Photo by Songgang Pan
By Shujuan Lin
Beijing, November 20 - When hugely popular Chinese actor Pu Cunxin revealed to the public that he had slipped a box of condoms into his 25-year-old daughter’s suitcase when she was heading for the United States, it caused a storm.
In a long and lively on-line debate, many people accused Pu of encouraging his daughter to engage in pre-marital sex, which is traditionally frowned on in Chinese society.
A majority however applauded the action of Pu, 55, who was appointed China’s first-ever official ambassador of its HIV/AIDS campaign in 2000. One on-line comment read: “Imagine HIV/AIDS as bullets on a battlefield, there is nothing wrong with a parent preparing first aid for his child going on that field.”
Pu, well known in his country for his long career in films, television and the theatre, said: “Sex is good, everyone should enjoy it, but we must know the rules. Proper use of condoms is not only for self protection but also a responsible act for the other person.”
As a father and an anti-AIDS campaigner, Pu said he believed parents could and should play an important role in educating their children on the issue.
Since his appointment Pu has worked tirelessly to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS in his country of 1.3 billion people. The actor has his cartoon image featured on packs of condoms being distributed free across the country.
The immensity of his task was highlighted by a recent survey by the United Nations Population Fund showing that ignorance on HIV/AIDS ran deep among the country’s young generation, particularly those who migrated from the countryside to the cities to help fuel the nation’s booming economy.
Statistics from the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC) indicate that youths and migrant workers make up a large portion of the 640,000 reported HIV cases nationwide.
Among 2,000 migrant youths aged 14 to 25 surveyed in five Chinese cities, only 12 percent were knowledgeable about HIV/AIDS; 72 percent had had unprotected sex in their first sexual encounter, while on the other hand more than 40 percent would not share a telephone with an HIV-infected person.
It was no accident that Pu made his comments about his daughter while chatting in a bar with dozens of young people, mainly migrant workers in the southern Chinese industrial city of Shenzhen, across the border from Hong Kong.
“Migrant youths are those most vulnerable to HIV and sexually transmitted diseases,” said Zhang Lei, an HIV/AIDS specialist at the U.N. Children’s Fund (UNICEF) office for China. “They face all kinds of temptations in the cities. Their youth and inexperience keep them from acting rationally.”
“The situation will become nasty very soon if we do not work to prevent this social group from contracting HIV,” warns Wei Nanfang from China CDC.
Shujuan Lin is a journalist with China Daily newspaper. This article is part of a series from alumni of the Thomson Reuters Foundation HIV/AIDS reporting course in Bangkok, 10-14 November. Any opinions are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.