Image: Medical facility in Urumqi in Xinjiang. Wikimedia Commons Attribution

Planned Expansion of Transplant Facilities in Xinjiang Triggers Organ Harvesting Alarm

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Experts have revealed fears of increased forced organ harvesting from Uyghurs following a recent announcement by China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region Health Commission to dramatically expand its organ transplant infrastructure.

The Plan for the Establishment of Human Organ Transplant Hospitals in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (2024-2030) states that six new human organ transplantation medical institutions are to be established in Xinjiang by 2030 — a move critics say is dangerously disproportionate and lacking transparency given China’s forced organ harvesting crimes.

The planned expansion will triple the number of transplant centres in the region, bringing the total to nine, signalling a drive to escalate China’s forced organ harvesting campaign. The new facilities will offer heart, lung, liver, kidney, and pancreas/small intestine transplants, with seven centres performing heart transplants and five performing lung transplants by the end of the decade.

The move has prompted grave concern among international observers, who point to credible evidence of ongoing mass incarceration, biometric data collection, and forced organ harvesting from prisoners of conscience in China. Since 2006 practitioners of the Buddhist qigong practice of Falun Gong have been the primary victim group of forced organ harvesting, with the Uyghur population now also a primary target.

“This massive expansion in Xinjiang — a region already under scrutiny for systematic repression — raises deeply troubling questions about where the organs will come from… 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.”
– Wendy Rogers, Distinguished Professor of Clinical Ethics and Chair of the International Advisory Board of ETAC

The new transplant institutions will be located across Urumqi and regions of northern, southern, and eastern Xinjiang. Among them, in addition to existing facilities, six will perform heart transplants, four will perform liver transplants, and five will carry out kidney and pancreas/small intestine procedures. Experts highlight that this scale of transplant capacity is inconsistent with the low levels of voluntary donation in the region and raises fears of a covert organ supply chain to fuel the increased volume of transplants.

Legal and medical experts are urging governments and human rights bodies to press Beijing for answers and demand immediate transparency about Xinjiang’s organ transplant expansion plans.

“Without meaningful oversight and accountability, this expansion risks becoming a front for continued crimes against humanity and genocide…Governments around the world must push for independent inspections and safeguards to ensure all organ sourcing in Xinjiang adheres to international ethical standards.”
– Ramila Chanisheff, President of the Australian Uyghur Tangritagh Women’s Association

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Planned Expansion of Transplant Facilities in Xinjiang Triggers Organ Harvesting Alarm

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