Beijing grassroots group, Yirenping Center (益仁平中心), has had a busy January organizing anti-discrimination activities with local disability activists! They produced a short report with data about their activities, including links to Chinese media sources. Yirenping Center, established in 2006, is a public interest group that focuses on health and discrimination. Download their report here (PDF).
The views represented by Yirenping Center are not necessarily those of Asia Catalyst.
It’s not every day that Asia Catalyst appears in the Wall Street Journal…or the People’s Daily, the official organ of the Chinese Communist Party. It was a pleasant surprise, then, when both happened in the same week.
Here’s a link to an article about Chinese civil rights group Tianxia Gong and their campaign to end employment-related discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in China. Staff of the grassroots NGO asked friends and supporters to pose for the camera with signs reading “PLWHA can be teachers” and “End discrimination against PLWHA”. UNAIDS picked it up, and over 12,000 people around the country have had their photos taken. We are honored to be part of this important campaign.
From the gleaming airport malls of Beijing to the grittier markets of Yunnan, Asia Catalyst traveled in China to work with local partners on strategic planning and budgeting. On this trip, we spent a few days with Phoenix in Yunnan drafting their plans and budget for the next quarter, and providing some computer training. Phoenix members also lit candles on mid-Autumn festival to commemorate two members who recently died of HIV/AIDS.
By Pipob Udomittipong
The following is an eyewitness account of the
demonstrations in downtown Bangkok over the past several days. In the wake of
lost lives and massive damage done to infrastructure and buildings in the area,
the government has claimed success in “taking back the area” from the Red Shirt
demonstrators. Much media attention has focused on the property damages, often
overshadowing the human cost of the clearing operation. Images of sabotaged
infrastructure have been featured extensively and repeatedly to vilify the Red
Shirts and justify one of the most brutal suppressions in Thailand’s history. This piece
outlines the gulf that still exists between the government and the
demonstrators, and the unresolved anger on both sides, fueled by an incomplete
narrative in the media. The lingering anger and questions in the minds of many
Thais must be addressed if the country is to move beyond this current tragedy.
Part two of our vlog on Gisa and Meg’s trip to Yunnan and Beijing. You can also see the video here.
