In the shadowed corridors of China’s detention centers, a grim symphony unfolds—a macabre dance where life is bartered for profit. Reports and testimonies suggest that the Chinese government has been implicated in the forcible extraction of organs from prisoners of conscience, notably targeting ethnic and religious minorities such as Uyghurs, Tibetans, and practitioners of Falun Gong. The scope of this atrocity is staggering, with estimates suggesting that at least 1.5 million detainees have fallen victim to this clandestine industry, generating over $1 billion annually.
China’s transplant industry is unlike any other in the world. While organ donation rates remain abysmally low in China due to cultural beliefs that the body should remain intact after death, the country boasts one of the fastest organ transplant turnaround times globally. Unlike Western nations, where patients may wait years for a suitable organ, in China, a match is often found within days. Investigations have revealed the grim reason behind this anomaly: a vast pool of prisoners whose organs are systematically harvested and sold.
Victims are frequently subjected to rigorous medical examinations upon arrest—not for their welfare but to assess their organ compatibility for potential recipients. These prisoners undergo extensive blood tests, ultrasounds, and tissue typing, forming a living database of organ donors who can be killed on demand. Once a match is found, the victim is secretly taken to a medical facility, where their organs are extracted, often while they are still alive. Their bodies are then incinerated to erase evidence of the crime.
Who Are the Victims?
While China has long denied these allegations, mounting evidence indicates that the primary victims of this heinous practice belong to oppressed minority groups. These include:
The Uyghur population in Xinjiang has faced relentless persecution, with an estimated 1 to 3 million individuals held in “re-education camps.” Reports suggest that Uyghur detainees undergo forced medical examinations and disappear in large numbers, their fates unknown. Witnesses and leaked documents indicate that the Chinese government profits from selling their organs to wealthy recipients, both domestically and abroad. A 2022 investigation by the International Coalition to End Transplant Abuse in China (ETAC) found that at least 80,000 Uyghur detainees had their organs harvested in just one year.
Tibetan political prisoners have long been subjected to brutal human rights violations, including torture and forced sterilization. Over the years, reports have surfaced of Tibetan monks and activists disappearing from detention centers, their whereabouts never disclosed. Medical experts suggest that many of these missing individuals may have been victims of forced organ harvesting, particularly given China’s history of treating Tibetans as second-class citizens.
Falun Gong, a spiritual practice rooted in Buddhist traditions, has been heavily persecuted since 1999. Hundreds of thousands of practitioners have been detained in labor camps and prisons, where they are tortured and subjected to inhumane treatment. Multiple investigations, including those by the China Tribunal, have concluded that Falun Gong practitioners have been the primary source of organs for China’s transplant industry since the early 2000s.
Victim Accounts-
Cheng Pei Ming, a former Falun Gong practitioner, is one of the first known survivors of forced organ harvesting. He recounts that while detained, he was repeatedly subjected to unexplained blood tests. After undergoing an unknown surgery, he later discovered in the U.S. that parts of his liver and lung had been removed without his consent.
Enver Tohti, a former surgeon in China, has provided chilling testimony regarding his participation in forced organ harvesting. He describes being ordered to extract the liver and kidneys from a prisoner who was still alive, an experience that left an indelible mark on his conscience.
Dolkun Isa, a prominent Uyghur activist, has detailed how many of his family members disappeared from Chinese prisons without a trace. He believes they were likely victims of forced organ harvesting.
Despite China’s consistent denials, international human rights organizations have begun recognizing the scale of these atrocities.
In June 2021, United Nations human rights experts expressed deep concern over “credible reports” of forced organ harvesting from Uyghurs, Tibetans, Falun Gong practitioners, and other detained minorities.
In May 2022, the European Parliament adopted a resolution condemning China’s organ harvesting practices and called for an independent investigation.
In 2019, the China Tribunal, an independent people’s tribunal chaired by Sir Geoffrey Nice QC, found that “forced organ harvesting has been committed for years throughout China on a significant scale,” concluding that the Chinese government was guilty of crimes against humanity.
With transplant costs in China ranging from $60,000 for a kidney to over $180,000 for a liver, the illegal trade generates billions annually. Hospitals and medical professionals complicit in these crimes operate under the protection of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), ensuring that the lucrative industry continues unabated.
