US Calls on CCP to Open Up for Independent Probe of ‘Depraved’ Organ Harvesting

Falun Gong practitioners take part in a parade to celebrate World Falun Dafa Day while calling for an end of the persecution in China, in New York City, on May 10, 2024.Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times

The State Department has called on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to end the “depraved” practice of forced organ harvesting, describing it as “a blatant abuse of human rights.”

“Researchers, activists, and organizations continue to compile information that could implicate PRC authorities in harvesting organs from nonvoluntary donors, including prisoners of conscience and members of minority groups such as Falun Gong practitioners and Uyghur Muslims,” a State Department spokesperson, using an acronym for the People’s Republic of China, told The Epoch Times’ sister media outlet NTD.

“If these allegations are corroborated, they would be a blatant abuse of human rights and an egregiously unethical medical practice.”

The spokesperson said Beijing “should allow for independent and transparent investigations into the country’s organ transplantation system and should welcome independent observers to investigate the veracity of these reports.”

The remarks were made a day after the House approved the Falun Gong Protection Act, a landmark measure that aims to force an end to the ongoing persecution of Falun Gong—and the harvesting of organs from detained practitioners of the faith.

Since whistleblowers first revealed the abuse to The Epoch Times in 2006, alarming evidence has continued to emerge from communist China.

In 2019, after a year-long investigation, the independent China Tribunal in London concluded that forced organ harvesting had taken place on a “significant scale” in China, with adherents of the Falun Gong meditation discipline being the primary victim group.

A former Chinese doctor went on record in 2023 as saying he once assisted with an organ extraction inside a van guarded by military soldiers. In an interview with The Epoch Times, Zheng Zhi recounted an incident in which a Chinese military officer promised to “pick a top-quality” kidney for a military official.

Zheng Zhi during an interview in Toronto on July 31, 2023. Yi Ling/The Epoch Times

“A fresh one, from a Falun Gong practitioner,” he recalled the officer saying.

The China Tribunal’s final report found no sign that the abuse had ended. While Beijing claimed to be relying on donations as the source of organs in 2015, researchers who analyzed China’s organ donation numbers said the datasets matched a mathematical formula, suggesting systematic data manipulation.

The State Department in its statement called on the Chinese regime to “cease its depraved actions against prisoners of conscience and to act in accordance with its human rights commitments and fully comply with all relevant medical and ethical standards and best practices, including acting in the best interests of the patient, informed consent, and respect for personhood.”

The department’s annual religious freedom report, published on June 26, cited a New York City Bar Association report from March 2023, which states there was “ample evidence China continues to engage in forced organ harvesting of prisoners of conscience.” It also cited multiple Falun Gong practitioners’ accounts to Minghui, a U.S.-based website that tracks the persecution in China, saying the authorities forced them into medical examinations while in detention and took blood samples.

Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.), the lead sponsor of the Falun Gong Protection Act, said he hopes the bill can “put a chilling effect on anybody in the supply chain” in the illicit organ trade.

Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol on June 25, 2024. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

“Those organs are harvested in China, but they’re not necessarily only sent to China, they might be sent all around the globe,” he told NTD. “If we find out that you’re in a supply chain, and you’re involved in that, you’re in trouble.”

Rep. Pat Ryan (D-N.Y.), one of 18 lawmakers who co-sponsored the legislation, similarly wants the bill to “send a message loud and clear to the CCP” that the abuse “will not be tolerated.”

“The CCP is morally bankrupt at this point, when you’re willing to treat other human beings that way,“ he told NTD. ”It just goes against who we are as Americans and who we should be as humans.

“The CCP’s persecution of the Falun Gong has been going on for far too long, and we need to wake people up to this.”

Some lawmakers have suggested linking the human rights element to U.S. policy toward China.

Rep. Andreas Salinas (D-Ore.), a member of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, said that the regime’s state-sanctioned forced organ harvesting makes her question whether Beijing is “actually a really good global partner.”

“It will certainly affect the way the U.S. handles those diplomatic relationships,” she told NTD.

With the regime’s persecution of Falun Gong approaching its 25th year, Mr. Perry said he was glad to see the House unite on the issue.

“Much of the world is looking for something that we can all agree on, so it is wonderful that every single voice said, ‘Yes, organ harvesting and the persecution of Falun Gong, Falun Dafa, must end,’” he said.

“The world is awakening to these atrocities.”

NTD reporters Jack Bradley and Steve Lance contributed to this report.