By Yang Wanli

An anti-discrimination activist is demanding to know whether the government has honored its promise to change laws prohibiting entry to foreigners suffering HIV/ AIDS.

Lu Jun, a Beijing-based activist working for the rights of people with physical and mental disabilities, sent a letter to the Ministry of Health on Monday, requesting that China's visa rules for foreigners be clarified as soon as possible .

"Some foreigners with AIDS, hepatitis B and other diseases are worried that they will be denied a Chinese visa," Lu said.

"Our immigration laws are out-of-date, and they need to be updated on time."

The Ministry of Health said in 2007 that it would lift its entry ban on HIV-positive foreigners. However, two years later, China is still among about a dozen countries worldwide that have such a ban.

According to the current Implementation Rules of the Law on Control of the Entry & Exit of Aliens enacted in 2004, foreigners who suffer from mental diseases, leprosy, HIV/AIDS, venereal diseases, tuberculosis and infectious diseases are not be permitted to enter China.

An officer surnamed Song of the Beijing Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau said yesterday that he was not aware of any change to the regulations on China's visa approval rules.

An employee responsible for medical checks of immigrants at the Beijing Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau said that foreigners who wanted to stay in China for more than one year were required to have medical check, including AIDS, hepatitis B and other diseases.

Foreigners who stayed in China for less than a year were only asked to fill in health forms, which ask if the applicant has any pre-existing conditions.

"Most foreigners refuse to tell lies. But if they didn't lie, they would not be allowed to be in China," said Wan Yanhai, who is also an activist for the rights of HIV/ AIDS sufferers.

Lu said he had not received a response from the Ministry of Health until yesterday.

According to statistics released by the Ministry of Health, China has more than 70 million HIV/ AIDS sufferers, of which 44 million people might not know that they have been infected.

The Ministry of Health didn't return calls for comments.

-China Daily/Asia News Network