The Story of Hu Xinyu and Forced Organ Harvesting in China

(Minghui.org) Hu Xinyu, a 15-year-old high school student in Jiangxi Province, went missing on October 14, 2022. Although authorities claimed three months later on January 28, 2023, that Hu had committed suicide by “hanging” himself from a tree branch 4.5 meters (about 15 feet) from the ground with two shoelaces, many people questioned it, first, because the place had been searched before and second, they doubted that the shoelaces were strong enough to bear his weight.

Song Zude, a famous Chinese commentator with a Master’s degree from Shanghai Medical University, posted a message on his Weibo (social media) account, claiming that Hu was killed on the day he went missing. “His parts (organs) were delivered by a very fancy car to an operating table in a hospital in Shanghai on the evening on October 14. Whoever bought his parts offered a very attractive price.”

Although Song’s account couldn’t be independently verified, Hu’s story and the frequently reported disappearance of many other college students in China could leave people to speculate on the possibility that they were killed for their organs, a horrific crime that is still going on in China today.

Organ Theft Over the Years

Hu’s tragic death reminded me that when I was working in Beijing between 1998 and 1999, a student at a nearby high school had an organ stolen. At a meeting at work, we heard some details from the police investigation. The victims had been walking alone in deserted areas or near a park when someone put a hood over their heads and they passed out. When they regained consciousness, they would find themselves on the ground at a park entrance with a stitched-up incision. A visit to the hospital would verify that one or more organs were missing.

The officials warned young people not to go out alone. Coworkers talked among themselves about who could be so fiendish to commit such a crime. Some said it might be an organized crime since stealing an organ required skilled surgery. This was the first time I’d ever heard about the big money in organ harvesting. The school and park mentioned above are close to Diaoyutai State Guesthouse. We never heard that the police were able to solve the case.

After the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) began to suppress the peaceful practice of Falun Gong in 1999, we hardly heard about any organ thefts near schools or parks anymore. Starting in late 2000, when I was also arrested for practicing Falun Gong, I met many young practitioners who refused to report their names in the detention center. The guard called them by numbers and later took them away. I heard they were taken to some facilities in the northeast. After that, more and more practitioners came to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong. They were severely tortured and we did not know their whereabouts after that.

It was widely known that Falun Gong improved a person’s mind and body by doing the exercises and living by the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. Practitioners said they were innocent and opposed the persecution. Many of them went on hunger strikes to stand up for their legal rights. A person can normally last only a week with no food or water before collapsing. A practitioner, on the other hand, can be fine after one or two weeks. Some even still had the energy to clean their cell.

For example, one practitioner was arrested after she went to Tiananmen Square and unfurled a “Falun Dafa is good” banner. She went on a hunger strike for 30 days, and everyone in the detention center, from guards to inmates, was impressed. When she was released, a guard gave her a bouquet of flowers and said, “Falun Gong’s founder Master Li will be proud to have a disciple like you.”

The practitioners’ strong faith made Jiang Zemin, the former CCP leader who launched the persecution in 1999, and other top CCP officials jealous. As many practitioners were losing their lives due to force-feeding and other forms of torture, some heartless officials came up with the forced organ harvesting scheme, which satisfied all three policies Jiang issued about Falun Gong: “Ruin their [practitioners’] reputations, bankrupt them financially, and destroy them physically.”

The stealing of organs near Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in the late 1990s suggests that the crime of forced organ harvesting was already taking place by then. Where did these organs end up? It is well known that organized crime in China is backed up by CCP officials. When Hu Xinyu’s family called for help and everyone was trying to uncover the truth, they discovered it was high CCP officials who were covering up what really happened.

Several years ago, I overheard that Jiang was replacing and filtering his blood every now and then to stay young and healthy. A professional in the medical field confirmed that “Top-quality resources (including blood and organs) are sent to 301 Military Hospital first [for high CCP officials].” This elite group plunders such resources for their own benefit, and their demand for organs is huge.

In addition, the CCP regime is well aware of the demand for organs on the international market. Jiang himself once crowed about “keeping quiet while making a fortune.” He and other top officials could not overlook such an opportunity. As a result, they created a gruesome organ supply chain to meet the domestic and overseas demand for organs.

These CCP officials know very well that practitioners are in good health because they practice Falun Gong. Their determined belief angered Jiang, who then gave the order to harvest their organs.

Lucrative Profits

In 2005 I met a practitioner whose husband worked in a detention center. When she told her husband the facts about Falun Gong and the persecution, he did not buy it and told her that the CCP had paid him a great deal of money.

Although he was only a regular guard in the detention center, his bonus was over 10,000 yuan per month and it kept increasing. At that time, even 3,000 yuan a month would be considered a hefty bonus. Since the detention center was not a business that generated revenue, this practitioner asked where the money came from. “I don’t know,” the husband replied. “The detention officials just told us to take the money and keep quiet.”

Later on, inside information said the money came from kickbacks when detainees were sent to labor camps and prisons. But that could not account for the sums involved. More likely, the detainees—especially practitioners—were sent to places where their organs were harvested, which would have been extremely profitable.

It’s been said that Jiang and the CCP squandered one-quarter of China’s GDP on the persecution of Falun Gong, dragging all of society into persecuting the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, including organ harvesting. This is a state-sponsored crime, and it reveals just how sinister the CCP is. If we do not oppose the CCP, more people will become victims of the regime’s wickedness, not only Hu and Falun Gong practitioners but also people like you and me.