Chinese Government Blocks Popular Web Site Containing Information About HIV/AIDS for Men Who Have Sex With Men

The Chinese government last month began blocking a popular Web site targeted at gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people that includes information about how to prevent the spread of HIV, AFP/Independent Online reports. The Chinese language site, gaychinese.net, had been receiving 50,000 to 65,000 hits each day -- mostly from mainland China -- and contains no sexually explicit or political content, according to site manager Damien Lu, a theater professor at the University of California-Los Angeles, the AFP/Independent Online reports. The Chinese Ministry of Public Security, which oversees Internet censorship, declined to comment on the site, according to AFP/Independent Online (AFP/Independent Online, 5/18). Approximately five million to 10 million men who have sex with men live in China, and a survey conducted last year showed that 80% of that population has "total ignorance" of how to prevent the spread of HIV, according to Agence France-Presse (Agence France-Presse, 5/18). The Chinese government estimates that there are 840,000 HIV-positive people in the country and that 80,000 of those people have AIDS. However, international experts and advocates say that the actual number of HIV-positive people in China probably is between one million and 1.5 million (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 5/16).

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