Closed School, Closed Minds

China may finally be coming clean about its burgeoning AIDS problem, but health officials in the ravaged province of Henan are still behaving as if the epidemic were a dirty secret. Last month, more than 100 armed police stormed the NGO-run Orchid Orphan School in the city of Shangqiu, a boarding school for AIDS orphans (some of whom are HIV-positive), and whisked the students away on a truck. Two volunteers were detained for "causing social disorder." The local health bureau says the school was closed because it never applied for an operating license. But school founder Li Dan says he...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!