Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 19 March (HL14297), whether they will ask the World Health Organisation to explain the basis for its view that China is implementing an ethical, voluntary organ transplant system in accordance with international standards.

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. The British Government continues to take these reports extremely seriously.

This includes the 2016 update to the Kilgour, Matas and Gutmann report and other information provided so far to the ongoing tribunal organised by the International Coalition to End Transplant Abuse in China and chaired by Sir Geoffrey Nice QC. We continue to scrutinise the situation carefully and review new information as it becomes available. At present, however, our assessment is that there is not a strong enough evidential base to substantiate the claim that systematic state-sponsored or sanctioned organ harvesting is taking place in China. We will continue to review any new evidence that is presented to us.

We will update the WHO via our Embassy in Beijing on the issues raised in the recent debate in Parliament, which included references to the 2016 update to the report 'Bloody Harvest/The Slaughter'. When doing so, my officials will ask the WHO to expand upon its assessment of China's organ transplant system. It would not be appropriate for us to ask the WHO to publish a statement on the evidence presented in the report 'Bloody Harvest/the Slaughter', although this does not preclude the authors of the report from doing so.