By Peter Ford
Sitting in a bare office behind an anonymous steel door, Yu Fangqiang
feels under siege.
His small nongovernmental organization, Yirenping, has enjoyed
remarkable success in helping HIV and hepatitis B sufferers fight
discrimination by Chinese employers, universities, and government
departments. For this challenge to the authorities, though, the group is
paying a high price.
Last year, police raided Yirenping’s Beijing office and confiscated
all its publicity material and legal aid brochures – hence the empty
bookshelves. In March, officials subjected their accounts to an
unusually prolonged investigation and warned them of more to come.
Now, new government regulations are starving Yirenping and other
controversial NGOs of funds.
“I am very worried about our future,”
says Mr. Yu, Yirenping’s chief coordinator. “I’m afraid we may have to
close.”
Read the full story at Christian Science Monitor.
