China for long has been accused of organ harvesting from its minorities as it illegally runs one of the largest organ transplant programs in the world. The official source of these organs have been the death-row prisoners, but in the background a big stack illegally comes from people incarcerated basis of their political or religious beliefs, mainly Uighur Muslims from Xinjiang and people practicing Falun Gong, a local religious sect of China.
Many Rights watch dogs have accused China of horrific crimes against the Uighurs and Falun Gong practitioners in the past and forced organ harvesting have been one of them. In March 2024, during a US congressional committee meeting, a report was presented that claimed that China has been gathering genetic information from its Muslim Uighur citizens in order to meet the high demand of organ transplant coming from Muslim medical tourists native to the Gulf states.
In wake of atrocities by the People Republic of China, the United States had introduced “Stop Forced Organ Harvesting Act” under the H.R. 1154 bill that was passed in US senate on March 27, 2023. This act aims to support and protect political prisoners, Falun Gong practitioners, and Muslim Uighur citizens from the forced organ harvesting trade. The H.R. 1154 bill was passed satisfactorily by 413 to 2 votes in the House and awaits action by the US Senate against forced organ harvesting in China. It authorizes sanctions against individuals and entities complicit in the practice, including banning the export of organ transplant surgery equipment and a halt to the training of organ transplant surgeons.
The flourishing organ trade business has been prevalent in China since 1990’s in the name of medical tourism. It is astonishing to know that wait time for an organ transplant in China is relatively shorter as compared elsewhere in the world. While in China an organ transplant patient has to wait maximum upto two months, in comparison, in other major established countries like the Unites States and Canada the wait time can go up to 2 to 4 years.
Another disturbing fact is that there is huge discrepancy when it comes to source of the organs in China. As per a US congressional report in 2005, up to 95% of organ transplants in China were sourced from inmates, but the number of transplants done never justified this figure. In 2006, Amnesty International reported 1,770 executions done in China and the high-end figure was closer to 8,000, with some of the cases rejected due to prevalent ailments in prisoners. Still the question arises how China was able to match up the high demand of organs in those days suggesting that there was always a secondary source.
In 2016, every Uighur in Xinjiang was asked to submit iris scans, blood typing, fingerprinting and DNA as directed by Chinese officials on pretext of medical checkups. But as the news spread the human rights activists tracked this to be an act of data haul to match overseas requirement of organs. In 2019, a “People’s” China Tribunal” was established to investigate the situation basis human testimonies and it was revealed that special fast-track human organ lanes had been set aside at Xinjiang’s Kashgar airport to meet high overseas demand, and that Uighurs were the targeted lot.
Later, the China Tribunal report regarding forced organ harvesting from the Uighurs was pointed out in various press and media channels. While investigating Korean organ tourism to Tianjin, it was discovered that Saudi nations had funded for matching organs for its organ receivers and China had made this a big source of capital inflow.
The independently run China Tribunal concluded that in China forced organ harvesting from prisoners of conscience has been practiced for a substantial period of time involving a very substantial number of victims.”
Recently, Uighur-American politician Salih Hudayar had lambasted China’s evil practices and posted on X, stating “China has inaugurated a “Children’s Organ Transplant Centre.” As part of the Uighur genocide, China has been harvesting Uighurs’ organs and selling them as “halal organs.” “Since 2014, nearly a million Uighur children have been forcibly separated from their families. Is this an another step in China’s ongoing Uighur genocide and notorious organ harvesting practices?”
Uighur’s vulnerability to organ harvesting has also come to fore after the political change by UK lawmakers over new procurement legislation following Brexit. Moreover, the World Medical Association has also singled out China in Nairobi for its treatment of Uighurs Muslims in the Xinjiang region.
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