Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had, or intend to have, with the World Health Organisation about the possible conflict of interest of Dr Jiefu Huang in his role as a senior transplant official in China and as a member of the World Health Organisation’s Task Force for Donation and Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues.

We are aware of reports that allege that a process of involuntary organ removal may be taking place in China, including suggestions that minority and religious groups are being specifically targeted. The British Government fully supports the Declaration of Istanbul (May 2008), which encourages all countries to draw up legal and professional frameworks to govern organ donation and transplantation activities.

As the 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 have not discussed the role of Dr Jiefu Huang with the WHO.

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