Two AIDS patients surnamed Yin (left) and Yan, who were hired to collect debts or threaten recalcitrant residents in forced demolition cases, tell reporters their stories on December 25 in Runan, Henan Province. Photo: CFP

AIDS threat





Corrupt chain





Cui Hong (pseudonym), 48, an AIDS sufferer since 2008, turned himself in to the Henan police after hiding in the wild for two days."I received a phone call on the night of December 22 telling me to run away as the 'AIDS demolition' thing has escalated," Cui was quoted as saying by the Xinhua News Agency on December 28.Cui was under detention for joining a notorious "AIDS demolition team" in Nanyang, Henan Province that threatened to infect residents who refuse to move out of their houses.The six-member team, which was organized by a local construction project leader under a real estate developing company named Yi'an, harassed residents who refused to sign demolition contracts by setting off firecrackers in the compound at midnight and shooting residents' windows with slingshots and steel ball bearings. The demolition team even brandished their AIDS identity cards, used for patients to get medicine and treatment in clinics, in an attempt to intimidate residents.The incident triggered public outcry after a piece of graffiti reading "AIDS demolition team" went viral on Weibo in early December. The sign was reportedly found written in a community slated for demolition under a government plan.After both domestic and foreign media widely covered the story, the local government issued disciplinary warnings to four government officials for dereliction of duty, and local police detained five suspects and are pursing more, Xinhua reported.But this was not the end of the story. Xinhua revealed that officials from local government organs including district housing and construction bureau were allegedly on the company's "bonus distribution list" and some other officials and police officers went to several banquets held by the company.In Henan Province, known for having a high number of HIV/AIDS carriers infected through illegal blood banks, organizing those sufferers in groups to threaten others as part of forced demolition or debt collection has reportedly been common for many years.A police officer from Nanyang told the Beijing News that HIV/AIDS patients have been used in demolition and debt collection for over a decade.In debt collections, the patients would follow the debtors every day and take out their AIDS identity cards. If the debtors still refused to pay, the team would spit at their houses or threaten to infect them with a syringe containing red liquid.Most of those patients were from places like Zhumadian and Pingyu in Henan, and they were also taken to big cities like Wuhan in Hubei Province or Guangzhou in Guanggong Province to collect debts for some firms, the police officer said.Wang Xiangcai (pseudonym), an AIDS patient from Zhumadian, has repeatedly been a member of the demolition and debt collection teams since 2009, the Beijing News reported.He knew at least 300 HIV/AIDS patients through medical training organized by the local government that mainly taught patients to take their daily medicine. They would contact each other if one of them was reached by some construction companies or debt collecting companies.Wang recalled one of the demolition cases when he and other 17 AIDS patients in two villages were hired to help a construction team in 2009. The local residents have formed a human wall to stop the construction company from work when Wang arrived, and the crowds immediately dispersed after Wang and his friends took out their AIDS identity cards and tried to grab their arms."I was so scared when one of the patients tried to pull me, and I ran away immediately," a villager who joined the human wall recalled his experience to the Beijing News.In that case, the construction company allegedly offered 100,000 yuan to deal with the incident. Wang and his friends earned 100 yuan plus free meals and a pack of cigarettes for one day of work.Besides Wang and his friends, dozens of AIDS patients from other nearby townships were also hired at the same salary of 100 yuan to help the construction team at the scene.For debt collection, Wang and his friends' business expanded to Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. Collections involving a small number of money usually need five or six patients, but some cases involving the recovery of large sums would require a team of about 10 patients.Wang said he survived by doing odd jobs. Collecting debts or helping demolishing by using his AIDS identity was relatively easy and profitable. Since most patients were too sick to do physical work, and lacked education or funds, the only way to support their family was by taking advantage of their identity.In Henan's Runan county alone, there were over 400 AIDS patients and less than 100 HIV carriers as of the end of 2010, Yan Haoxuan, with the local health bureau, told the Beijing News.Although the construction project leader in Nanyang AIDS demolition case denied that the construction company Yi'an was involved, two lists found in Yi'an's offices by Xinhua reporters may reveal a rather different story.The lists showed the Yi'an company was only granted a project planning certificate, and had no qualification in land use and construction permit, Xinhua said.The records also showed officials had attended banquets given by the company and received gifts. The Nanyang government released investigation results on Tuesday, revealing that 25 civil servants attended a Spring Festival party organized by Yi'an in early 2014, and each received a voucher worth 500 yuan, thepaper.cn reported.One employee commented anonymously on the effects of such ties."In practice, the government has no money to resettle the residents, so they would find real estate developers first to use their money for the resettlement. Then the developers would demolish the site and apply for the related certificates for construction at the same time," the employee said.Cases of forced demolition have been common in recent years. The Ministry of Land and Resources issued an urgent notice in 2011 demanding provincial level government to inspect the demolition procedures and resident resettlement process and saying that illegal demolition or resettlement would be seriously punished.