibits variance along urban and rural
lines. Many social and economic problems in China look very
different in cities than they do in the countryside. Is
protection of the blood supply and outreach to people living
with HIV/AIDS, different in cities in some way, in some
identifiable way, than it is in rural areas? Have you heard of
any city or anyplace in China where programs have gotten some
traction, made some progress in some way.
Dr. Gao [via translator, Mr. Bob Fu]. The government set up
many examples of villages or stations, like Wenlou village.
There patients were treated, they were shown to the world,
they're doing a good job. But who cares about those who are
unknown? Who cares about those in the remote areas? Just let
them die. The so-called economic boom is only benefiting that
very small minority group of people. How terrible for those in
the majority, and many are still living in extreme poverty.
In January, I even received some photos showing just
terrible poverty and people cannot sustain. At the same time,
these government officials are busy selling official positions
and getting financial gain. Even in Henan Province, the Party
secretary recently was dismissed and was it was reported he was
selling official ranks. Some officers were just busy promoting
themselves, without really caring about anybody else.
These Chinese, these blood sellers, actually they were
forced to sell the blood. They were in extreme poverty and they
sold their blood in order to pay tuition for their children,
they sold their blood in order to pay the fines for the family
planning officials. They sold blood to buy fertilizer for their
own land. But at the same time, those government officials that
you meet when you go to China and see the skyscrapers and
beautiful things and all their mistresses, what are they doing?
They're just going to South Korea and spending the taxpayers'
money, making cosmetic operations to make them look beautiful,
like the deputy governor of Henan Province.
Ms. Oldham-Moore. Wow.
Anna Brettell, please.
Ms. Brettell. I'm Anna Brettell with the Congressional-
Executive Commission on China. I know that there are NGOs and
foundations from several countries that work with and give
grants to Chinese groups that focus on HIV/AIDS. Most of the
Chinese ``nonprofit'' groups are associated with the
government, but there are some independent groups; there may be
300 to 400 groups in China now. Most international funding is
given to government agencies and government-associated NGOs.
However, the more independent NGOs can be more effective at
reaching some populations in China than the government-
associated groups and I am wondering if there are effective
ways that international funding can be channeled to the more
independent NGOs in China?
Mr. Fu. So the foreign fund, right? Or China?
Dr. Gao. [Responded in Chinese.]
Ms. Brettell. Actually, not very much money gets down to
the NGOs, so I was wondering why.
Dr. Gao [via translator, Mr. Bob Fu]. So it doesn't matter
how much there is. The problem is, most of them are not doing
the job. They're just busy making personal gains, buying houses
for themselves. Even if you delivered some funding to the
children, then they will get it back from the children for
their own personal gains.
Ms. Oldham-Moore. Okay.
Dr. Gao [via translator, Mr. Bob Fu]. There's no such
thing as a real NGO in China. They're collaborating together.
The reason Mr. To can survive is that he has three advantages.
He's the descendent of Mr. Sun Yatsen, he's an American
citizen, and he used to work on Wall Street. Otherwise, he
could have been arrested many times already.
Ms. Oldham-Moore. Okay.
Dr. Gao [via translator, Mr. Bob Fu]. So there's no such
thing as civil society, or civil organizations in China, or
independent. They're all government-run, GONGOs. Like the
Women's Federation, they're supposed to be grassroots
organizations, but they're all controlled by the government.
So, they're just collaborating with the government. I was very
sad when, in 2007 during my first trip to the United States, I
was followed by the Chinese Government agents. Every night in
my own room, they reported about my activities late at night.
Fortunately, this time I'm not followed, so far, by the Chinese
agents.
Ms. Oldham-Moore. Thank you.
Did she want to make just some final comments? Then we need
to close down.
Dr. Gao [via translator, Mr. Bob Fu]. Just, my final word
is, don't just burn your money in China. Find an effective way
to really help the people. My second point is, the main
majority, the primary channel of the AIDS infection is still
through blood transfusion. The government's main concern is to
protect its own ruling interests, their own authoritative rule,
while leaving many people suffering. So I myself really am
still suffering like that.
My purpose for the rest of my life, even to leave today, is
really just to expose this truth and what benefit there is for
me to continue to live in this world. I cannot sustain myself,
having difficult conditions physically. Thanks to Mr. Jin Zhong
to hurry up and make the first book available. I'm still
waiting for a publisher to publish the second and third book of
mine. I just want to reveal this truth to the outside world
before I die.
Ms. Oldham-Moore. Thank you, Dr. Gao. Thank you, Abbey
Story and Bob Fu. Dr. Gao, you certainly have awakened us. We
are so grateful to have you here. No doubt you will accomplish
in the next year what many of us can't in the entirety of our
lives. So, thank you very much.
[Whereupon, at 11:36 a.m., the roundtable was concluded.]
A P P E N D I X
=======================================================================
Prepared Statements
----------