Sitting in a bare office behind an anonymous steel door, Yu Fangqiang feels under siege.
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."
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