Father seeks China AIDS activist's release
Tian Demin, father of 23-year-old Chinese AIDS activist Tian Xi, speaks to journalists during an interview in Beijing, China, Monday, Aug. 30, 2010. Tian Xi jailed after a run-in with a hospital administrator is in poor health but has vowed that legal troubles would never stop his fight for compensation after being infected by tainted blood during a transfusion, his father said Monday. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) 
BEIJING—A Chinese AIDS activist jailed after a run-in with a hospital administrator is in poor health but has vowed to keep fighting for compensation after being infected by tainted blood during a childhood transfusion, his father said Monday.
Tian Xi was taken into custody earlier this month after he lost his temper and smashed office equipment during a meeting with the administrator of the hospital where he was infected. Fellow activists have said the 23-year-old was arrested because he angered local officials with his tireless campaigning for those who contracted HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, through tainted blood supplies.
"My child started on this path of petitioning at the age of 17 and this path has led him to today. He said 'If the government doesn't resolve my case, I will fight to the end, I will fight until my death.' That's how determined he is," Tian Demin told The Associated Press.
After ignoring or demonizing people with AIDS for much of the 1980s and '90s, China's authoritarian government has taken a more compassionate line on the disease and combating its spread in recent years. But people with AIDS still face difficulties in getting treatment and compensation, and authorities remain deeply suspicious of independent activists.
Tian Xi, who for more than a week had been shuttling between government offices trying to meet with authorities to discuss his case, finally confronted the administrator at the Xincai County No. 1 People's Hospital in central China's Henan province, which gave him a blood transfusion in 1996 as treatment for a mild concussion, his father said.
The administrator said there was nothing he could do about Tian's case and got up to leave, Tian Demin said. Tian Xi lost his temper and smashed a computer, fax machine and other equipment. Two weeks later he was arrested on charges of intentionally damaging property.
Phones at the hospital's general office and president's office rang unanswered Monday.
Tian Xi, who has AIDS and hepatitis B and C, is being held at the Shangcai County Detention Center two-hours' drive from his hometown in Xincai County and his family worry conditions there are too difficult him. He has already missed two doses of drugs that need to be taken a precise times, his father said.
"I want to bring him home where we can take care of him. Is he getting enough to eat right now? He needs nutritious food. He needs treatment," Tian Demin said, wiping tears from his eyes.
An official surnamed Xu at the detention center said Tian Xi was being held in a room designed for inmates with AIDS, who are more common in Henan due to unregulated blood-buying schemes there in the mid-90s that contaminated blood supplies.
Tian Xi will receive medical treatment if he falls ill, Xu said.
Lawyer Liang Xiaojun said he would appeal for Tian Xi's release while awaiting trial. Tian Xi, whose name means "happiness," plans to plead not guilty to the charges, which carry a maximum sentence of seven years imprisonment.
In recent weeks, Tian Xi had obtained official documents in which leaders from Gulu and Xincai County, where the town is located, ordered police to stop his activism, fellow AIDS activists said.
From: Wan Yanhai <wanyanhai2010@hotmail.com>
Date: 2010/8/31
Subject: 【China AIDS:5702】 田喜父亲通过美联社喊田喜回家！
To: china_hiv_aids_cbo_network@googlegroups.com, chinaaidsgroup@googlegroups.com
★Archives for UNAIDS CCC http://www.HungerStrikeforAIDS.org/changkun
★Boycott Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in China https://sites.google.com/site/boycottgatesfoundation/
★爱行马拉松俱乐部（AIDS Walk China），—“彻底实现感染者正常就医的权利”
-~----------~----~----~----~-
“China AIDS Group中国艾滋病网络”
A：论坛发帖，请发电子邮件到 chinaaidsgroup@googlegroups.com
B：退订此论坛，请发邮件至 chinaaidsgroup-unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
C：Contact: Chang Kun 13349108944 changkun2010@gmail.com
★中国艾滋病博物馆/China AIDS Museum： http://www.AIDSmuseum.cn
旗下网站：
——艾博维客 AIDS Wiki ： http://www.AIDSwiki.org
——艾博聚合（艾滋病博客群
）http://www.wanyanhai.org
——China AIDS Email Group with over 2400 members:http://chinaaidsgroup.blogspot.com
——中国艾滋病地图/China AIDS Map：http://www.AIDSmaps.org
——空腹健身运动：http://www.HungerStrikeforAIDS.org
——艾滋人权 AIDS Rights： http://www.AIDSrights.net
——为艾滋病防治努力一生：Http://www.changkun.org
★ 凡是挑�、��、非理性、�於情�性、胡�批�和�意�之言�，或是匿名人士之言�，以及所�表意�出�有不雅、粗鄙之文字等，本�件��不予以�示！
--
北京益仁平中心 理事
Chang Kun
General Coordinator of China Youth HIV/AIDS Assembly
Board Member and Co-founder of Beijing Yirenping Center
Phone: 133 4910 8944 ; 138 1072 6838
Skype: Chinachangkun
MSN：13349108944@189.cn
Email：changkun2010@gmail.com
Personal Web: http://www.changkun.org
--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To start sending messages to members of this group, simply
send email to aidsrights@googlegroups.com
If you do wish to belong to AIDS Rights , you may
subscribe by sending an email to aidsrights-subscribe@googlegroups.com
If you do not wish to belong to AIDS Rights , you may
unsubscribe by sending an email to
aidsrights-unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
★★AIDS RIGHTS is being runned by China Youth HIV/AIDS Assembly (CYHAA) and AIDS Walk China
★AIDS RIGHTS :http://www.aidsrights.net http://www.twitter.com/aidsrights
★AIDS WIKI :http://www.aidswiki.org
★HIV/AIDS Blog Group: http://www.wanyanhai.org
No comments:
Post a Comment