Epoch Times Honored for Work Exposing Chinese Regime’s Human Rights Abuses

Reports on how the Chinese Communist Party takes organs from people imprisoned for spiritual beliefs win annual award for secular media coverage of religion.

Han Yu, whose father was killed in China because of his belief in Falun Gong, at a rally at the United Nations Plaza in New York City on Sept. 24, 2019. Eva Fu/The Epoch Times

An Epoch Times reporter will be honored in April for her work to expose communist China’s practice of harvesting organs from people imprisoned for their spiritual or political beliefs.

Eva Fu, who splits time between New York and Washington, was selected by the Religion Communicators Council (RCC) to receive a 2025 Wilbur Award. The award, given annually since 1949, is the top honor given by the organization. It’s meant to recognize the “most outstanding work in the communication of religious issues, values, and themes in secular media,” according to a March 14 press release.

Judges reviewed submissions from news organizations around the world, including a collection of Fu’s articles titled “Killing the Faithful for Organs: The Brutal Secret Beijing Doesn’t Want Exposed.”

“Many people in desperate need of organ transplants now visit China for surgery because waiting times are unusually short,” Fu wrote in a requested letter explaining why she pursues the topic so aggressively in her reporting.

“How many know their ready-to-transplant organs might be stolen from people imprisoned because of their spiritual beliefs? Surely, very few.”

Forced organ harvesting has been a closely guarded secret of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The Epoch Times has found that few around the world—with the exception of those involved—seem to understand that the regime’s supply of healthy organs for transplants often comes from imprisoned members of the spiritual discipline Falun Gong.

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a meditation discipline based on the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance. It has been the subject of a relentless campaign by the CCP in an effort to eradicate the faith in China and beyond.

Victims of organ harvesting also often include other minorities who have been detained in China, such as Uyghurs, Tibetans, Muslims, and Christians.

Fu said the CCP doesn’t want the world to know, but she’s determined to keep drawing attention to the egregious human-rights offense.

The Epoch Times’ Editor-in-Chief Jasper Fakkert celebrated the award for Fu’s coverage.

“This is a great acknowledgement of our work exposing the atrocity of forced organ harvesting by the Chinese regime. Ms. Fu and our broader reporter team will continue to expose these crimes,” Fakkert said.

Epoch Times reporter Eva Fu near the U.S. Capitol in Washington on March 13, 2025. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

The winners of this year’s Wilbur Award include 20 secular media outlets for work published in 2024 on the topics of faith and religion. Judges selected works from print and online journalism, books, podcasts, radio, television, and film for the award. Honorees will be celebrated on April 25 at a banquet at the Conference Center of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City, Utah.

“I encourage anyone working in the communications field to attend the Wilbur Award presentation, as it is truly a celebration of inspiring stories as told by some of the best professional secular communicators working today,” Teresa Faust, president of RCC’s board of governors, said in a statement.

Wilbur Award contest coordinator Brad Pomerance said he was “impressed with the entries this year, which are heartening in how they approach topics of faith, not merely as a subject [but] with a desire to foster understanding and connectedness.”

“Their work reflects our convention’s theme of ‘cooperation through communication’ and is evidence of the important role of communication in building bridges among various groups,” he said.

The RCC award is named for the late Marvin C. Wilbur, a pioneer in religious public relations, longtime council leader, and former Presbyterian Church executive.