Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. A recent announcement by China’s Xinjiang Health Commission revealed plans to establish six new organ transplant medical institutions in the region by 2030, sparking widespread alarm among human rights experts and medical professionals. The proposed expansion is being viewed as a dangerous escalation of China’s controversial and widely condemned practice of forced organ harvesting.
The new transplant facilities, which will cover heart, lung, liver, kidney, and pancreas/small intestine transplants, will bring the total number of transplant centers in Xinjiang to nine. The rapid increase in transplant capacity has raised serious questions about the motives behind the expansion, particularly in light of documented human rights abuses of forced organ harvesting and the lack of transparency within China’s organ transplant system.
“This massive expansion in Xinjiang – a region already under scrutiny for systematic repression – raises deeply troubling questions about where the organs will come from,” said Wendy Rogers, Distinguished Professor of Clinical Ethics and Chair of the International Advisory Board of the International Coalition to End Transplant Abuse in China (ETAC). “There is simply no justification for such growth in transplant capacity given the region’s official organ donation rate, which is far below the national average.”
Xinjiang’s official organ donation rate is shockingly low, standing at just 0.69 per million people, far below China’s claimed national average of 4.6. Yet the region will soon have far more transplant facilities than provinces with similar or even larger populations and economies, such as Gansu, Jilin, and Guizhou. Experts are questioning why such an increase in transplant capacity is deemed necessary, given the low voluntary donation rates and the fact that there is no obvious surge in demand for organ transplants in the region.
“The expansion suggests that the Chinese authorities are expecting to increase the numbers of transplants performed in Xinjiang. However, this is puzzling as there is no reason why the demand for transplants should suddenly go up in Xinjiang,” Rogers explained. “From what we know about alleged voluntary donations, the rates are quite low in Xinjiang. So the question is, why are these facilities planned?”
Rogers noted one chilling possibility: that “murdered prisoners of conscience (i.e., Uyghurs held in detention camps)” could be a source of transplanted organs.
This suggestion becomes even more concerning when considering the extensive surveillance and repression that Uyghurs face in the region. Detainees in the many internment camps in Xinjiang have reported being subjected to forced blood tests, ultrasounds, and organ-focused medical scans. These procedures align with organ compatibility testing, raising fears that Uyghurs are being prepped for organ harvesting while in detention.
David Matas, an international human rights lawyer who has investigated forced organ harvesting in China, questioned the very possibility of voluntary organ donation in Xinjiang. “The concept of informed, voluntary consent is meaningless in Xinjiang’s carceral environment,” Matas said. “Given the systemic repression, any claim that donations are voluntary should be treated with the utmost skepticism.”
The new transplant facilities will be distributed across Urumqi and other regions of northern, southern, and eastern Xinjiang. Experts argue that the sheer scale of this expansion is disproportionate to Xinjiang’s voluntary donation rate and overall capacity, suggesting that the Chinese authorities may be relying on unethical methods to source organs.
The scale of the transplant expansion is further troubling when considering the documented history of forced organ harvesting in China. Investigations, including those by the China Tribunal in 2020, found “beyond reasonable doubt” that the Chinese state had engaged in forced organ harvesting from prisoners of conscience, particularly practitioners of Falun Gong and, more recently, Uyghurs. The tribunal concluded that forced organ harvesting constitutes crimes against humanity. As many as 60,000 to 100,000 organ transplants are estimated to be carried out in China every year, many of which are believed to involve organs harvested without consent.
While the Chinese government announced in 2015 that it had ceased using organs from executed prisoners, no meaningful legal reforms have followed to ensure ethical sourcing. The sourcing of organs from prisoners of conscience remains unchecked, and the expansion of transplant centers in Xinjiang raises the frightening prospect that this practice will continue, perhaps on a larger scale.
The lack of transparency in China’s organ transplant system has been a consistent point of concern for human rights organizations. Despite the new facilities being planned, there is little information available regarding how the organs will be sourced. Given the current situation in Xinjiang, where Uyghur detainees face mass incarceration, forced labor, and biometric data collection, it is not difficult to imagine that organs may continue to be harvested from prisoners.
Rogers pointed out that the situation is particularly alarming due to the lack of independent oversight and the absence of clear ethical safeguards. “The expansion of transplant facilities in Xinjiang will undoubtedly raise further questions about the sourcing of organs,” she noted. “There is an urgent need for openness to international inspections, verified data on organ donations, informed consent from donors, and a clear ban on the use of organs from prisoners.”
The international community’s ability to intervene in China’s organ transplant practices remains limited, but there are actions that can be taken. Governments and medical institutions can exert pressure by refusing to collaborate with Chinese transplant professionals and calling for greater transparency in China’s organ sourcing. International organizations like the World Health Organization (WHO) could demand inspections of transplant facilities in Xinjiang and access to data about organ donations.
“Governments can raise the issue in bilateral talks; as mentioned above, international professional organizations and institutions can exert some pressure,” Rogers suggested. “Further measures include sanctions, and raising awareness about what is happening.”
Legal and medical experts are also calling for more robust safeguards to ensure that organ donations meet international ethical standards. These include independent inspections, verified data on organ sourcing, and, most importantly, a ban on the use of organs from prisoners.
As the international community watches the situation in Xinjiang unfold, the expansion of transplant facilities presents an urgent moral and ethical dilemma. The question remains whether the global community can prevent the expansion of forced organ harvesting practices from becoming more entrenched, or whether this troubling trend will continue unchecked. One thing is clear: without greater transparency, accountability, and oversight, the international community risks allowing one of the most egregious human rights violations of our time to expand even further.
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