Issued by Clearwisdom Net

On October 10, David Kilgour, former director of the Asia Pacific Division of Canada's Foreign Affairs Ministry and member of the Canadian independent team that investigated allegations of organ harvesting atrocities in China, arrived in Taiwan. He will conduct an investigation of cases of Taiwanese having organ transplants in Mainland China. At press conferences held in Kaohsiung and Taipei on October 11, Mr. Kilgour presented the evidence that he has collected in the last several months, which undeniably verified the allegations of organ harvesting. He pointed out explicitly that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) crime of harvesting organs from living Falun Gong practitioners does indeed exist.

Wang Jin-pyng, the president of the Legislative Yuan of the Republic of China, met with Mr. Kilgour. Kilgour appreciated the fact that the Legislative Yuan has proposed a bill to the Executive Yuan to allocate funds for educating the public about the CCP organ harvesting. He gave a copy of the investigation report on the organ harvesting to Mr. Wang and hoped that Mr. Wang would pay attention to the ongoing investigation.

Mr. Kilgour meets with Mr. Li Jinyong, the Deputy Minister of the Justice Ministry of the Republic of China

On October 12, Kilgour met with Mr. Li Jinyong, the Depuy Minister of the Justice Ministry of the Republic of China. Mr. Kilgour called upon the Justice Ministry to educate the public about the organ harvesting and remind the public of the problems that they could encounter if they seek organ transplants from illegal sources.

Kilgour told Mr. Li that since the report of his and human rights attorney David Matas' investigation was published on July 6, he has visited 15 countries. The report has shocked the international community. Mr. Kilgour voiced hopes that Taiwan would work with Canada to take actions to stop the organ harvesting.

Mr. Kilgour suggested that the Taiwanese government educate the public and warn potential medical tourists so that Taiwanese people would not accept illegal organs for transplant. They should understand the problems they would have to face if they were to accept illegal organs.

Mr. Li said that the Taiwanese government takes the report very seriously. As a member of the international community, the Taiwanese government would not ignore this problem and will condemn the CCP's brutality. Currently, the Taiwanese government and other non-governmental organizations are taking actions to stop the organ harvesting. The Legislative Yuan has proposed a bill to the Executive Yuan to allocate funds for educating the public about the CCP's organ harvesting. The media and the Falun Dafa Association have also reported and exposed this issue.

Mr. Li said that the Taiwanese government will have more detailed plans, such as making laws and promoting the collaboration between the Legislative Yuan and Executive Yuan on this issue. Based on the information collected, the Ministry of Health will consider not issuing public health insurance to those who have organ transplants in Mainland China. Mr. Li said that the Taiwanese government doesn't want Taiwan to be the biggest organ market for Mainland China and doesn't want to help the Chinese Communist Party to harvest organs from living people.

Mr. Cai Tsing-hsing, an officer from the Ministry of Justice, said that Taiwan has very strict laws about organ transplants. The hospital must have the signatures of the donor and two of the donor's family members before the surgery. The patient also must be a close relative of the donor. Most important is that organ selling and buying are forbidden in Taiwan.

Before coming to Taiwan, Mr. Kilgour and Mr. Matas have already visited 15 countries and areas, calling upon governments to take actions to stop the CCP's crime. Mr. Kilgour also called upon the government to boycott the Olympic Games, which will be held in China in 2008, if the CCP doesn't stop the crime of harvesting organs.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2006/10/13/140094.html

On October 5, 2006, regarding the CCP's practice of harvesting organs from living Falun Gong practitioners in China, Foster City council member John Kiramis indicated that local governments should take a position, condemn the genocide of innocent people, and help to stop the atrocity.

Foster City Council member John Kiramis in front of City Hall

Mr. John Kiramis said that someone asked him why he would concern himself with the organ harvesting issue: what did it have to do with him? He replied, "If I didn't know, I wouldn't care. But now that I know, I can't just close my eyes and cover my ears, pretending to know nothing. If ever I can do something about this issue, as an elected official of a small town, I will step forward to express my position and oppose the atrocity, since it is my responsibility as an individual and as a citizen of the earth."

Mr. Kiramis stated that several Foster City Falun Gong practitioners informed the City Council about the CCP's excising organs from living Falun Gong practitioners in early August. He felt horrible about it. He thought that the city government should pass a resolution to condemn it and make it known to most Americans. In that way, the American people could, with one voice, put pressure on the CCP and force it to stop the atrocity. He was glad to know that the United States Congress has had a hearing on the organ harvesting issue.

When told that others felt it was another country's issue and that it had nothing to do with local government, Mr. Kiramis said that he didn't think that way. He thought it did have something to do with local government. "For many years the local government has taken symbolic stands on many things happening in the world, such as global warming." He thought that taking a stand against human rights violations was necessary.

When asked about the pressure that the Chinese Consulate has exerted on local elected officials concerning the Falun Gong issue, Mr. Kiramis said that local authorities were morally responsible to persist with their viewpoint on issues of ethics and morality. The Falun Gong issue is closely related to morality. He said that local authorities could not compromise just because that their opinion might upset the Chinese Communist government, since it is the Chinese Communist government that violated the human rights of the Chinese people.

City Council member Mr. Kiramis has lived in Foster City for 20 years. He was a police officer before serving as a City Council member. He worked in the police department for 29 years. He ran for city council in 2004 after retirement and won the election.

Background

The CCP's atrocities of excising organs from living Falun Gong practitioners were disclosed first by a witness in March 2006. On July 6, former Canadian Secretary of State (Asia and Pacific) and Member of Parliament David Kilgour and international human rights attorney David Matas set up an independent investigation team and published their "Report into Allegations of Organ Harvesting of Falun Practitioners in China." The report pointed out, "We believe that there has been and continues today to be large scale organ seizures from unwilling Falun Gong practitioners."

In August, the Australian government and the opposition parties reached a mutual understanding to request an independent investigation into the Chinese Communist Government. In early September, at the Helsinki Summit, the Foreign Minister of Finland, on behalf of Europe, expressed concern on this human rights violation to the Foreign Minister of China and requested an independent investigation. On September 20, at the Second Session of the United Nations Human Right Commission in Geneva, Mr. Kilgour introduced the report to the delegates. On September 29, US Congress held a hearing on the CCP's organ harvesting from living Falun Gong practitioners.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2006/10/12/139966.html