Brussels, 30 August 2002. According to various sources, Wan Yanhai, founder of the Aizhi Xingdong (Action Aids Project), an NGO providing information on the HIV virus, was stopped on Saturday evening in Beijing and later arrested. Wan Yanhai, aged 39, is well-known for his civil rights campaigns and, among others, those for the affirmation of homosexuals’ rights and of freedom on the Internet. He was one of the first to confront AIDS at the political level, at a time when the issue was completely taboo. M. Wan Yanai and his friends have, among other things, come to the defence of the Henan peasants infected as a result of blood trafficking, and have denounced the local authorities’ involvement in this scandal. Last month Wan Yanhai’s organisation was expelled from the University of Beijing that had hosted it until then.

Question presented by Olivier Dupuis, Member of the European Parliament and Radical to the European Commission:

“Does the Commission know about Wan Yanhai’s arrest? What initiatives has it taken or does it intend to take to see that the Chinese authorities immediately effect his unconditional release? What initiatives has it taken or does it intend to take to see that the Chinese authorities deal seriously with the terrible scandal caused by the infected blood, and that they openly discuss and fight the catastrophic AIDS epidemic in the People’s Republic of China?”