Falun Gong Practitioners Systematically Murdered for Their Organs: Refuting the Chinese Regime's "Death Row" Explanation, Chapter X

(Clearwisdom.net) In 2006, The Epoch Times newspaper broke a stunning story about what is undoubtedly one of the most horrible atrocities to be committed by any government, not only in modern times, but in all of recorded history. As documented in the investigative report, "Bloody Harvest," by noted human rights lawyer David Matas and former Canadian Secretary of State for the Asia-Pacific region David Kilgour, there is overwhelming evidence of the Chinese Communist regime's chilling role in systematically murdering Falun Gong practitioners, harvesting their organs while they are alive, and making huge profits from doing so. In response to the international outcry, the Chinese regime has attempted to explain away one of the main pieces of circumstantial evidence--the meteoric rise in the number of organ transplantations in recent years and the extremely short wait times in a culture notoriously averse to organ donation--by stating that it has harvested organs from executed criminals after their deaths. Faced with undeniable evidence, it has attempted to escape culpability for a monstrous atrocity by admitting to a lesser crime. In this report, we will show evidence that directly contradicts this claim and lends further credence to the serious charges leveled against the Chinese regime.

X. The killing of a beggar and a homeless person reveals lack of bottom line in Chinese doctors' ethics

If some people still question whether doctors could engage in harvesting organs from living Falun Gong practitioners, then let's take a look at some other cases. Chinese media have reported two instances in which doctors were suspected or implicated in killing a beggar and a homeless person in order to procure their organs. These incidents raise the question of which is more valuable in Communist China: human decency or human organs?

1. Organ deal behind the death of a beggar

South Wind Window magazine (Issue No. 14, in 2007) published a report entitled "Organ Deal Behind the Death of a Beggar." Tong Gefei was a beggar from Xingtang County, Hebei Province. The magazine reported that local resident Wang Chaoyang was alleged to have conspired with Chen Jie, a post-doctoral researcher at Tongji Hospital in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, and several other doctors from Wuhan and Beijing. The doctors spent about 20 minutes in a deserted electrical power substation. The operation was performed under the illumination of several flashlights. They harvested Tong's liver, spleen, pancreas, and two kidneys, a total of five organs. A doctor later surrendered himself to the authorities. Chen Jie of Tongji Hospital paid 65,000 yuan to Tong's family in compensation and expected his family not to implicate the doctors. It was reported that Wang Chaoyang lied to the doctors, saying that Tong was a death row inmate. However, all the doctors involved in this case should have known that to procure organs from a body, an official death certificate issued by the courts has to be presented, as well as a statement of consent from the donor him or herself. Of course, there were no such documents. If a death row inmate is executed, surgery to procure the organs takes place on the execution grounds, as the procedure has to start within a minute of the victim's death. Defendant Wang Chaoyang confessed at a court hearing, "After the procedure was underway, Tong Gefei suddenly raised his arm and grabbed a doctor's shoulder. Another doctor stepped on Tong's arm. The surgery was soon over." This can only be described as live organ harvesting. The report in South Wind Window portrayed the case as "an extremely horrible story, which will alarm anyone who hears about it." (See Appendix 11) [57] Many people were unable to believe that doctors could engage in such a despicable act as harvesting organs from living people for monetary gain until they learned about this case.

The Chinese-edition website of Deutsche Welle, Germany's international broadcaster, did an exhaustive follow-up on the tragic death of this beggar. It reported that Tongji Hospital put the issue to rest simply by removing only one employee--an inconsequential deputy director of the Organ Transplant Research Institute. According to people familiar with the case, Chen Zhonghua was director of the institute from 2000 to July 2006. During his tenure, the institute violated regulations by procuring organs from irregular and illegal sources. When the Deutsche Welle reporter reached Chen over the phone in the hope that he could explain the situation, Chen replied that he could not grant interviews. It is clear that the issue of organ sourcing has become a sensitive topic. [58]

2. Homeless person killed for his organs

Caijing [Finance and Economics] magazine (August 31, 2009 issue) had a cover story on someone else being killed for his organs. It revealed that a homeless person, nicknamed "The Eldest," died as a result of having his organs harvested in Weishe Town, Xingyi City, Qianxinan Prefecture, Guizhou Province. His body, abandoned in a reservoir, was discovered by local fishermen. The fishermen noticed that all of the body's organs had been removed. The report citied witnesses who said that, a few days before his disappearance, "The Eldest," who had worn dirty, worn-out clothes, was suddenly wearing clean clothes. His hair was shaved off and so was his beard. Others recalled that he was taken to a hospital for blood type matching. It was reported that the police found evidence that led them to the No. 3 Zhongshan Hospital in Guangdong Province. In the end, the police narrowed the suspects to Zhang Junfeng, deputy chief physician of the No. 3 Zhongshan Hospital, and two other doctors. Zhang is an M.D., the deputy chief physician, an advisor to graduate students, and a member of the editorial board of Chinese Modern Surgery Journal. He was a participant in the project "A Study of the Applications of Liver Transplants," which won the Ministry of Education's First Award for Scientific Progress and Promotion. Zhao Cheng, a physician who operates a private clinic in Weishe Town, was also implicated. A doctor from Weishe Hospital told Caijin reporters that a few days after the death of "The Eldest," Zhao Cheng went to the local countryside credit union to deposit 200,000 yuan in cash, which gave away his involvement in the abduction and killing of the homeless man. (See Appendix 12) [59]

Doctors are supposed to fulfill their duty to save lives. But as seen from these examples, driven by money and fame, some have become ruthless, willing to kill those whose lives they consider worthless (which includes beggars, the homeless, or those considered enemies of the CCP) just for their organs.

These cases dispel the notion that organ harvesting from living Falun Gong practitioners requires sophisticated medical equipment. In fact, that is not necessary. As mentioned above, the killing of beggar Tong took place in a deserted electrical power substation lit up only by flashlights.

References

[57] South Wind Window magazine, No. 14, 2007, "Organ Deal Behind the Death of a Beggar," http://www.qikan.com.cn/Article/nafc/nafc200714/nafc20071413.html

[58] Chinese-edition website of Deutsche Welle, "What responsibilities the medical community has - Organ deal behind the death of a beggar," http://www.dw-world.com/dw/article/0,2708033,00.html

[59] Ouyang Hongliang and He Xin, "The case of killing for organs," Caijin [Finance and Economics] magazine, http://www.transplantation.org.cn/zyienizhonghe/2009-09/3906.htm