Chinese authorities are cracking down on gay clubs, saunas and cruising grounds, trying to clean up Beijing before the Olympics.  

Wan Yanhai, one of the most outspoken AIDS activists in China, says such a huge crackdown on gay-frequented establishments/spaces within such a short period of time is unheard of in China, and therefore it is raising alarm bells.

In a message circulating among gay and AIDS-related groups in mainland China, he writes that gay life in China has been enjoying pretty much unfettered development over the last decade, but the authorities may now see a need to rein in the unbridled growth. He detailed recent mass roundups in Beijing and Shanghai.

On March 17 police officers detained gay people using Dongdan Park, in the East District of Beijing. They had to show their ID, their details were checked on the computer and they were photographed. Some who did not show up in the computer records and refused to be photographed, were taken for further interrogation. This went on for several days.

On March 20 more than 10 carloads of police raided Oasis club, the most popular gay bathhouse in Beijing. Customers were not released for more than 30 hours, but staff members remain in detention. Staff at another Oasis bathhouse near Dongsishitiao Bridge, were arrested the next day. Both bathhouses remain shut down.

Police are also said to have entrapped and arrested more than 80 male sex workers using gay chat rooms in Beijing, and similar raids and closures have taken place in Shanghai.
“Are the crackdowns being executed as part of a larger ‘spring cleaning exercise’ ahead of the Olympics so China would be able to project to the world its best image, whatever that means to the powers that be?” asks Wan Yanhai.

Details: http://shanghaiist.com/2008/03/31/a_big_gay_crack.php

by DOUG POLLARD