With Global Support, Taiwan Legislators Propose New Bill to Combat Forced Live Organ Harvesting

(Minghui.org) Several legislators in Taiwan held a joint press conference on December 9, 2022, to support proposed legislation aiming to stop the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from forcibly harvesting organs from living prisoners of conscience in China. Nearly 20 members of legislative bodies and human rights advocates from Europe, United States, Japan, and South Korea sent videos to support the effort to fight this crime against humanity.

The press conference was held by legislators Mr. Hsu Chih-chieh, Mr. Kuo Kuo-Wen, Mr. Chang Liao Wan-Chien, Ms. Lai Hui-Yuan, Ms. Chen Su-Yueh, Ms. Chen Jiau-Hua, and the Taiwan Association for International Care of Organ Transplants. So far 26 legislators have shown their support for the proposed bill.

Taiwan legislators Mr. Hsu Chih-chieh, Mr. Chang Liao Wan-Chien, Mr. Kuo Kuo-Wen, Ms. Chen Jiau-Hua, Ms. Lai Hui-Yuan, and Ms. Chen Su-Yueh held a press conference on December 9, 2022, one day before International Human Rights Day, to call for the legislature to take action to combat forced organ harvesting.

Fight the Crime of Forced Organ Harvesting from Living People

Mr. Hsu Chih-Chieh, one of the sponsors of the Bill of Combating and Preventing Forced Organ Harvesting, said that the entire world has spoken up against the atrocity of harvesting organs from living people, and legislators from many countries look forward to seeing Taiwan push for the legislation to fight the crime. Taiwan should do its part to prevent live organ harvesting from happening, he said.

Co-sponsor Mr. Kuo Kuo-Wen said that he’s heard about the CCP harvesting organs from living prisoners of conscience for at least ten years. Countless lives have been killed for their organs, and the issue did not get public attention until recently when forced organ harvesting from Taiwanese people in Cambodia made the news. “I think we are late in the legislation to fight organ harvesting,” he said. He intended to expedite the legislation by working with other political parties and the administration to prioritize the bill.

Mr. Kuo agreed to make the “Universal Declaration on Combating and Preventing Forced Organ Harvesting” into law, and criminalize any involvement in the pipeline. He said that the special legislation would list various forms of the crime, and aggravate the punishment for it.

Mr. Chang Liao Wan-Chien said that because of the CCP’s connivance, China’s hospitals continued to harvest organs from living Falun Dafa practitioners against their will. He also took the forced organ harvesting in Cambodia as an example. He said if a civilized country did not take legal actions to prevent the crime from taking place, such a crime would spread to every country. He looks forward to connecting with the international community and enacting laws to stop the killing.

Ms. Lai Hui-Yuan agreed and said that the international community should work together to end this crime against humanity, and form an international legal network to exchange information and stop the atrocity from happening.

The representatives from the Taiwan Association for International Care of Organ Transplants suggested that the Bill of Combating and Preventing Live Organ Harvesting should be applied to the citizens of Taiwan (Republic of China), foreigners, and people from mainland China. Also there should be no statute of limitations (meaning no time limit during which prosecution of offenders must be done).

Political Dignitaries Support the Legislation

David Patrick Paul Alton, member of the UK House of Lords, sent a video to show his support. He said that CCP-sanctioned, large-scale forced organ harvesting has been taking place in China for many years. Falun Dafa practitioners have possibly been the main source of organs. Such crimes against humanity also happened to the Uyghurs, Tibetans, and house Christians.

Alton said that in the British Parliament, both the House of Lords and the House of Commons, regardless of their political views, support the legislation to punish the perpetrators of such heinous crimes.

Hermann Tertsch, member of European Parliament, said that the CCP has committed many heinous crimes, the worst among them being harvesting organs from living people and making ludicrous profits from the illegal sales.

Tertsch said that the world must prosecute this terrible crime, hunt down the perpetrators, and condemn every regime that condones or encourages the crime. The European Parliament has twice passed resolutions calling for the end of forced organ harvesting.

Jennifer Johnson, president of the Academy of Forensic Nursing, said that she supported the “Universal Declaration on Combating and Preventing Forced Organ Harvesting,” because killing vulnerable prisoners of conscience and harvesting and selling their organs is a serious and intolerable violation of basic human rights.

Representatives From South Korea and Japan Expose the CCP’s Crime against Humanity

Cho Kyoung-tae, member of South Korean National Assembly, said that forced organ harvesting was still rampant. Everyone should expose the crime and work together to find a way to end it. South Korea has enacted criminal legislation against the crime, and he was willing to help Taiwan to make relevant legislation.

Hiroaki Maruyama, Zushi City Councilor in Kanagawa, Japan, said that the CCP’s systemic forced organ harvesting is the worst crime in history, and should not be tolerated. He felt happy to see many legislators in Taiwan support the “Universal Declaration on Combating and Preventing Forced Organ Harvesting,” and extended his blessings.