‘This Is National Policy’: Suspicious Blood Samples Forcibly Collected in Chinese Jails, Say Persecuted Citizens

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It was March 2006 when The Epoch Times broke the hard-to-believe news about China’s forced organ harvesting from living prisoners of faith, primarily Falun Gong adherents.

In the months that followed, more evidence built up. By July 2006, the first independent investigative report, the Kilgour-Matas report, further documented credible findings of recorded telephone conversations with staff in Chinese hospitals. Since then, several whistleblowers have testified about the atrocity and more investigative reports have been published, including a London-based independent people’s tribunal concluding in its final judgment in 2020 that “forced organ harvesting has been committed for years throughout China on a significant scale.”

On March 27 this year, the House of Representatives passed the first-ever bill—H.R.1154, also known as “Stop Forced Organ Harvesting Act of 2023”—to counter the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) forced organ harvesting and punish any individual and entities involved in the act.

Falun Gong practitioners march in Manhattan to celebrate World Falun Dafa Day in New York on May 12, 2023. Larry Dye/The Epoch Times

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is an ancient spiritual practice based on the tenets of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance. Twenty-four years ago, on July 20, 1999, the Chinese communist regime began persecuting the practice. The genocide continues to this day; countless adherents have been arrested, imprisoned, and tortured.

Here we present some selected accounts of adherents who had blood drawn against their will by the communist regime.

‘These Tests Were Not Done for Our Well-Being’

“Had my blood type been a match for an organ recipient, I would not be able to be here today,” Crystal Chen said.

Ms. Chen was sentenced twice to forced labor for practicing Falun Gong and now resides in Houston. She was subjected to frequent blood tests and electrocardiograms during her detention.

She testified on March 29 at a press conference hosted by Republican state Sen. Lois Kolkhorst for Senate Bill 1040; the bill was signed into law on June 18 and will come into effect on Sept. 1 prohibiting health benefit plans from paying for vital organs originating in China or any other country known to be involved in forced organ harvesting.

Falun Gong practitioner and persecution survivor Crystal Chen in New York on July 8, 2020. Brendon Fallon/The Epoch Times

“These tests were not done for our well-being because we were also severely tortured,” Ms. Chen said at the press conference, adding that only followers of Falun Gong were tested. “I learned that blood testing was [for] organ transplant matching.

‘This Is National Policy’

Shen Fang of Shanghai, was at home in 2020 when four police officers went to her house, reported Minghui.org, a United States-based non-profit that reports on the persecution of Falun Gong.

When the then-70-year-old refused to open the door, the officers called a locksmith. Once inside, they pinned Ms. Shen down and forcibly drew her blood. She tried to resist while asking for a reason.

“This is a national policy!” one officer said, while another yelled, “We just won’t follow the law and we are going to eliminate you all!”

People Dressed As Doctors Drew Blood in Prison

Li Xue, a former high school teacher in Inner Mongolia, was sentenced to four years in prison in 2003 for practicing Falun Gong.

In a personal account submitted to Minghui.org, Ms. Li recalled that while imprisoned in Inner Mongolia No. 1 Women’s Prison in 2005, several people who looked like doctors, wearing white coats and masks, came to the prison and drew blood from every inmate. They especially drew a lot of blood from Falun Gong adherents and also made a specific mark. However, Ms. Li did not know the reason for the mark until she was eventually released and read about organ harvesting.

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According to another report by Minghui.org, Wang Hongliang of Shulan City, Jilin Province, and all the Falun Gong practitioners being held at the Tiebei Prison in Changchun City in 2005 had their blood drawn, while the rest of the prisoners did not.

‘They Forcibly Dragged Me Back’

A member of The Church of Almighty God from Shanxi Province had his blood forcibly drawn and fingerprints collected at a police station because he'd initially refused to comply, according to Bitter Winter, a magazine on religious liberty and human rights in China.

“A plainclothes officer tightly grasped my arm while another held the blood collection device and was about to prick my finger,” the man said. “I exerted all my strength to shake them off and then turned around seeking to escape, but they forcibly dragged me back.”

Questions Go Unanswered

Falun Gong practitioner Sun Guangyu, who owned a building materials business in Jiangsu Province, was arrested in 2005 and sentenced to two years of forced labor, Minghui.org reported. While she was detained at Judong Forced Labor Camp, she had her blood drawn twice. She also saw every practitioner being numbered.

When Ms. Sun asked the guards why practitioners are the only ones who had their blood drawn, her question went unanswered. She also learned that another Falun Gong adherent who had refused to have her blood drawn was later taken to a hospital for the purpose of finding an organ match.