(Minghui.org) Falun Gong practitioners in Washington, DC, held a press conference at the Cannon Office Building of the U.S. House of Representatives on September 4, 2024, calling for an end to the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) forced organ harvesting crimes targeting Falun Gong and other prisoners of conscience. Several U.S. officials condemned this crime. Think tank experts pointed out that the CCP’s organ harvesting is still going on, and called for an international independent investigation.

A press conference was held at the Cannon Office Building of the U.S. House of Representatives on September 4, 2024

Since Falun Gong practitioner Peiming Cheng recounted his experience of being subjected to live organ harvesting by the CCP during a panel discussion in Washington DC, on August 9, more than 40 English-language media outlets reported it. The CCP subsequently denied that it harvested organs from Mr. Cheng.

Mr. Cheng described his experience during the press conference and said he appreciates the US government’s help.

Mr. Cheng was born in Jixi City, Heilongjiang Province in 1965, and worked as a miner at Zhangxin Mine in Jixi City. He began practicing Falun Gong in 1998 and was detained and tortured by the CCP authorities five times. In December 2001, he was sentenced to eight years in prison. He was tortured in Harbin No. 3 Prison and Daqing Prison, and narrowly escaped death.

Mr. Cheng fled China in 2015 and came to the United States in 2020 with the help of U.S. State Department officials. Since arriving in the U.S., he underwent nine different imaging examinations, including three CT scans, three ultrasounds, two X-rays (one with barium), and one magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The results showed that his left liver and left lung were partially removed.

At the press conference, Mr. Cheng thanked the U.S. government for its rescue, which gave him the opportunity to speak out and speak for Falun Gong practitioners who were tortured to death by the CCP.

Robert Destro, former Assistant Secretary of State of the United States, said that when he learned about Cheng’s experience, he sent staff from the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs under the State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor to investigate the incident and learn about the situation. After determining that the case deserved further investigation, the State Department initiated the process of getting Mr. Cheng to the United States for examination and further investigation.

Robert Destro, former Assistant Secretary of State, addressed the press conference.

Robert Destro said, “For me, as Assistant Secretary of State, my accomplishment was rescuing Cheng Peiming.”

Congressman Gus Bilirakis: Falun Gong Practitioners Are the Major Source of the CCP’s Forced Organ Harvesting

Congressman Gus Bilirakis

U.S. Congressman Gus Bilirakis issued a statement saying that Falun Gong practitioners have been persecuted, intimidated, imprisoned, tortured, and even died at the hands of the Chinese Communist Party simply because they adhere to their personal beliefs. They [Falun Gong practitioners] are the main source of illegal organ harvesting by the Chinese Communist regime, especially in China’s prisons, concentration camps, and detention facilities, where they are subjected to brutal persecution and torture.

He pointed out that the United States and allies must send a strong and unwavering message to defend the basic human rights of all people and provide them with protection.

The International Coalition to End Transplant Abuse in China (ETAC): The CCP Covers up Forced Organ Harvesting from Falun Gong Practitioners

Press conference at the Cannon Office Building of the U.S. House of Representatives on September 4, 2024

In response to the CCP’s response to the case of Mr. Cheng, a victim of the CCP’s live organ harvesting, Professor Wendy Rogers, Chair of the Advisory Board of ETAC, and internationally renowned human rights lawyer David Matas issued a statement. In their statement, they pointed out that the CCP’s response shows that the CCP believes that Mr. Cheng’s case is serious enough to require comment.

The CCP’s response did not come from the hospital where Cheng Peiming was persecuted (Daqing Hospital), although the hospital was most likely to comment on the surgery Cheng had. Instead, the CCP’s response came from the Tianjin Municipal Public Security Bureau. It is well known that Tianjin is a core and key area involved in live organ harvesting and organ transplant tourism. The response of the Tianjin Municipal Public Security Bureau shows that it is over-excusing, which shows that they want to cover up something, not only to cover up Mr. Cheng’s experience, but also to cover up the live organ harvesting of Falun Gong practitioners.

The evidence that Cheng Peiming was forced to undergo surgery and that some of his organs are partially missing is irrefutable. The response from the Tianjin Municipal Public Security Bureau cannot answer these indisputable facts.

Hudson Institute Director Shea: I Don’t Believe the CCP Regime

Nina Shea, Director of Religious Freedom at the Hudson Institute, a Washington-based think tank, speaks at a press conference on September 4, 2024.

Nina Shea, Director of Religious Freedom at the Hudson Institute, a Washington think tank, said during the press conference, “I salute Mr. Cheng for his courage. He is the only survivor [of live organ harvesting] to publicly stand up against this horrific atrocity, and we need to hear his voice.”

Shea said that when she met Mr. Cheng last week, she saw the scars left by the operation on his body up close, checked the scans, and read the doctor’s and expert reports. Shea said, “I believe him, I believe he is a survivor of the CCP’s live organ harvesting. I don’t believe the Chinese government, I don’t believe the CCP, because the CCP has always lied, confused the public, spread false information, and covered up the facts.”

Shea said that [live organ harvesting] is still happening, and she doesn’t believe it will stop unless there is an international independent investigation team to investigate.

Former Congressman Frank Wolf addressed the press conference.

Frank Wolf, who served as a U.S. congressman for 34 years, expressed anger at some mainstream media in the United States for avoiding the issue of organ harvesting from living people in China. He asked at the press conference, “Where is The Washington Post?”

He thanked Mr. Cheng and said, “It takes great courage. If a person has experienced all this, they would want to forget it completely.”

Wolf said that the CCP’s organ harvesting from living people has been known for many years, and people have learned about it at rallies and other events, and it’s already known to everyone. He said, “Our government has failed the Chinese people on this issue.”

Like Congressman Wolf, Hudson Institute Director Shea is concerned about this. “Our outstanding medical schools and universities have become accomplices, providing research and training programs to China.” The records of Doctors Against Forced Organ Harvesting (DAFOH) show that American universities have trained 344 (Chinese) transplant doctors.

Shea said that the medical schools heard about this crime against humanity, but they have not even raised questions, nor have they asked China where the organs came from, or asked them to confirm the source of the organs.

Wolf proposed to bring legal action against doctors, institutions, hospitals, training centers, etc. in the United States and other Western countries that participated in the CCP’s organ harvesting to stop this behavior.