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US Congress Members Demand Action Against China's Forced Organ Harvesting

Strategic Insights

— 2 min read

US Representatives Neal Dunn and Michelle Steel are calling for immediate action to prevent Chinese healthcare professionals involved in forced organ harvesting from entering the United States. The two members of Congress, who sit on the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, have expressed deep concern over the practice of forced organ harvesting from minority groups, including Falun Gong practitioners, Uyghurs, Tibetans, Muslims, and Christians. They are requesting information from the US Department of State about visa applications from Chinese medical practitioners and what the State Department plans to do to prevent these human rights atrocities.

Key Takeaways:

  • The Chinese Communist Party's forced organ harvesting practice involves health sector professionals, including surgeons, anesthetists, and other medical specialists, with many of these individuals being allowed to enter the United States and potentially participate in similar practices.
  • The China Tribunal, an independent organization, has found that the forced organ harvesting of prisoners of conscience has been practiced for a substantial period of time, involving a very substantial number of victims.
  • A study published in the American Journal of Transplantation found that the cause of death for many organ donors in China was the organ retrieval process itself, not brain death or other natural causes.
  • The International Criminal Court has defined forced organ harvesting as a crime against humanity, and any Chinese healthcare professionals participating in this practice are committing crimes against humanity.
  • Representatives Dunn and Steel are urging the US Department of State to restrict visa applications from Chinese medical practitioners who have participated in forced organ harvesting and to prevent these individuals from earning immigration status in the United States.
  • The two members of Congress are requesting information about the State Department's investigation into medical practitioners who are applying for visa applications and what plan the department has to prevent the Chinese Communist Party's organ harvesting crimes against humanity.

Statistics:

  • Over the last 5 years, an unspecified number of medical practitioners from China have applied for entry into the United States.
  • In this time period, an unspecified number of visa applications from medical practitioners from China have been considered.
  • An unspecified number of visa applications from medical practitioners from China were accepted in this time period.
  • An unspecified number of visa applications from medical practitioners from China were denied in this time period.
  • The State Department has not released information on the specific qualifiers used to decide who gains entry into the United States.
  • The US Department of State has not provided a plan to prevent the Chinese Communist Party's organ harvesting crimes against humanity.

Sources:

1. *China: UN human rights experts alarmed by 'organ harvesting' allegations* (United Nations Office of the High Commissioner, June 14, 2021) available at www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2021/06/china-un-human-rights-experts-alarmed-organ-harvesting-allegations.

2. *Judgment* (The Independent Tribunal into Forced Organ Harvesting from Prisoners of Conscience, March 1, 2020) available at www.chinatribunal.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/ChinaTribunal_JUDGMENT_1stMarch_2020.pdf.

3. *Short form conclusion of summary judgment* (The China Tribunal, June 17, 2019) available at www.chinatribunal.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/China-Tribunal-SHORT-FORM-CONCLUSION_Final.pdf.

4. *Analysis: Killing prisoners for transplants: Forced organ harvesting in China* (Brighter World, McMaster University, July 29, 2022) available at www.brighterworld.mcmaster.ca/articles/analysis-killing-prisoners-for-transplants-forced-organ-harvesting-in-china/.

5. *Nobel Peace Prize nomination for Doctors Against Forced Organ Harvesting (DAFOH) - a recognition of upholding ethical practices in medicine* (NIH National Library of Medicine, June 2016) available at www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4937230/.

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