Tormented Chinese Doctor Recounts Live Organ Harvesting | China In Focus 2023-08-15 01:32

A chilling expose on China's billion-dollar organ harvesting industry through the story of a tormented Chinese doctor, ordered to extract eyes from a donor found at the back of a van while he was still alive. Is China's property bubble bursting? The country's top developer forecasts a staggering $7.6 billion loss, what's causing the sector's And Beijing calling Taiwan's vice president a troublemaker, as he tells a Taiwanese community in New York City that the island won't yield to threats. What do you think of the remarks? Let us know below and subscribe if you haven't already. Welcome to China in Focus. I'm Tiffany Meyer. Death by donation. Reports of surgeons turned executioners in China are nothing new. But for a Chinese doctor, it is his first time stepping forward with his real name to tell a deeply personal narrative accompanied by profound horror. Zheng Zhiyue, then resident doctor at one of China's largest military hospitals, recounts how he witnessed a man's kidneys and eyes carved out for transplant while he was still alive. Now he's shedding light on China's horrifying forced organ harvesting industry. Just a warning, some viewers may find the following content disturbing. I was ordered to take one of his eyeballs by the soldier on the other side. And the nurse handed me a hemostat. I really couldn't stand it. And I said, I can't do it. I can't. The horror Zheng witnessed took place in 1994 inside a van guarded by armed soldiers, then staffed with five surgeons and nurses. He thought they were on a secret military mission near a prison around China's northeastern Dalian city. But what followed has stayed with him for decades. I looked at him. He was looking right at me. This man at my feet during the operation, he was really looking at me. His eyes were moving. Zheng says the man was no more than 18 years old, carried into the van by four soldiers, his limbs tightly bound by ropes. A doctor first sliced open the man's stomach and two others extracted a kidney each. The man's legs twitched, his throat moved, but no sound came out. Then a doctor instructed Zheng to step on the man's legs and don't let him move. As I pressed down, his still warm body made me think he was alive. A surgeon took a scalpel and made a large incision directly under the xiphoid into the umbilical cord. When the abdomen opened, the intestines came out. And I was really terrified. Another surgeon pushed the intestines aside and retrieved a kidney. Then another got the second kidney. The head nurse swiftly placed both kidneys in a temperature-controlled box. Next, Zheng got the order to extract the man's eyes, but he was too sickened to do so. Another doctor swiftly carried out the procedure instead. The now motionless body was then placed in a black plastic bag and carried away by soldiers. The organs were taken to the General Hospital of the Shenyang Military Region, where Zheng did his residency. A team waiting there then used the organs in transplant operations. By then, the procedure was long over. But for Zheng, the haunting image of those desperate, fearful, and pained eyes plagued him. At dinner the previous evening, before the operation, an officer introduced the boy, who was less than 18 years old. His parents paid 10,000 yuan to get him an army spot. Through the window, I looked at the gun-wielding soldiers guarding this heinous act. No military in the world would plunder and sell its own soldiers' organs. My ambition as a military doctor was to save lives and serve my nation. But I couldn't fathom the depth of my country's atrocities. Soon after the horrific event, Zheng left the hospital. But little did he know, what happened in that van in 1994 would soon become an industrialized killing apparatus in China, set up to extract organs from prisoners of conscience and sell them on demand. Within two decades, the mass-scale, state-sanctioned forced organ harvesting ballooned into a billion-dollar industry. In the 2020 China Tribunal judgment, it said, Falun Gong practitioners have been one, and probably the main source of organ supply. They don't consent. They don't even know it's happening. We called it a cold genocide in the sense that it's not happening all at once. It's happening slowly over time. David Matas is an international human rights lawyer and one of the world's leading researchers of forced organ harvesting. In 2002, while accompanying a military official for a medical checkup, Zheng first learned that Falun Gong adherents were used as an organ source. Doctors at the hospital where Zheng once interned told the official that he needed a new kidney to survive. Shenyang Army General Hospital will pick a top-quality one for you, a fresh one from Falun Gong practitioners. I told him, don't do it. Isn't that committing murder? He nodded to me and said, I am not going to get this kidney transplant. But he suddenly said to me in a particularly stern manner, you should leave as soon as possible and the farther the better. I realized I might be silenced if the story got out. Another acquaintance, an aide to officials at the core of China's most elite leadership body, told Zheng something even more shocking. During his visit, I said the persecution of Falun Gong in northeastern China was quite severe. He seemed attentive but stayed silent. But before we parted, he suddenly told me that Falun Gong practitioners, including minors, were held beneath the Hubei Provincial Public Security Bureau's backyard in Wuhan City. He said he had been there. Then he left abruptly. At that moment, I said to myself, I must go abroad. Zheng adds that to boost transplant profits, the military set up green passages at airports to aid the swift transportation of organs across the nation. He also says infectious disease units inside military hospitals had all become dens for forced organ harvesting. To avoid citizens from becoming complicit, U.S. lawmakers have taken steps to prevent Americans from engaging in transplant tourism to China. But Mattis says the killing of prisoners of conscience for their organs is still ongoing. They're continuing to advertise transplant tourism. And the institutions are still functioning. I mean, they haven't closed down these transplant hospitals. Zheng obtained refugee status while in Thailand and moved to Canada in 2007. Zheng says he's been looking for the right media outlet to share his story. Because should he make the wrong choice, not only would he get himself into trouble, the issue wouldn't get the spotlight it needs. He acknowledges the concern of potential retaliation from Beijing, but says the issue is bigger than himself. He says that he has carefully preserved his records and that when the Chinese Communist Party falls and faces judgment, he will take the witness stand, adding that justice will prevail. Beijing is refusing to answer defense-related phone calls from Washington, upping risks of miscommunication in a worst-case scenario. The vice head of the U.S. military in the Indo-Pacific touched on the issue, saying China's military is becoming dangerously arrogant. Lack of communication between the two sides could feel the risk of a confrontation, on top of China's decision two months ago to send a fighter jet soaring in front of an American reconnaissance plane. U.S. Defense Minister Lloyd Austin called China's exercise in the Indo-Pacific region bullying behavior. Lloyd Austin has yet to meet his Chinese counterpart for talks. Beijing says its defense minister would not meet with Austin until certain sanctions were lifted. This refers to a penalty Washington imposed on Beijing six years ago over China's procurement of a weapons system from Russia. The U.S. and Japan seemingly working on a new project to counter hypersonic weapons from China. Here's the plan. Washington and Tokyo are expected to develop a joint project, an interceptor missile to combat hypersonic threats from China, Russia and North Korea. A Japanese press source reported the news Sunday. Hypersonic missiles are capable of evading American defense systems and boast a long enough range that they could hit the continental U.S. The weapons could also carry nuclear warheads. Brandon Weikert, author of Winning Space, breaks down the details on why the race for the weapons is so important. Like with nuclear weapons, we need to be able to use space to detect and defend against the growing hypersonic missile threat, which China is light years ahead of us on, unfortunately. And Russia's also getting there. He also warned that China could play a leading role in Moscow's military operations. It's for preventing attacks on the homeland, also for possibly threatening offensive attacks from space to the ground below. Worth noting, Russia and China just held a joint naval exercise in the Sea of Japan a month ago. On the other hand, Japan has been working with the U.S. to counter military threats from North Korea, alongside Pyongyang's frequent missile launches. North Korea has been very frequently repeating ballistic missile firings, which are a threat to the peace and it is totally unacceptable. As part of that effort, three top nuclear envoys from the U.S., Japan and South Korea met for a missile exercise. U.S. military officials have repeatedly warned that China's hypersonic development is on upswing, coupled by its close ties with Russia and North Korea. Leaders from the three nations met last month in North Korea for a military and missile display. China's slumping real estate sector back in the spotlight. China's top private property developer, Country Garden, is expecting to lose up to $7.6 billion this year. Shares tumbled Friday in Hong Kong, leading to a fresh round of jitters through the stock market that says memories of the infamous Evergrande collapse resurface. Real estate used to amount for about 30% of China's GDP, being one of the main engines of China's economy. Now, it's just the latest in a series of economic woes, from youth unemployment to falling exports to the economy sliding into deflation in July. China's state council grappling to stabilize the nation's spiraling post-pandemic economy. A new document lays out 24 guidelines to help bring in foreign investment and combat fears about doing business in China. To do it, it advises authorities to up protections for foreign investors and better enforce intellectual property rights. It also features new tax benefits for foreign companies operating in China. What's more, the document explained it would look into creating a quote, convenient and secure management mechanism for transferring data in and out of China. That's amid concerns about data security in China. And the country's recently updated national security law. That law criminalizes transferring data related to Beijing's national security out of China, but vaguely defines what qualifies. Violators face severe punishments, including life in prison or even execution. Taiwan won't yield to authoritarian threats. That's what Taiwan Vice President William Lai said as he made an official stop in the U.S. on his way to Paraguay. Beijing reacted in anger to the brief visit, calling him, quote, a troublemaker. Here's more. William Lai, Taiwan's vice president, was in the U.S. over the weekend. There he greeted over 700 attendees at luncheon with the Taiwanese community in New York City. Worth noting, Lai is also a frontrunner in Taiwan's next presidential election in January. No matter how great the threat of authoritarianism is to Taiwan, we absolutely will not be scared nor cower. We will uphold the values of democracy and freedom. Lai's stop came as he traveled to Paraguay, one of only 13 countries that still maintains formal ties with Taiwan. And Beijing claims the island as its own, though the Chinese Communist Party has never ruled it. China condemned the visit Sunday, accusing him of being a separatist and a troublemaker through and through. Taipei threw the remark back at Beijing, responding that China is the real troublemaker, pointing to its standoff this month with the Philippines and its continued military harassment of Taiwan. When Taiwan is safe, the world is safe. When there is peace in the Taiwan Strait, there will be peace in the world. Taipei and Washington described the U.S. stopover as routine and without cause for China to take provocative action. Lai did not meet with U.S. lawmakers while in the country. We see that through this deep connection, U.S.-Taiwan relations can be more prosperous. I hold a strong admiration for him because of his commitment to Taiwan. He consistently upholds the values of Taiwan's democracy and freedom and forge strong ties with the United States. During Lai's stopover, many overseas Chinese people, originally from mainland China, also attended luncheon. There, they expressed support for Taiwanese democracy. And these people, overseas mainland Chinese, are coming to the U.S. to embrace democratic ideals so they will positively influence Taiwan's democracy and its emulation, which is a good thing. Taiwan officials say China is likely to launch military drills this week near the island. They expect Chinese forces to use Lai's U.S. stopover as a pretext to build fear of war among voters in Taiwan ahead of next year's election. Another big story to look out for, severed from her family and allowed just two hours of sunlight over an entire year. Former Australian anchor Chen Lei's moving letter reveals what it's really like inside a Chinese jail cell. Catch her story and more tomorrow on China In Focus. Up next on America's Hope, she was gang raped and then became a part of the gang's property. Being sexually trafficked around the United States. But she fought back in a most unusual way. Find out why Bishop Donna Hubbard today is saving lives because hope prevails. I'm offended, you're targeted Got this new record coming out called The Country Truth. It comes out August 18th. It's the truth being spoken from the perspective of a country guy watching all this unfold. Have a great time in Nashville. I am often offended. Okay. I'm offended, you're targeted That's all for today's China In Focus on YouTube. We're now sharing a shortened version of our program here after being demonetized for two years. Here's what to look out for in our second half. Real estate turmoil in China as developer Country Garden forecasts a staggering $7.6 billion loss. As the cash crunch hits China's property sector, stocks tumbled Friday. With fear spreading through the market, are we witnessing another Evergrande-like crisis? But what does this really mean for the landscape of US-China trade? We sat down with Antonio Graceffo, China economic analyst, for details. The full episode is available on our partner platform, APOC TV. To sign up, click the link down below. Thanks for watching China In Focus. I'm Tiffany Meyer. See you tomorrow.