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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 

(II) 

CO N T E N T S 

Page 

Opening statement of Charlotte Oldham-Moore, Staff Director, CongressionalExecutive Commission on China ........................................................................ 1 

Story, Abigail, Manager of Outreach and Special Projects, CongressionalExecutive Commission on China ........................................................................ 1 

Yaojie, Gao, physician, grandmother, and whistleblower in China’s fight 

against HIV/AIDS ................................................................................................ 4 

APPENDIX 

PREPARED STATEMENTS

Yaojie, Gao ............................................................................................................... 17 

(1) 

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 OldhamMoore, 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 

2 

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 injectingdrug-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 

3 

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 TelVerDate Nov 24 2008 11:15 May 11, 2010 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 U:\DOCS\55539.TXT DEIDRE
4 

evision (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 

5 

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 biopharmaceutical 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. Bloodmongers 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. 

6 

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 

7 

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-byone, 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 

8 

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, 

9 

‘‘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. 

10 

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 

11 

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 longterm 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— 

12 

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 socalled 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, 

13 

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 socalled 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, 

14 

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. 

15 

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.] 

(17) 

A P P E N D I X 

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