China’s Organ Pillaging: The Mass Murder of the Religious Must Stop

Every year, the Chinese government kills thousands of its own citizens and harvests their organs. Moreover, most of these victims are followers of Falun Gong, a peaceful Chinese spiritual practice. This illegal organ pillaging is shocking, inhumane and gruesome.

From the 1980s to the end of 2000, there was a cumulative total of 34,832 kidney transplants in China. But, over the next four years, a whopping 27,141 transplants were performed. That’s an over 400 percent increase in the number of transplants. So, where are they getting the organs? In 2005, the Chinese faced pressure to answer this question. They stated that the source of these organs were, in addition to voluntary donation, taken from executed prisoners. However, the number of executions in China has been dropping since 2000, and the number of transplants has been rising. Only 2,400 people were executed in 2013 by the Chinese government. Yet, reports suggest that 4,000 liver and kidney transplants took place in that same year. The number of voluntary organ donations does not make up the gap between executions and organ transplants, and that raises very troubling questions.

The answer is what numerous reports have confirmed: the Chinese government is deliberately killing its own people and harvesting their organs. These are barbaric and heartless acts that go against the very basic respect due to every human life.

What’s worse, the Chinese are focusing their murders on the followers of Falun Gong, a peaceful spiritual practice that combines meditation, slow-moving exercises, regulated breathing, and moral/spiritual teachings. The persecution of Falun Gong likely stems from its popularity. In 1999, over 70 million Chinese were adherents of Falun Gong. Today, even after strong persecution, there remains an estimated 7 to 10 million followers in China. Falun Gong’s focus on truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance make it a target for the Chinese Communist Party, who admire the Marxist ideology of materialism and political struggle.

The Chinese government’s organ harvesting and persecution of Falun Gong are abhorrent, and these actions must come to an end.

I am therefore happy to support House Concurrent Resolution 7, which just made its way into the Senate this week (www.house.mo.gov/billtracking/bills171/hlrbillspdf/0403H.02I.pdf).

The resolution calls on China to end their illegal organ harvesting and stop the persecution of Falun Gong. The resolution also asks the President of the United States to fully investigate these actions taking place in China. Further, it declares that the Missouri Legislature will take measures to create a registry of Missouri residents who travel abroad to receive organ transplants and ban anyone who has participated in the illegal removal of Missouri residents’ organs from entering our state. In addition, I look forward to supporting Senate Concurrent Resolution 8, which is almost identical to HCR 7.

Thank you for reading this report. These acts are truly despicable, and they must be brought to the public’s attention. I hope that our resolution will be a meaningful first step towards stopping these atrocities in China.

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Thank you for reading this weekly column. Please contact my office at (573) 751-3678 if you have any questions.

Missouri Senate — 2017

Sen. Dave Schatz’s Column for April 27

China’s Organ Pillaging: The Mass Murder of the Religious Must Stop