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RUEHGZ/AMCONSUL GUANGZHOU 0662
RUEHSH/AMCONSUL SHENYANG 0684
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RUEAUSA/DEPT OF HHS WASHINGTON DC
RUEHGH/AMCONSUL SHANGHAI 6277

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 SHANGHAI 000324 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EAP/CM, DRL 
STATE PASS FOR USTR STRATFORD, WINTER, MCCARTIN, ALTBACH, READE 
TREAS FOR AMB HOLMER, WRIGHT, TSMITH 
TREAS FOR OASIA - DOHNER/HAARSAGER/KUSHMAN 
USDOC FOR ITA/MAC - DAS KASOFF, MELCHER, MCQUEEN 
NSC FOR WILDER AND TONG 
HHS FOR OGHA/STEIGER AND AMER BHAT 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KHIV SOCI TBIO CH
SUBJECT: HIV/AIDS IN SHANGHAI'S GAY COMMUNITY 
 
REF: SH 318 
 
(U) Sensitive but unclassified.  Not for dissemination outside 
USG channels; not for Internet distribution. 
 
¶1. (U) Summary:  While most members of the Shanghai gay 
community believed that they were not at great risk for becoming 
infected with HIV/AIDS, researchers and health specialists said 
HIV/AIDS was spreading faster in Eastern cities such as Shanghai 
than through drug usage.  According to health workers and 
researchers, NGOs were having difficulties in Eastern China 
reaching high-risk members of the gay community due to the 
precarious nature of NGOs in China and the illegal status of sex 
workers.  Many complained that the Shanghai Center for Disease 
Control (CDC) registry of HIV/AIDS patients infringed on 
patients' privacy, had a "scolding" attitude towards patients 
and was reluctant to share statistics on HIV/AIDS for fear of 
"alarming" people.  This is the second of four cables updating 
the social, legal, medical and media issues of the gay community 
in Shanghai.  End Summary. 
-------------- 
RISKY BEHAVIOR 
-------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) During the month of April, Poloff met with members of 
Shanghai's gay community, healthcare specialists and academics 
to discuss medical issues in the gay community.  According to 
Shanghai CDC HIV/AIDS Deputy Director Pan Qiqiao, in 2006 there 
were 718 new HIV/AIDS patients reported in Shanghai, which was 
50 percent higher than the number reported for 2005.  Around 
500-600 of the new HIV/AIDS patients did not have a Shanghai 
residency permit, and the gay community comprised only a small 
percentage of the 718 cases. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Members of the gay community were aware of HIV/AIDS 
but were not concerned about the disease.  Two young gay men 
living in Shanghai said HIV/AIDS was something they had known 
about since they were very young and first heard about it on TV. 
 They believed, however, that in China it was mainly a disease 
of "drug users and not spread among people having sex."  None of 
them knew anyone who had contracted the disease.  A lesbian said 
that the gay community in Shanghai was not concerned enough 
about AIDS or the need to protect themselves.  She did not know 
anyone with AIDS and said "the concept of contracting it was not 
a reality to most gay Shanghainese." 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Researchers and healthcare specialists held a 
different view and were concerned about risky behavior among the 
gay and lesbian communities.  Deputy Director Pan Qiqiao said 
although HIV/AIDS was spreading fastest in China through drug 
use, in Shanghai and other large eastern cities HIV/AIDS was 
spreading most rapidly through sexual intercourse.  He noted 
that from an infectious disease perspective, although the 
percentage of HIV/AIDS patients in Shanghai was quite low, there 
was a great deal of potential risk, so the best approach was to 
change people's lifestyles. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Researchers have also noticed the increased rates of 
HIV/AIDS transmission among Shanghai's homosexual community. 
Director of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences (SASS) 
Research Center for HIV/AIDS Public Policy Professor Xia Guomei 
said, "I don't know the exact rate, but we've discovered that 
those who tested positive are mainly from the gay community." 
Fudan University School of Public Health Associate Professor Gao 
Yanning said the local challenges of countering HIV/AIDS were 
more difficult than in the West because many men did not fully 
identify as being gay.  He has tried to educate men about using 
a condom not only with their male partners but also with their 
female partners.  A senior doctor at the International Peace 
Maternity and Child Health Hospital engaged in HIV/AIDS 
prevention was also concerned about risk behavior that he saw in 
the gay community.  According to a survey he conducted of 200 
people in gay venues, only 20 percent of gay men said they used 
condoms.  He believed that many in the gay community viewed 
HIV/AIDS as "trying their luck."  Much like smokers and lung 
 
SHANGHAI 00000324  002 OF 005 
 
 
cancer, "people knew there was a risk but kept smoking." 
 
¶6.  (U) Male sex workers emerged as prime candidates for 
HIV/AIDS transmission because they service both male and female 
clients.  Last year, Professor Xia conducted a study on female 
prostitutes in Shanghai.  While conducting research, she was 
shocked to discover that the buildings known to house 
prostitutes contained more male sex workers than female.  Male 
sex workers sleep with both genders, some even maintaining a 
girlfriend or wife.  Fees ranged from 50-700 RMB, on average 
around 375 RMB, and female customers were charged much higher 
rates than male customers.  Some sex workers accepted even more 
money to not use a condom.  Le Yi Foundation, a NGO helping male 
sex workers, has had three sex workers who tested positive for 
HIV/AIDS, and all have fled Shanghai.  Le Yi Program Officer 
Tony Zheng said that the majority of the sex workers have not 
been tested which is alarming considering the high-level of 
customer turn-over.  According to Mr. Zheng, "a client will be 
met maybe one or two times but after that there usually won't be 
a third time," since clients preferred a new sex worker. 
------------------------------- 
5-Year Plan to Counter HIV/AIDS 
------------------------------- 
 
¶7. (U) On April 9, the National CDC in Beijing posted a draft of 
"China's Five-Year Strategy for AIDS Prevention Amongst MSM 
(men-who-have-sex-with-men) Population" on its public website 
with a deadline of April 30 for any critiques.  According to the 
draft, it was estimated that 47,000 of among 650,000 people 
infected with HIV/AIDS in China, were MSM, or 7.3 percent.  It 
said that China had monitored the MSM population for HIV/AIDS 
since 2004.  Shanghai CDC HIV/AIDS Deputy Director Pan added 
that, "in the past two years, the Shanghai CDC has done 
biological monitoring of sexually transmitted diseases (STD) and 
HIV/AIDS rates through NGOs like Le Yi." 
 
¶8. (U) The report's data indicated that the national percentage 
of HIV/AIDS infections had increased from 1-3 percent in 2004 to 
2.5-6.5 percent in recent years.  The report's three main 
suggestions to counter HIV/AIDS in the gay male population were 
to encourage governmental cooperation with all related groups 
(social groups, NGOs and MSM groups); to fully encourage the MSM 
group to participate in AIDS prevention; and to give priority to 
prevention education combined with treatment plans. 
--------------------------------------- 
Obstacles to Reaching the Gay Community 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶9.  (SBU) Professor Xia considered NGOs and people within the 
MSM community to have done the best work in educating the 
community about protection from sexually transmitted diseases. 
She said that "only gay volunteers could spot gay Chinese and 
truly be concerned for their rights."  However, she pointed out 
that in China, NGOs and volunteers operated in an unstable 
environment. 
 
¶10. (SBU) For example, the Le Yi Foundation was not registered 
as a government-owned non-governmental organization (GONGO), 
although the Shanghai government was aware of its work with male 
sex workers.  Instead, Le Yi was registered as a private company 
which made it ineligible for government funding.  Le Yi received 
support from Oxfam in Hong Kong, but since it was a private 
company, the money was subject to an 11 percent income tax. 
Professor Xia said funding from foreign sources, even well-known 
groups like the Ford Foundation and Oxfam, put Chinese NGOs in 
"a sensitive existence" with the government. 
 
¶11. (SBU) Professor Xia also complained that the most effective 
types of outreach and advertising campaigns to target the gay 
community were not permitted by the government.  She believed 
Shanghai needed more direct advertisements, or social marketing, 
to the gay community.  Xia added that people knew the risks of 
not using condoms but pointed to the example of a PhD student 
who contracted HIV/AIDS through intercourse.  "If even a PhD 
 
SHANGHAI 00000324  003 OF 005 
 
 
student will have high-risk behavior, what about everyone else?" 
she asked. 
 
¶12. (SBU) A senior doctor who worked with the gay community also 
thought that social marketing directed at the gay community 
would be effective.  He said, however, that it would be 
impossible to have social marketing directed at the gay 
community in China because of the government's unclear policy 
towards the gay community.  "They have no regulations towards 
the group, the only thing illegal is public sex."  Due to the 
government's silence towards the gay community, and since it is 
not a protected class or minority, he could only use posters 
advertising condoms rather than tailored ads featuring two men. 
¶13.  (SBU) Mr. Zheng noted that it was very difficult to reach 
some members of the community, especially male sex workers.  He 
said that male sex workers tended to be very resistant to 
outside assistance because their line of work was illegal.  They 
constantly lived in fear of the police who target sex workers if 
they receive a tip or complaint about solicitation.  Police 
raids resulted in a 5000 RMB fine and 15 days of detention.  Mr. 
Zheng pointed out that ironically a sex worker who was arrested 
for prostitution needed to service even more customers in order 
to pay the fine.  The majority of sex workers suspected that Mr. 
Zheng was linked to the police.  This attitude impacted the 
number of men Mr. Zheng was able to convince to be tested for 
HIV/AIDS and other diseases.  He was also unable to advertise Le 
Yi's services because of China's strict regulations regarding 
NGOs and GONGOs, and because the male sex worker population did 
not want to be exposed. 
-------------------------- 
TESTING: PRIVACY A CONCERN 
-------------------------- 
 
¶14.  (SBU) According to Shanghai CDC HIV/AIDS Deputy Director 
Pan, HIV/AIDS testing was available at every district's CDC 
office in Shanghai.  The first time someone took an HIV/AIDS 
test at a testing center, the patient was not required to use 
his or her real name.  If the result was negative, the applicant 
could leave, but if the result was positive the applicant was 
required to provide his or her real name and submit to another 
test to rule out a false positive.  Additionally, the patient's 
identity number and other basic information, including home 
address, would be entered into CDC's national registry.  Pan 
said that the Shanghai CDC followed up with patients who tested 
positive and provided free treatment and appointments.  He added 
that this was not the case in other parts of China, but in 
Shanghai "treatment for HIV/AIDS is free from start to finish." 
He noted that "not all people with HIV/AIDS need immediate 
treatment," and that the treatment course was determined by 
sporadic appointments that checked for symptoms. 
 
¶15. (SBU) Testing centers and hospitals did not require patients 
and blood donors in China to sign consent forms or privacy 
waivers for HIV/AIDS tests.  Pan said that all blood donors in 
China were automatically screened for HIV/AIDS and other 
diseases, as were "suspicious" patients in hospitals - in 
particular, those receiving treatment for sexually transmitted 
diseases.  He added that "some people know about the tests, but 
patients do not have to sign consent forms."  Hospital patients 
or blood donors found to have HIV/AIDS were automatically 
entered into the CDC registry of HIV/AIDS patients. 
 
¶16. (SBU) Health professionals and researchers voiced some 
concerns about CDC's handling of registry of HIV/AIDS patients. 
Zheng believed that the Shanghai CDC had good intentions to 
protect privacy but that, once a name was entered into a 
registry, all the CDCs across China had access to the 
information.  He relayed a story from a male sex worker who 
tested positive for HIV/AIDS.  The sex worker's hometown CDC 
visited his parents' home and told them "your son has a serious 
disease and is very sick."  The sex worker fled to Guanghzou and 
was now receiving treatment by an undisclosed organization. 
 
¶17. (SBU) Following this incident Mr. Zheng informed the 
 
SHANGHAI 00000324  004 OF 005 
 
 
Shanghai CDC that Le Yi male sex workers would not give their 
real names during HIV/AIDS tests.  The Shanghai CDC advised him 
to have the workers provide their real names but not to put down 
their hometown or place of permanent residence.  The Shanghai 
CDC explained that for the primary HIV/AIDS test, a fake name 
could be used, but for the second test, the CD4 confirmation 
test, the real name, but not place of residence, was required by 
law. 
 
¶18. (SBU) Fudan University School of Public Health Associate 
Professor Gao Yanning pointed to another incident in which 
officials used the CDC registry to track down patients.  In 
2006, hemophiliacs who had contracted HIV/AIDS through 
blood-based injections from the Shanghai Biological Product 
Institute staged a protest in front of the Institute during 
which a policeman was stabbed with a dirty needle.  Afterwards, 
the police used the CDC registry to locate the various 
hemophiliacs who had tested positive for HIV/AIDS and make 
arrests.  Soon, the neighborhood committees easily figured out 
who in their community had HIV/AIDS.  Professor Gao knew of some 
HIV positive patients who refused to take the free drugs because 
they worried that their privacy would not be protected and who 
instead chose to pay out-of-pocket.  Professor Xia was also 
concerned about the lack of privacy and said that during the 
test, CDC staff called people by name to get their test results, 
so "what happens if a neighbor or co-worker is in the waiting 
room?" 
 
¶19. (SBU) Shanghai CDC HIV/AIDS Deputy Director Pan Qiqiao told 
PolOff that protecting privacy was one of the most important and 
basic responsibilities of the CDC.  He added that "there are few 
cases where someone's privacy was exposed, and those happened 
outside of Shanghai."  He also pointed out that there were very 
few reports of cases of exposed privacy in the Shanghai media. 
---------------------------------- 
ATTITUDES TOWARDS THE SHANGHAI CDC 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶20. (SBU) The Shanghai CDC received mixed reviews from 
healthcare workers and researchers.  The Shanghai CDC is a 
government entity, although its employees are not civil 
servants.  The sex workers approached by Le Yi Foundation faced 
many obstacles if they tested positive for HIV/AIDS.  The free 
HIV/AIDS medication distributed by CDC in Shanghai was allotted 
according to a patient's residence permit.  The majority of the 
male sex workers were migrants from Northeastern China and were 
living in Shanghai illegally.  Furthermore, to qualify for free 
drugs patients needed to meet many other qualifications, such as 
proof of unemployment or low salary, which was impossible to 
provide working in an illegal, untaxed industry.  Mr. Zheng was 
able to work out an agreement with the CDC to allow Le Yi sex 
workers to receive leftover drugs allotted to Shanghai, but they 
still had to provide their identity number, name and address. 
 
¶21. (SBU) In Dr. Gao's opinion, the Shanghai CDC worked with the 
gay community on a very superficial level, mainly selecting 
activities with easily achievable goals that made them look 
good, rather than actually helping people.  For example, he said 
they worked with "the community by taking two gay people off the 
streets and teaching them about condoms."  He found their 
attitude to come across as very "scolding," such as when they 
ordered prostitutes to use condoms while trying to improve their 
image as friendly to socially-marginalized groups.  Dr. Gao said 
only NGOs or the community themselves could make internal 
changes in behavior, not the CDC. 
 
¶22. (SBU) Professor Xia hoped the CDC would issue "health 
intervention badges" to protect volunteers from arrest, which 
often happened when police raided gay venues.  Unfortunately, 
the police did not distinguish between sex workers, customers 
and volunteers, informing the families and work units of all 
arrested.  She also wanted the CDC to encourage and respect 
volunteers who worked within the gay community to prevent 
HIV/AIDS.  She suggested that the CDC hold an annual award event 
 
SHANGHAI 00000324  005 OF 005 
 
 
for the volunteers which would be covered by the media.  "Awards 
are very important," she said, adding that the United Nations 
AIDS program, UNAIDS, sent people to China to present awards and 
"if only the Chinese government could do even a little, it would 
go a long way." 
 
¶23. (SBU) She also noted that the CDC appeared to be 
increasingly conservative in its dissemination of information 
about the rate of new HIV/AIDS cases in Shanghai.  In December 
2006, Xinmin Evening Newspaper published an article that 
contained the percentage increase of HIV/AIDS patients in 
Shanghai.  According to Professor Xia, Shanghai government 
officials criticized the paper for making the figures public. 
Professor Xia typically sent a similar year-end report on 
HIV/AIDS in Shanghai to the Wenhui Newspaper, but last year they 
refused to carry her article based on the Xinmin Evening 
Newspaper's experience.  She also commented that the Shanghai 
CDC was much more reluctant to release any sort of statistics to 
her, often saying, "release of such numbers needs the director's 
permission."  Professor Xia asked, "Why can't they tell me such 
basic information?" 
 
¶24. (SBU) Professor Xia added that the attitude of people 
working at the CDC not only impacted the level of transparency 
but also the local government's attitude towards HIV/AIDS.  She 
cited the former head of the CDC who held meetings with 
researchers and academics and incorporated his findings into a 
report for the National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing. 
According to Professor Xia, he was eventually demoted, and the 
position remained vacant, because the NPC did not like having a 
CDC working directly with the university community.  She 
believed that the current CDC Director, Doctor Pan Qiqiao, 
wanted to keep HIV/AIDS statistics in the controlled channels of 
the CDC, believing it better to "be vague with the public so as 
not to alarm people."  She pointed out that the national policy 
on HIV/AIDS was a good one, which "called for cooperation among 
many organizations and the full cooperation from the public." 
 
¶25.  (SBU) CDC Shanghai Deputy Director Pan was very open about 
the numbers of HIV/AIDS patients during his conversation with 
Poloff and happily provided statistics on the number of HIV/AIDS 
patients in Shanghai, which are in para 2 of this report.  He 
believed, however, that there was no need to provide gay people 
with a special legal status.  He said China should not recognize 
a certain group by a special legal status "just because they are 
linked to a disease, such as elderly people and heart disease or 
gay people and HIV/AIDS."  He added that the government should 
not give "too much political focus to a disease." 
------- 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶26.  (SBU) The number of HIV/AIDS infected individuals in 
Shanghai may be significantly higher than the reported cases due 
to concerns about privacy at testing centers and the social 
stigma of living with HIV/AIDS.  The gay community in Shanghai 
is at risk for increased infection rates due to the lack of 
understanding of the risks of sexual transmission and the low 
level of condom use.  In most Western countries, NGOs play a 
major role in reaching out to the gay community and educating it 
about HIV/AIDs.  However, NGOs are restricted in what they can 
do in China and governmental organizations such as Shanghai CDC 
have not been able to gain the trust of the community. 
JARRETT