positions He and Rofel I Living with HIV/AIDS in China 521 To expose or to be exposed,then,means having one's HIV status disclosed to the public against one's wishes.Qin Mei told me about her extreme expe- rience of being exposed by the media.Qin was a woman in her early thirties. She was from a small town in Yunnan province.She had a middle-school education and had been influenced by her artist father and was very good at painting.Both Qin and her father had been selling paintings for a liv- ing.I met Qin at an AIDS meeting in Beijing in 2003 and we shared a room.About fifteen infected people came to share experiences and feelings in the four-day meeting.I noticed that Qin kept quiet at the meeting while other participants were busy sharing.In the evening I was always busy visit- ing from room to room catching the opportunity to reminisce with former informants from all over the country.Qin never wanted to come with me to other rooms to meet people.Once I came back to our room after midnight, she was still awake and smoking.We started chatting.Qin told me that she never wanted to come to the AIDS meeting before because she had had a bad experience of being exposed. She explained that she had become infected with HIV through drug use. After that she used her painting skills to run art workshops and manage a"halfway home"for drug users with HIV.Qin told me that the halfway home had been running well until a central television station came and shot a show there.That show destroyed the project.The television staff told them they wanted to learn about their lives;they promised not to broadcast it.So Qin allowed them to come into their halfway home to shoot.But later she saw the program broadcast on television.The program showed her face as well as those of the other residents in the halfway home.Qin said the television program exposed them all.The residents there all hated her and some people even wanted to kill her because they thought she had betrayed them by allowing the television program to expose them.They could no lon- ger live and work there,as the television show had ruined the project.All the residents left.Qin said that since then,she could never trust the media anymore. Qin was reluctantly shot by a television program.However,the program discussed neither the interests nor the vulnerabilities of infected people.The program staff did not care what happened to these infected people after the show had aired.Evidently some media do not consider seriously that Published by Duke University PressHe and Rofel ❘ Living with HIV/AIDS in China 521 To expose or to be exposed, then, means having one’s HIV status disclosed to the public against one’s wishes. Qin Mei told me about her extreme expe￾rience of being exposed by the media. Qin was a woman in her early thirties. She was from a small town in Yunnan province. She had a middle-school education and had been influenced by her artist father and was very good at painting. Both Qin and her father had been selling paintings for a liv￾ing. I met Qin at an AIDS meeting in Beijing in 2003 and we shared a room. About fifteen infected people came to share experiences and feelings in the four-day meeting. I noticed that Qin kept quiet at the meeting while other participants were busy sharing. In the evening I was always busy visit￾ing from room to room catching the opportunity to reminisce with former informants from all over the country. Qin never wanted to come with me to other rooms to meet people. Once I came back to our room after midnight, she was still awake and smoking. We started chatting. Qin told me that she never wanted to come to the AIDS meeting before because she had had a bad experience of being exposed. She explained that she had become infected with HIV through drug use. After that she used her painting skills to run art workshops and manage a “halfway home” for drug users with HIV. Qin told me that the halfway home had been running well until a central television station came and shot a show there. That show destroyed the project. The television staff told them they wanted to learn about their lives; they promised not to broadcast it. So Qin allowed them to come into their halfway home to shoot. But later she saw the program broadcast on television. The program showed her face as well as those of the other residents in the halfway home. Qin said the television program exposed them all. The residents there all hated her and some people even wanted to kill her because they thought she had betrayed them by allowing the television program to expose them. They could no lon￾ger live and work there, as the television show had ruined the project. All the residents left. Qin said that since then, she could never trust the media anymore. Qin was reluctantly shot by a television program. However, the program discussed neither the interests nor the vulnerabilities of infected people. The program staff did not care what happened to these infected people after the show had aired. Evidently some media do not consider seriously that positions Published by Duke University Press