Li Changchun
Some Weiquan lawyers have advocated for the rights of HIV/AIDS victims who contracted the virus as a result of state-sponsored blood drives. In the 1990s, government officials in central China, and especially in Henan, encouraged rural citizens to sell blood plasma in order to supplement their incomes. Gross mismanagement of the process resulted in hundreds of thousands of individuals being infected with HIV. According to activists, victims have not been compensated, and no government officials were held accountable. Authorities continue to suppress information about the epidemic, which is particularly sensitive in light of the involvement of Li Changchun, the Communist Party Propaganda head and formerly Party chief in Henan.