Epoch Times: Chinese Regime Admits To Organ Harvesting From Prisoners

The Epoch Times

Jan 24, 2007

A reenactment of an organ harvesting surgery (The Epoch Times)

CHINA--In the middle of January, 2007, the BBC Chinese website published an interview regarding organ harvesting in China. For the first time, China's Ministry of Health spokesman Mao Qunan admitted to the practice of organ harvesting from executed prisoners in China, which he had publicly denied before. However, Mao evaded key evidence of organ harvesting from Falun Gong practitioners and denied that accusation.

This interview was conducted by BBC senior reporter Hua Ying. An Epoch Times journalist also did an interview with Dr. Wang Wenyi, who protested at the White House during communist regime leader Hu Jintao's visit to the United States on April 20, 2006 regarding the BBC's interview

The Chinese regime has had a long history of harvesting organs from executed prisoners, and an equally long history of denying this practice. In November of 2005, the regime's Deputy Minister of Ministry of Public Health, Huang Jiefu, admitted to using organs taken from executed prisoners, at an international conference in Manila.

Later in April 2006, Mao stated that organs from executed prisoners constituted a very small portion of organs used in China's organ transplant industry.

In November 2006, Minister Huang again admitted in a conference in Guangzhou that most of the organs used in transplants, except for a small portion from organ donors in traffic accidents, came from executed prisoners. His statement was quoted by newspapers in China.

When the reporter, Hua Ying, questioned Mao on the above statements, he reluctantly answered: "I don't have anything to add to this question' you have explained it very clearly."

In the whole interview, Mao kept denying the existence of organ harvesting from Falun Gong practitioners in China and denied the necessity for international organizations going into China for a thorough and independent investigation.

"Mao's admission to harvesting organs from executed prisoners does not explain the widespread and unusual expediency of organ matching for transplants in Mainland hospitals."

Regarding Mao's statement, Dr. Wang Wenyi said: "Under pressure from international societies, the regime admitted to harvesting organs from executed prisoners in order to shift attention away from the harvesting of organs from Falun Gong practitioners. The regime continues to cover up the truth, because Mao's admission to harvesting organs from executed prisoners does not explain the widespread and unusual expediency of organ matching for transplants in Mainland hospitals."

Wang further explains that after the Mainland hospital receives payment, the transplant surgery could be performed in as soon as three days to a week. This means that a few days later, there would be a "prisoner" not only with the same blood type and matching tissue as the patient (who paid an enormous fee for the procedure,) but also this criminal would just happen to be scheduled for execution at that time, and would also be willing to donate his organs.

In the BBC program, Hua Ying also interviewed vice-chairman of the China Medical Organ Transplant Association Shi Bingyi. Shi denied that he had made the statement that "China had conducted over 90,000 organ transplants in total up to now (beginning of 2006;) there were nearly 10,000 kidney transplants and nearly 4,000 liver transplants performed in last year (2005) alone." This statement was published in Chinese by Health Paper Net (2006-03-02)�"the official media outlet of the Ministry of Public Health. The Web page of this report has been deleted from its original site but can still be traced back in Internet archives.

The above-mentioned report from Health Paper Net's Internet archive. (The Epoch Times)

In the Report Into Allegations Of Organ Harvesting Of Falun Gong Practitioners In China, the authors David Matas and David Kilgour used the above information to conclude that "the source for 41,500 transplants for the six-year period from 2000 to 2005 is unexplained" and "the allegation of organ harvesting from Falun Gong practitioners provides an answer."

Shi also denied knowledge of the number of organ transplants performed in China, and refused to give an estimated number. He accused the Health Paper Net of making a false report. When reporter Hua Ying challenged Shi and Mao that the Health Paper was actually the official paper for the Chinese Ministry of Health, both of them made no comments.

Regarding Shi's replies, Dr Wang Wenyi said, "It is a joke that the vice-chairman of China Medical Organ Transplant Association does not know the figures for China organ transplants. I have visited officials from the health departments of more than 30 counties and districts. All of them are very clearly aware of the transplant data in their areas. How is it possible that Shi "does not know" the most basic data for total transplants carried out in a year? The only explanation is that there are serious issues behind the data that he does not dare to admit."

Contradictory Statements From the Chinese Communist Regime About the Allegations of Organ Harvesting in China

On November 7-9, 2005, at the WHO conference in Manila, Deputy Minister of Public Health, Huang Jiefu, admitted that most of the donors used in organ transplant in China are from executed prisoners.

In March, 2006, the spokesperson for China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Qin Gang, said at a press conference, "It is a complete lie that China harvests organs from executed prisoners for transplant."

On April 10, 2006, in reply to reporter's questions, Mao Qunan, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Public Health, denied that China harvests the organs of executed prisoners for transplants. He said that most of the transplant organs came from voluntary donations from Chinese citizens.

On October 10, 2006, in response to BBC reporter Rupert Wingfield-Hayes' article "Organ sales 'thriving' in China," China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeman Qin Gang said, "Some foreign media fabricate fake news when reporting on organ transplant in China to attack China's legal system."

On November, 2006, Huang Jiefu, the vice-minister of Ministry of Public Health, again admitted at a conference held in Guangzhou that most of the organs used in transplants in China are from executed prisoners.

http://en.epochtimes.com/news/7-1-24/50806.html