people.33 Only in the 2014 UNAIDS guidelines do the indicators for sex workers have
transgender as a possible disaggregation, in addition to female/male. 34
Perceptions of Transgender People in China
Some studies estimate that transgender people comprise 0.1% to 1.1% of the world’s
adult population.35 In the Asia-Pacific region, an estimated 0.3% of the population
is transgender. Based on these percentages, there are an estimated 9.5 million
transgender people in the Asia-Pacific Region.36 Mainland China, Taiwan and Hong
Kong lack official statistics on their transgender populations. Although not the only
indication of the transgender population, we do know that in mainland China, an
estimated 1,000 to 2,000 people have undergone sex reassignment surgeries (SRS)37,
with a further 100,000 to 400,000 considering the option.38 In Taiwan, doctors estimate
that more than 1,000 people have undergone SRS. 39 In Hong Kong, some 200 to 300
people have undergone gender afirming surgeries, with about 100 having SRS in local
government hospitals.40
Estimated Size of the Transgender Population by Location
Mainland China
General population
size
Estimated transgender
population size
Hong Kong
Taiwan
1,360,720,000a
7,234,800 (000)b
7,234,800 (000)c
4,082,160
21,705
a
As of the end of 2013. National Bureau of Statistics of China. “Statistical Communique of the People’s Republic of China on the 2013 National Economic and Social
b
Statistics as of mid-2014. The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Census and Statistics Department.
c
70,231
As of September 2014. National Statistics, Republic of China (Taiwan). http://eng.stat.gov.tw/mp.asp?mp=5 (accessed December 19, 2014).
Development,” [中华人民共和国2013年国民经济和社会发展统计公报]. February 24, 2014.
http://www.censtatd.gov.hk/hkstat/sub/so20.jsp (accessed December 19, 2014).
33 Ibid.
34 UNAIDS, “ Global AIDS Response Progress Reporting 2014: Construction of Core Indicators for monitoring the 2011 United Nations Political
Declaration on HIV and AIDS,” January 2014. http://www.unaids.org/sites/default/files/media_asset/GARPR_2014_guidelines_en_0.pdf (accessed July
19, 2014).
35 UNAIDS, “The Gap Report”.
36 APTN, UNDP. “Lost in Transition: Transgender People, Rights and HIV Vulnerability in the Asia-Pacific Region”.
37 Surgical interventions to change one’s body so as to resemble a body of the opposite sex as closely as possible. SRS is usually preceded by a
minimum period of hormone therapy to induce secondary sex.
38 “Sex Change? Here are the rules”. China Daily, June 17, 2009.http://english.peopledaily.com.
cn/90001/90776/90882/6679958.html (accessed July 19, 2014); Liu Guosheng. “The developmental history and present conditions of transsexuals”.
39 Liu Guosheng, ibid.
40 Transgender Resource Center. Gossip Boys and Girls--Domestic Transgender Reading Manual. 2012. http://tgr.org.hk/tgr.org.hk/images/stories/docs/
booket_201202s.pdf (accessed July 19, 2014).
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