China Releases AIDS Activist; Confession Cited

On Friday, Chinese authorities released Wan Yanhai, the award-winning Chinese AIDS activist, detained by the police without acknowledgement for the last month. His detention sparked concern and protest around the world.

Wan was released by state security agents after making what the state-run New China News Agency called a confession that he leaked state secrets by obtaining classified documents illegally and passing them along to others, including overseas media. Contacted by phone in Beijing on Friday, Wan said what he had done was a mistake.

At issue was an official report about the growing AIDS crisis in Henan province, a scandal involving illegal blood donations that local officials had tried to cover up. Wan posted the report on the website of his Aizhi Action Project to bring the crisis to the attention of the outside world. Wan said that he had received the document from an unknown e-mail address and was unable to tell security agents who had sent it.

Wan said he was in good health and had not been abused during the investigation, but he declined further comments about his detention. He said he intended to continue his work in China fighting AIDS, "but I need to learn a lesson from this, that I must do the work more conscientiously in the future."

The detention of Wan, a former visiting scholar at the University of Southern California, drew international attention and outrage. His wife, Su Zhaosheng, who lives in Los Angeles, protested, as did Amnesty International, a Canadian organization that honored his AIDS work, and many other international organizations. ACT UP demonstrated at the Chinese Consulate in New York on Thursday, and ACT UP activists threw fake blood on a Chinese flag at the Chinese Embassy in Paris. US officials raised the case with Chinese officials.

Wan Yanhai's release appeared timed to remove a potential irritant from the agenda for talks next month in Texas between Chinese President Jiang Zemin and President Bush. In addition, the Beijing government is anxious to avoid dissent in the final days before a crucial Communist Party gathering on Nov. 8.

Back to other CDC news for September 23, 2002

Previous Updates