 In China, like elsewhere, HIV/AIDS activists have played an important role in promoting public awareness and education about the disease, helping to prevent discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS and highlighting factors which may impede efforts to check the spread of the disease.Compared to other social movements, the Chinese government has historically been more tolerant of HIV/AIDS-focused NGOs and civil society organizations, relying on them to reach out to marginalized groups most vulnerable to the disease.The government at all administrative levels has also often sought to suppress or minimize activism perceived as sensitive, obscene, or a threat to stability, including that related to HIV/AIDS.