Gao Yaojie, “China’s number one anti-AIDS person” who went into exile in the United States after exposing the “bloody scourge” of AIDS in Henan Province, passed away in New York | Taipei Newspaper | LINE TODAY

The New York Times reported on the 10th that Chinese doctor Gao Yaojie, known as “China’s first person to prevent AIDS”, passed away at her home in Manhattan, New York, at the age of 95. Gao Yaojie was the first to expose the AIDS epidemic caused by improper blood collection and blood transfusion in rural Henan Province in the 1990s. She has won multiple international human rights awards, but her actions have been frequently restricted by China. In order to prevent her family from being affected, she fled to the United States alone at the age of 80, and eventually passed away in the United States.

The New York Times reported that Professor Andrew Nathan, a Chinese political scientist at Columbia University who assisted Dr. Gao Yaojie in the United States, confirmed the news of her death. The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) quoted Gao Yaojie’s friends as saying that she “died of natural causes at home.”

Radio Free Asia reported that Gao Yaojie revealed in the 1990s that illegal blood transfusions and donations in rural areas of Henan Province had led to the widespread spread of AIDS and the emergence of countless “AIDS villages.” She has been monitored and suppressed by the Chinese government for a long time. Finally, in his 80s, he was forced to move to the United States.

Zhou Fengsuo, a Chinese pro-democracy activist, said that former U.S. Senator and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Professor Li Anyou made arrangements for Gao Yaojie to settle in Upper Manhattan.

When Gao Yaojie was in China, she went deep into rural areas to conduct investigations and research, and found that the main cause of the AIDS epidemic was the large-scale underground trading of plasma in rural areas of Henan at that time. The process was not in compliance with the standards and the blood drawing equipment was seriously contaminated by the HIV virus.

Local Chinese officials have been trying to cover up and downplay the incident, but Gao Yaojie’s efforts brought the scandal to the attention of the international community and prevented the spread of a greater disaster.

Gao Yaojie’s actions have attracted widespread attention from the international community. During her lifetime, she received the Philippine government’s “Ramon Magsaysay Award for Public Service”, the U.S. government’s “Women’s Leadership Award”, and the New York Academy of Sciences’ “Scientist Human Rights Award.” He has also been named “Asian Hero” by Time magazine and “Asian Star” by Business Weekly.

The New York Times reported that in order to investigate the AIDS epidemic and rescue AIDS patients and AIDS orphans, Gao Yaojie not only spent millions of yuan in family property, but also became the target of Chinese official surveillance and crackdowns. Her personal freedom was increasingly under control. Her phone calls were monitored and she was followed when she went out. When the United States and France awarded her human rights awards in 2007 and 2009, police surrounded her home day and night to prevent her from receiving the award. Her children and relatives also Being implicated, she was forced to move away from home.

In May 2009, Gao Yaojie, who was nearly 83 years old, left home with a hard drive containing AIDS investigation materials and traveled through Beijing, Sichuan, and Guangdong before arriving in the United States. She once wrote in her memoir: “Because I want to tell the truth to the world.”

In March 2010, Gao Yaojie was hired as a visiting scholar by Columbia University and lived in a nearby apartment with caregivers taking care of her life. Before her death, she left behind many books on the AIDS epidemic.

Release time: 09:34

Update time: 12:04 (new content)