CONTACTStaffCAREER OPPORTUNITIESADVERTISE WITH USPRIVACY POLICYPRIVACY PREFERENCESTERMS OF USELEGAL NOTICE
© 2024 Pride Publishing Inc.
All Rights reserved
All Rights reserved
By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Private Policy and Terms of Use.
A filmmaker who won an Oscar for a documentary about Chinese orphans who lost their parents to AIDS says Beijing is now more open about the disease after being accused of covering up the 2003 SARS outbreak.
''Since 2003, after SARS, they're open about it. I would say they're not doing it for show,'' said Ruby Yang, who won an Oscar last month for her 39-minute documentary, The Blood of Yingzhou District.
China had been accused of covering up the outbreak of SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, which killed 349 people there and 774 worldwide.
Yang said at a talk at the University of Hong Kong late Friday that the Chinese government ''put a lot of effort'' into public service announcements about AIDS that she helped produce. ''Their attitude has changed a lot,'' she said.
Still, the Beijing-based Chinese-American filmmaker was cautious when asked whether anyone had been punished in the blood-selling schemes that helped spread AIDS in China in the 1990s. Operators used dirty needles, and people selling plasma--the liquid in blood--were replenished from a pooled blood supply that was contaminated with HIV.
''I read that some officials got jailed, but still the main people responsible have not been punished,'' she said. ''I'd rather not discuss this.''
The Chinese government and the United Nations say China's problem of tainted blood has largely been brought under control. Last year, only about 5% of new reported HIV infections were blamed on blood selling, which has been banned, or on tainted transfusions, the health ministry says.
Surviving victims say they have not been adequately compensated for their suffering and are unfairly discriminated against.
The Blood of YingzhouDistrict focuses on the discrimination against orphans of parents who have died of AIDS.
Yang said she hopes to show a longer version of the movie in China with updates about the children. (AP)
Want more breaking equality news & trending entertainment stories?
Check out our NEW 24/7 streaming service: the Advocate Channel!
Download the Advocate Channel App for your mobile phone and your favorite streaming device!
From our Sponsors
Most Popular
Here Are Our 2024 Election Predictions. Will They Come True?
November 07 2023 1:46 PM
Meet all 37 of the queer women in this season's WNBA
April 17 2024 11:24 AM
17 Celebs Who Are Out & Proud of Their Trans & Nonbinary Kids
November 30 2023 10:41 AM
Which State Is the Queerest? These Are the States With the Most LGBTQ+ People
December 11 2023 10:00 AM
These 27 Senate Hearing Room Gay Sex Jokes Are Truly Exquisite
December 17 2023 3:33 PM
10 Cheeky and Homoerotic Photos From Bob Mizer's Nude Films
November 18 2023 10:05 PM
42 Flaming Hot Photos From 2024's Australian Firefighters Calendar
November 10 2023 6:08 PM
These Are the 5 States With the Smallest Percentage of LGBTQ+ People
December 13 2023 9:15 AM
Here are the 15 gayest travel destinations in the world: report
March 26 2024 9:23 AM
Watch Now: Advocate Channel
Trending Stories & News
For more news and videos on advocatechannel.com, click here.
Trending Stories & News
For more news and videos on advocatechannel.com, click here.
Latest Stories
George Santos's latest money-making plot? Reviving his drag persona, Kitara Ravache
April 29 2024 5:12 PM
Pride
Yahoo FeedHow did the Biden administration just make health care fairer for LGBTQ+ people?
April 29 2024 1:54 PM
Candace Parker, queer WNBA legend, is retiring 'privately with the ones I love'
April 29 2024 12:42 PM
Tennessee parents beg judge not to release school shooter’s journals publicly
April 29 2024 11:58 AM
12 photos exploring the lives of Thailand’s Ladyboy community
April 29 2024 11:55 AM