TAIPEI, Dec 8 (AFP) - Taiwan's Vice President Annette Lu provoked uproar among gay rights campaigners and politicians here Monday after suggesting AIDS was God's punishment for homosexuality.
"Some said the reason why AIDS spreads is because God cannot stand it any more," television reports showed Lu saying at an AIDS awareness event at the weekend.
"God felt it's time to mete out punishment, or there would not be any difference between men and animals," Lu said, urging the public to practise safe sex.
The Presidential Office expressed regret over the report Monday, saying the comments had been misinterpreted.
"Instead, Vice President Lu asked the public not to discriminate AIDS patients," the office said in a statement.
The remarks were severely condemned by local gay rights groups.
"For long AIDS and homosexuals have been wrongly blamed ... If she really said that, then she would be just one of those who attempted to smear the image of homosexuals," Chan Ming-chou of Taiwan Gay and Lesbian Association told AFP.
Parliamentarian Chou Hsi-wei from the opposition People First Party also blasted Lu, who is the convenor of a human rights consultation group that falls under the Presidential Office.
"How can our vice president say this? Just think -- some of the AIDS victims are children," the legislator said.
Even members of the vice president's own Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) appeared embarrassed.
"She should not have said (it)...But I think it was a slip of the tounge," DPP parliamentarian Lin Yu-sheng said.
Taiwan is generally tolerant of homosexuality. Its cabinet is drafting a bill to legalise gay marriages and recognise the right of homosexual couples to adopt children which, if approved, would make the island the first region in Asia to legalise same-sex marriages.
The final draft of the bill is expected to be ready for parliamentary review this month.
The island has a low rate of AIDS infection compared with other countries in the Asia-Pacific region, where AIDS kills a person every minute, according to the World Health Organisation.
A total of 5,550 people in Taiwan, including 5,125 Taiwan citizens and 425 foreigners, were listed as AIDS virus carriers from 1984 to November 30, 2003, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
It says 907 domestic AIDS patients have died of the disease.
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