Chinese HIV/AIDS advocate and retired physician Gao Yaojie last week was put under house arrest by Chinese authorities to prevent her from visiting the U.S. next month to accept an award from the group Vital Voices Global Partnership.
According to Gao’s friend and Beijing-based AIDS advocate Hu Jia, Chinese authorities from the eastern province Henan told Gao not to attend the Vital Voices awards ceremony, the AP/Washington Post reports. When Gao refused, she was put under house arrest to prevent her from traveling to Beijing to apply for a U.S. visa, Hu said. Gao’s friends and family were blocked from visiting her or were questioned before being given permission to visit, and her daughter is under police surveillance, Hu said.