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I have been looking for pictures of Gao Yaojie while she is visiting in the US this month. I found a few of them but they were either taken too far away or Gao was looking a bit depressed due to the pressure she has been experiencing from the Chinese authorities. During an in-studio interview with Radio Free Asia – Mandarin Service, Gao asked the RFA reporter whether she looked numb when she was on stage receiving the Vital Voices award. It is sad to see a heroine unable to enjoy being acknowledged for her work to save lives.
There is one nice picture I found of Gao’s one-on-one meeting with Senator Hillary Clinton. The picture was hijacked to the front page of the March 20th issue of Southern Metropolis Daily, a newspaper based in Guangdong of China, as reported by the China Media Project.
A nice surprise I found is the Letter to the Editor published in the New York Times on February 22nd. The letter was written by the spokesman of the Chinese Embassy in Washington DC denying Gao Yaojie being placed under house arrest. But the house arrest was criticized in an editorial appeared in the Southern Metropolis Daily on February 26th. Meanwhile, other major newspapers in China reported on the Vital Voices award but mentioned no details of why Gao was awarded. The media in China is often conflicting themselves because most of them impose self-censorship while a few others are trying to report the truth risking great consequences.
HIV/AIDS activist Gao Yaojie traveled to the US and accepted the Vital Voices Global Leadership Award in the human rights category last night at the JFK Center for the Performing Arts in Washington DC. After her house arrest last month was intervened by Vital Voices honorary board chair, Senator Hillary Clinton, Gao’s visit to the US caught some buzz. In addition to traditional print media interviews, there were a few video interviews, such as the one coordinated by Asia Society. When China is trying so hard to cover up the dark side of the country, it is actually attracting more attention to its problems.
Related news:
- Washington Post: Chinese AIDS Activist Faults Her Country
- Reuters: China AIDS activist feels failure despite award
- Reuters: Survival is cold comfort in AIDS-stricken rural China
- Washington Post: Group Honors Doctor Who Exposed China AIDS Scandal
- Georgia Straight (Canada): Image is everything in China rights issues
- RFA: AIDS Doctor Fears Return to China (reporting in English and Simplified Chinese)
Update (3-16-2007): Radio Free Asia – Mandarin Service interviewed Gao Yaojie the day after she received her award (Simplified Chinese transcript of the broadcast). Gao continues her visit in the US next week. She will speak at Columbia University in New York City next Tuesday March 20th. The event is hosted by the university’s Weatherhead East Asian Institute.
Prior to the in-studio interview, RFA – Mandarin Service reported on Gao Yaojie several times for the last six weeks. Some of the broadcasts contain interviews by phone to China with Gao and activist Hu Jia (Simplified Chinese articles and Mandarin audio files):
- March 14th: Gao Yaojie in Washington – her email account blocked off, illegal blood banks are still running in China
- February 25th: Gao Yaojie starts her trip to the US on Sunday to receive human rights award
- February 23rd: Gao Yaojie talks about going to the US to receive award
- February 14th: Gao Yaojie forced to authorize another person to accept award
- February 6th: Gao Yaojie in soft detention, her current condition concerning
The news about China AIDS activist Gao Yaojie being placed under house arrest in order to keep her from leaving the country to receive an award in the US next month (see my last post for more details) have been plastered all over the net. The award is presented by Vital Voices which has Senator Hillary Clinton as one of the honorary chairs so the Senator was quick to press the Chinese officials in the matter.
Until this morning, the confinement of Gao was front page news in the New York Times. But by the end of the day, it has emerged that the authorities changed their stance possibly due to pressure from Senator Clinton. This latest development spread around in a matter of hours and Vital Voices immediately posted the good news on their site.
I am not ready to celebrate until Gao actually picks up the award and returns home successfully. My fear is that even though she is allowed to leave China, the authorities might not let her back in. As an 80-year-old woman, Gao has been making more noise than others much younger than her. I am sure the authorities have a few more tricks to silence her. On the other hand, I believe the news of her situation being widely distributed on the internet has something to do with the positive outcome for the time being.
Related news:
- Washington Post: China lets AIDS doctor collect U.S. rights prize
- New York Times: Detained AIDS Doctor Allowed to Visit U.S. Later, China Says
- Reuters: China AIDS activist says under house arrest
Update (2-21-2007):
- BBC News: China lets Aids activist visit US
- NPR – All Things Considered (radio broadcast and written summary): China Will Allow AIDS Activist to Get Award in U.S.
Long-time AIDS activist Dr. Gao Yaojie was not allowed to travel to Beijing to apply for a visa in order to visit the US in March for the Vital Voices‘ Global Leadership Awards. The annual event honors courageous women leaders from around the world and Dr. Gao is to be one of the honorees. She has been trapped in her home since the beginning of this month. She posted on her blog describing the police activities outside but the blog post has since disappeared. China Digital Times publicized her situation with a rough translation of her blog post.
This is not the first time Gao was not allowed to leave China to receive an award. The Global Health Council selected her for the Jonathan Mann Award for Global Health and Human Rights in 2001 and then in 2003, she was given the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Public Service by the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation based in Philippines (Gao’s response to the award). She could not travel out of the country for either occasions so it is not a surprise that she is experiencing the same fate again. During a regularly scheduled Ministry of Foreign Affairs press conference on February 6th, the press inquired about the reports of Gao being placed under house arrest. Spokeswoman Jiang Yu replied that she was not aware of those reports. Earlier today, another news report emerged that Communist Party officials visited Gao at home to demonstrate good will before Chinese New Year.
A four-part video about Gao was posted on YouTube this week. She has also appeared in the final episode of the PBS series, China from the Inside that was broadcasted last month.
Related news and links:
- Washington Post: Chinese Officials Visit AIDS Activist
- Reuters AlertNet: China says not aware of travel ban on AIDS doctor
- PRC Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Jiang Yu’s Regular Press Conference on 6 February 2007
- Telegraph (UK) – Richard Spencer’s blog: Beyond the call of duty
- Washington Post: China bars AIDS doctor from U.S. for award
- Amnesty International (December 2004): Human rights defenders at risk
- Telegraph (February 2004): China’s Aids whistleblower left in limbo
- BBC News (May 2001): China bars Aids activist visiting US
- Time magazine – Asia edition: Grandmother Courage
YouTube videos: Gao Yaojie, part 1-4
