Contenu du sommaire : Chinese Society Confronted with AIDS

In this testimony, Meng Lin, a person living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in China and at the same time an activist engaged in the fight against the epidemic, shares his insight into the current situation from both a personal and professional perspective. In the latter case, he speaks in his capacity as founder of Ark of Love, an association that aims to inform and help PLWHA to organise themselves and set up their own structures for mutual aid and defence of their rights.

This article analyses the emergence of new forms of social mobilisation against HIV/AIDS in China. The central authorities' engagement and the opening to international aid have allowed people living with HIV/AIDS to take part in anti-AIDS activities. The imperatives of participative development and the history of anti-AIDS militancy stemming from a global dynamic favour HIV carriers' quest for a democratic say despite the semi-authoritarian context.

For several years now, at a time when Henan remains one of the areas of China most heavily affected by the HIV/AIDS virus, peasants in several of the worst affected villages have supplemented the official policies and strategic approaches to deal with its spread by progressively mobilising and organising their own local measures to deal with the social challenges that AIDS imposes on rural communities. This article is particularly concerned with the transnational origin behind this local mobilisation.

Social discrimination and limited health care resources drive many people living with HIV/AIDS in China to seek help from their own families. This paper, which is based on a qualitative study of the experiences of this population, examines how the notion of family obligation has influenced how these individuals organise various aspects of their daily lives. Viewing family obligation as a matter of reciprocal relationships, a closer look is taken at the ways in which these individuals exercise their autonomy to fulfil those obligations and pursue their moral self despite their health status. The study suggests the significance as well as the limitations of incorporating family support into AIDS interventions in the Chinese context.

Based on interviews with young homosexuals in Hefei, Anhui Province, this article examines the precarious modes of socialisation of young tongzhi(a term often used by gay people to refer to themselves), centred on the Internet and small groups of friends. The difficulty they have in constructing an identity based on sexuality stands out in the context of social norms and roles they cannot resolve to defy, above all because of their feelings of respect and duty towards their parents.

Through an exploration of the lively debates between the state and the alliance of health realists and condom companies, this paper argues that unless the state takes a proactive stance on the marketing of condom use, the empowering and persuading effect that condom marketing should have upon the population will not be achieved. The impediment in this case, the state's position and attitude towards condoms, can only thwart the progressive cause of HIV prevention.

In the context of a social and medical response to AIDS at a national level recommended by the Chinese authorities, the policy of eventual extension of treatment to all patients reveals “Chinese characteristics” that are akin to international concerns regarding the use of alternative and complementary medicine. One concerns the use of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), principally in combined treatment (biomedicine with Chinese medicine) in a public health system in which it plays a relatively large part compared to other health systems in the world. This article focuses on the integration of TCM in therapies and research on HIV/AIDS.

The economic and diplomatic presence of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in Africa continues to generate commentary and analyses that are often unflattering, and there is no lack of argument to denounce its negative effects. However, a detailed analysis of the situation reveals quite a different reality. While it is undeniable that China's influence in Africa has grown, its economic interests there remain limited.

This section, prepared by the Asia Centre (http://www.centreasia.org), draws mainly on the press in Chinese, aiming to reflect the point of view of the People's Republic of China on international questions and issues related to Greater China. Analysis by Pierre Nordmann based on: •Zhou Qiong and Fu Yanyan, “Difficulties of ‘double transfer' in Guangdong," Caijing, 8 December 2008. •Zhou Qiong, “Reforming the Pearl River Delta," Caijing, 24 November 2008. Analysis by Camille Bondois based on: •“6.1 million students apply for public service posts,” Zhongguo Xinwen Zhoukan (China Newsweek), 8 January 2009. •“Zheng Gongcheng: The state must establish a more just/equitable/fair framework for job creation,” Zhongguo Xinwen Zhoukan (China Newsweek), 8 January 2009.