China: Organs

(asked on 12th March 2019) - View Source

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to his Chinese counterpart on the reported targeting of (a) Uighur Muslims, (b) Christians, (c) people who practise Falun Gong and (d) Tibetans for live organ harvesting in China.


Answered by
 Portrait
Mark Field
This question was answered on 19th March 2019

We are aware of reports that allege that organ harvesting may be taking place in China, including suggestions that minority and religious groups are being specifically targeted.

However, as the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Minister for Europe and the Americas, said in a Westminster Hall debate in October 2016: “Although I do not doubt the need to maintain close scrutiny of organ transplant practices in China, we believe that the evidence base is not sufficiently strong to substantiate claims about the systematic harvesting of organs from minority groups. Indeed, based on all the evidence available to us, we cannot conclude that this practice of “organ harvesting” is definitely happening in China.”

The World Health Organisation (WHO) collates global data on organ donations and works with China. The WHO view is that China is implementing an ethical, voluntary organ transplant system in accordance with international standards, although the WHO does have concerns about overall transparency.

We will continue to review any new evidence that is presented to us.

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