With only four months to go until the Beijing Olympics, China is already showing itself to be a world leader, for all the wrong reasons.  Recent figures have shown them to be number one for executions and now it would seem they lead the planet in the race to see who can pollute it the most.  As the Olympic torch relay and Tibetan crackdown have proven, China is no slouch when it comes to long marches to silence dissent. 

It's record against it's GLBT population is also atricious. Like most Chinese homosexuals, Han Yue strives to keep his secret from all but a close circle of gay friends. Like others, his biggest fear is that someone, someday, might find out he is gay.

``I've lived with this deep fear of discovery for years, and it knocks all the self-confidence out of you,'' he says, looking much older than his 32 years. ``Now I just feel inferior.''

Han Yue, a pseudonym, has been arrested twice. Once the police beat him and then informed his boss, costing him a promising job as a clerk at the Ministry of Culture.

Tags: beijing olympics, China, gay, homophobia