Okay, we know China uses executed prisoners as a source for transplant organs. They even admitted it...in 2009...many years after we already knew they were doing it. Which is like when Alex Rodriguez admitted to using steroids. The first time.
But the Chinese Communist Party vowed to end the practice of using organs from executed prisoners in 2012. Sorry, they meant, in 2013. Ok, for real on January 1, 2015. Which is kind of like when you keep asking for an extension on that final college research paper...the one you technically haven’t started yet. And the CCP has decided to just take an incomplete, according to this massive report that came out in July: the one that alleges up to 1.5 million Chinese organ transplants have come not from executed criminals—but from prisoners of conscience.
So what does the top international transplant organization “The Transplantation Society” think of China’s system? Well, they just hosted their annual conference in Hong Kong. And they are big fans of China’s transplant system! According to the people running China’s transplant system. You see, they were invited to give a presentation on China’s new and improved system at the conference. As my favorite state-run newspaper Global Times (link in Chinese) put it, “Scholars say this special Chinese organ transplant meeting shows that the Chinese organ transplant world has been truly accepted by the Transplantation Society.” And all the pro-communist newspapers in Hong Kong agree! Imagine that.
So what did the president of the Transplantation Society, Dr. Philip O'Connell, have to say about all the support and acceptance he was giving to China’s organ transplant system? “It is important that you understand that the global community is appalled by the practices which the Chinese have adhered to in the past...Many people in the global community are not persuaded that China has changed.”
So that’s what true acceptance sounds like. As the New York Times puts it, “Although Dr. O'Connell did not name any groups, he may have been referring to Falun Gong, a spiritual movement that is outlawed in China and that accuses the Chinese authorities of extracting organs from its members.”
So that was awkward. But not as awkward as this: A Chinese liver surgeon, Zheng Shusen, was originally scheduled to speak about “a new era of liver transplantation in China.” But then another Chinese surgeon was called in to speak about it instead. Well, that didn’t stop Zheng from pulling a Kanye. He just took the stage and talked anyway. “Imma let you finish, but Falun Gong has the best organs.” After Zheng left the stage, Dr. Jeremy Chapman, former president of the Transplantation Society, came up and said, “Someone who presented here today, presented research that included data from executed prisoners. We will report him to the Chinese government, he will never present at a TTS conference again. The TTS is serious about this.”
Interesting fact about Kanye wannabe Zheng Shusen: In addition to doing all kinds of liver transplants, he’s also the chair of an Anti-Falun Gong association in China’s Zhejiang Province. He’s also given scientific papers on liver-matching in 24 hours—which is about as legit as guy on the street selling Rolexes that the previous owner “just didn’t want anymore.” In the US, it can take years to find a matching liver.
Well, China’s former deputy health minister Huang Jiefu has responded to the claims that the national organ transplant system he runs still uses organs from prisoners. Unsurprisingly, he called those claims “ridiculous.” He was also the guy who said China would stop harvesting organs from executed prisoners by 2015. And 2013.
So is the Transplantation Society ready to stop China’s appalling medical practices? That’s where things get interesting. Because both Dr. O'Connell, the current president, and his predecessor Dr. Chapman had undisclosed ties with a shady Chinese hospital, according to the Epoch Times. They both work at Westmead hospital in Australia, which has ties to Third Xiangya Hospital in China. They even have one of those awkward Chinese group photos together, from when the doctors visited China back in 2013.
Third Xiangya Hospital is a “national research base” for transplant technology in China—one that Chinese former deputy health minister Huang Jiefu promoted as a model hospital. And according to a now mysteriously deleted article from their website, they once performed 17 transplants in only one day. Which is a lot. Good thing so many people are “donating.”
So what do you think of China’s acceptance by the Transplantation Society? And if you want to know more about the Chinese military’s secret involvement in all this, check out my episode “China’s Shocking Military Secret Revealed!“ Leave your comments below.
