CHINA'S first UNAIDS Goodwill Ambassador James Chau is a busy man these days, what with marking International UNAIDS Day in Sydney on Wednesday and most days presenting the nightly news in English on China's national broadcaster, CCTV.

The 34-year-old Cambridge-educated journalist and activist travels around the world and in China to get out the message that HIV-AIDS is an urgent issue - and that Chinese people need to become comfortable talking about it.

This is the 30th year since the first AIDS case was identified.

Another message that he conveys with urgency is that Chinese young people need to get involved, speak out and make a difference in society.

"AIDS is about you and me. I think what we can do most effectively to support the national and global response is to talk about it and by doing so making it part of a normal conversation," he said in a recent e-mail interview with Shanghai Daily.

"Parents should be open with their children about sex before their children become sexually active - and they should be fully aware that if they don't, their sons an daughters will be learning it off their friends and classmates," he said.

Businesses must integrate HIV awareness into their everyday vocabulary, not just because a healthier workforce makes for a stronger performance, but also because the private sector has the skills, networks and ideas that can help transform the way AIDS is approached, he said.

"In China, slogans and messages about compassion for people living with HIV is great, but first and foremost we need to take those words off a billboard and really apply them to our lives," he said. "Compassion requires action. And true love means reaching out and demonstrating what it entails."

Chau was named China's first UNAIDS ambassador in 2009, joining a number of celebrities in that role, such as actress Naomi Watts, German footballer Michael Ballack, Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway and Princess Stephanie of Monaco. In that capacity he has traveled extensively, in April to Mali in West Africa, the region hit the hardest by HIV-AIDS.

British-born

Chau, who has worked for CCTV for eight years in Beijing, was born in the UK to Chinese and Indonesian parents. He lived in the UK for 22 years and graduated from Cambridge. He studied piano at the Royal Academy of Music and worked in newspaper journalism before moving to Hong Kong where he worked for three years. There he joined Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB Pearl) as a reporter and then presenter. He moved to Beijing and joined CCTV in 2004, hosting regular news and business programs including "World Insight" and "News Hour."

He emphasized that he got the CCTV job on his own, calling and applying to the editor in charge, not relying on connections and string-pulling, which is common.

"I want young people to know that I'm an ordinary person and you don't need guangxi (connections) with big leaders to do something. If you don't have the opportunity, create your own opportunity," Chau said.

In September he attended the One Young World 2001 Summit in Switzerland, hosting discussions about the changing media landscape, global health and the environment.

At the summit he had what he called the most touching moment of his life, meeting 21-year-old Ugandan, Innocent Opwonya, a former child soldier. Rebels had killed his father and abducted him, forcing him to become a virtual slave bearing arms for 11 years. He finally escaped.

"When I saw him I recalled my own childhood when I had protection but he had nothing and his life was violated," Chau said. Opwonya now attends university in Kampala, Uganda, and has opened a center for orphaned and homeless children.

Asked why he became an AIDS activist, Chau said, "If my children or my grandchildren ask me what did you do before? And I said, well, I used to read the news - I would be ashamed if I didn't use my status and influence to transform the world we're living in ... I've always asked God to use my life for everybody."

He then contacted UN officials in Beijing and offered to do language training for the UN's Beijing office and set up press conferences. Instead, he was offered the job of Goodwill Ambassador.

The landscape is far different today than when Chinese actor Pu Cunxin and singer Peng Liyuan became AIDS spokespersons for China's Ministry of Health in 2000 and 2001.

They were among the first to take a stand and fight widespread discrimination against people infected with HIV and AIDS patients. They had a lot more to lose by putting their reputations on the line for an unpopular cause - stigmatized people suffering from an infection linked in the public mind to drug use, promiscuity and homosexuality.

"Nowadays more and more people are talking about the disease, not only activists but also ordinary people" Chau said. "The country's top leaders have shown their concern and we have to make sure it remains part of the mainstream debate."

Word of mouth

Although he is aided by the best in communications technology and personally is equipped with Blackberry and iPad, Chau says word of mouth is still the most important means of communication. TV, radio and the Internet are amplifiers.

He was reminded of this when he visited Mali as UNAIDS Goodwill Ambassador with Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway. There they joined a call for young people everywhere to lead a new response to HIV and AIDS.

As they traveled through the impoverished, landlocked country in West Africa, the Internet was unstable or nonexistent and sometimes telephones didn't work. That's why the UN travels with satellite phones.

"This reminded me that though we talk about the power of the web and social media, we have to remember much of the world remains out of reach of the Internet," he said.

"We will be in great danger if we keep talking about gadgets and devices when many people in Africa and Asia still don't have access to these smart phones and devices."

But activism extends beyond HIV-AIDS.

Talking with Shanghai Daily at the youth summit, Chau said ordinary people, not only leaders and celebrity activists, can help change the world. He urged young people to seize every possibility to express their views and let their voices be heard.

"Young people in China have to express their voice because what we say and decide instantly affects everybody and it's crucial for young people to know that they're special, not just one in 1.3 billion," he said.

"Each one of us can be an activist, whether it's for children, for neighbors, for parents, If you can make a change for one person, that's also incredible."

At state-run CCTV there's a commitment to covering world affairs "to the same extent and with the same quality as any other station that has an international presence," he said. "Our advantage is not just being able to cover China like no other country can, but also being part of Asia at a time when this region is earning a new voice. "

Asked if there's an important question that no one asks him, Chau replied, "I've been asked all kinds of questions, but no one really asks me if I am happy ... I think that's because they know that most of the time I am. Very. Life has been incredibly kind and gentle to me and I walk around all day knowing how fortunate I am. I wish the same for everyone. So, I guess they don't need to ask if I am happy because they can see it."