On the eve of the Shanghai Expo, China has lifted its two-decade prohibition on entry by foreigners living with HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted diseases and leprosy. China's State Council announced the repeal on April  27^th, saying that the government had concluded that the ban has little or no effect in combating epidemics within China's borders.

By Meg Davis and Josh Clarkson

A crackdown on sex workers and related businesses in April and May has resulted in over a thousand arrests and the shuttering of hundreds of businesses throughout Beijing, according to news reports.

His small nongovernmental organization, Yirenping, has enjoyed remarkable success in helping HIV and hepatitis B sufferers fight discrimination by Chinese employers, universities, and government departments. For this challenge to the authorities, though, the group is paying a high price.

Last year, police raided Yirenping's Beijing office and confiscated all its publicity material and legal aid brochures - hence the empty bookshelves. In March, officials subjected their accounts to an unusually prolonged investigation and warned them of more to come.

Now, new government regulations are starving Yirenping and other controversial NGOs of funds.

"I am very worried about our future," says Mr. Yu, Yirenping's chief coordinator. "I'm afraid we may have to close."

The following is an eyewitness account of the demonstrations in downtown Bangkok over the past several days. In the wake of lost lives and massive damage done to infrastructure and buildings in the area, the government has claimed success in "taking back the area" from the Red Shirt demonstrators. Much media attention has focused on the property damages, often overshadowing the human cost of the clearing operation. Images of sabotaged infrastructure have been featured extensively and repeatedly to vilify the Red Shirts and justify one of the most brutal suppressions in Thailand's history. This piece outlines the gulf that still exists between the government and the demonstrators, and the unresolved anger on both sides, fueled by an incomplete narrative in the media. The lingering anger and questions in the minds of many Thais must be addressed if the country is to move beyond this current tragedy.

Migrant workers represent one of the most vulnerable and disenfranchised groups in the world. Recognizing this acute vulnerability, in 1990 the UN General Assembly adopted the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (ICRMW). In the 20 years since, while some progress has been made to strengthen the protection regime at various levels, in practice, migrant workers remain largely unprotected. This is especially the case in the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) region, where the Convention has been ratified by only one country (the Philippines) and signed by just two others (Cambodia and Indonesia).

By Karyn Kaplan

Note from Asia Catalyst: On May 20-22, Asia Catalyst will join with Thai AIDS Treatment Action Group and Korekata AIDS Law Center to hold a training for Chinese and Thai AIDS NGOs in Bangkok. We've been communicating with Karyn Kaplan of TTAG to figure out if the training could still go forward, given the protests. Karyn wrote us an email describing the situation on May 4. Since then, the New York Times reports that divisions are emerging between protest leaders as the state again threatens to use force to end the protests. Karyn gave us permission to reprint her email to us - a picture of the scene in the protest zone.