Wan Yanhai

Wan Yanhai (; born 20 November 1963) is a Chinese-American AIDS activist. His "frank and aggressive" approach toward AIDS has led to frequent run-ins with authorities, including a month-long detention in 2002 that made international headlines and sparked a successful international campaign for his release. Wan is currently the director of the country's foremost AIDS-awareness group, the Beijing-based Aizhixing Institute of Health Education.

Wan has lived in the United States since 2010, and became an American citizen in 2018.

HIV/AIDS activism Wan started his career at China's Ministry of Health (MOH), working there in 1989 as a researcher. There, he translated the first announcement of the AIDS epidemic into Chinese. In 1992, he set up the first HIV/AIDS telephone hotline in China where people could obtain comprehensive information on HIV/AIDS. He was fired from his MOH job after founding AIZHI.

Wan moved to Los Angeles after becoming a Fulbright New Century Scholar. He returned to China in June 2002, and attempted to set up an independent medical clinic. In July 2002, Chinese authorities banned the AIZHI Action Project and shut down Wan's office. This occurred four days after the United Nations criticized China's inaction on HIV/AIDS. Detained by authorities and charged with the leaking of an internal government report, he was released a month later on 20 September like ACT UP, who protested outside the Chinese consulate in New York City, and Amnesty International. Upon his release told the BBC he learned a "good lesson". After his release on November 27, 2006, Wan accused Chinese leaders of falling "asleep" as the virus spreads. He was forced by the government to cancel his "Blood Safety, AIDS and Legal Human Rights Workshop," due to have taken place between 25 and 30 November 2006.

Other activism Wan participated in the democracy movement beginning in 1986, and witnessed the events of June 4, 1989 at Tiananmen Square.

In the early 1990s, Wan founded a group for gay men focused on promoting health and hosted a Beijing-based radio talk show on gay rights. In 1993, he was accused of promoting homosexuality and prostitution for his activism efforts. On 30 March, Wan was lecturing at a university in Guangzhou when his talk was interrupted by police. The following day, police came to his hotel and told him he was forbidden to "bring Aizhixing activities to Guangzhou" and that he needed to report his university lectures to the police; police also sent notice to universities in the cities, forbidding them to allow Wan to lecture on their premises. In the following weeks, authorities continued to visit Wan's apartment and call his cellphone.

Wan Yanhai and his wife decided to flee China, citing government persecution, Wan was later told by Chinese authorities he would not be able to return to China.

In 2011, tax authorities admitted that they had made an error and returned some 8,000 RMB to Aizhixing Institute.

In 2015, Wan, his wife, and their two daughters moved to Rego Park, Queens, New York City. As of 2020, Wan continued to lived in Queens.

In 2018, Wan was naturalized as a U.S. citizen. He considers himself to be a Democrat, and was a harsh critic of former President Donald Trump.

Publications