‘Desperate’ need for organ harvesting ban: legislators

‘LEGAL FIREWALL': The new law would combat the harvesting and sale of organs in China and Cambodia, where the forced practice continues, lawmakers said

By Chen Cheng-yu and Liu Tzu-hsuan / Staff reporter, with staff writer

A law banning forced organ harvesting should be enacted, lawmakers across party lines said yesterday ahead of International Human Rights Day today.

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Hsu Chih-chieh (許智傑) held an international news conference at the legislature in Taipei with other legislators and civic groups to propose the enactment of a law to combat and prevent forced organ harvesting, saying it continues to occur in countries such as China and Cambodia.

Taiwan should use its power to “stop the atrocities committed by the Chinese Communist Party” by establishing stronger laws and regulations to prevent organ harvesting, which is a cruel act “despised by the whole world,” Hsu said.

Photo: CNA

Teresa Chu (朱婉琪), a lawyer and chair of the Universal Declaration on Combating and Preventing Forced Organ Harvesting Advisory Committee, said that some Taiwanese colluded with foreign crime organizations to lure people in Taiwan to Cambodia, where they were forced to undergo organ harvesting.

Many Taiwanese went to China to engage in the organ trade for fast organ transplants, she said, adding that some doctors even assisted in illegal organ transplant operations there.

A law banning forced organ harvesting is “desperately needed,” she said.

Taiwan Association for International Care of Organ Transplants Huang Chien-feng (黃千峰), a doctor, said that China lacks organ donation regulations, but has a huge stock of organs from living bodies, 90 percent of which are from death-row inmates.

It is believed that inmates' organs would be removed without anesthesia, and they would then die from the operation, he added.

There is a huge gap between the number of people being sentenced to death and the number of liver and kidney transplants performed in China, he said.

The organs were most likely taken from Falun Gong members, Uighurs or political prisoners, he added.

DPP Legislator Chen Su-yueh (陳素月) said that the atrocities should be condemned, and she called on the public to pay attention to the issue.

New Power Party Legislator Chen Jiau-hua (陳椒華) advocated the proposal, as there might be social repercussions from Taiwanese being forced to undergo organ harvesting or receiving organ transplants in China.

DPP Legislator Lai Su-yueh (賴素月) said that a “global legal net” should be created to punish and prevent crimes through information exchanges among countries.

Many people have fallen victim to forced organ harvesting in China, which is thought to have been happening for more than a decade, DPP Legislator Kuo Kuo-wen (郭國文) said, adding that parties should work together and prioritize the law's enactment.

DPP Legislator Chang Liao Wan-chien (張廖萬堅) said that the world is “building legal firewalls” to prevent such atrocities.