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Harvested organs, China, and Minnesota continued


                MINNEAPOLIS- In previous reporting, I had a chance to share with readers the situation of Falun Dafa persecution by the national government in China. Here, global activists and human rights monitors have accused the government of harvesting organs from prisoners.

            A large number of prisoners in China in recent years have been those practicing the discipline of Falun Dafa, a peaceful spiritual exercise, in public. It’s been reported since the 2000s in international media outlets that it appears the Chinese government worries about the prospect of large gatherings and subversion, and feels the need to limit the popularity of the exercise.

            For added context, in this second piece I’ve included an interview state senator Jim Abeler (R-Anoka) gave last summer about his concerns on organ harvesting by the Chinese government. The link for the full interview is above.

            Below, I’ve included a second letter University of Minnesota student Grady Yu recently sent to Governor Mark Dayton concerning organ harvesting in China, and the role Minnesota can play.

            I want to give thanks again for my colleague in supplying information about this struggle, and U of M student Grady Yu for taking the desire for action to our state government. This could be a great example of the creed “thinking globally, acting locally.” Enjoy.

Letter from U of M student Grady Yu to Governor Mark Dayton about organ harvesting in China

            Dear Governor Mark Dayton,

My name is Grady Yu. I am a freshman at the University of Minnesota. As a Chinese immigrant, I am deeply moved that senator Jim Abeler sent a letter to the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party Xi Jinping urging him to end the persecution of Falun Gong and the forced organ harvesting of Falun Gong practitioners and other prisoners of conscience.

I think his action reflects true American spirit.

Just like Jim Abeler said, forced organ harvesting must be stopped. It is not just idle gossip, but an unprecedented evil committed by the CCP. Since 2002, the number of transplants has experienced sharp increase with no legitimate explanations. According to various independent investigations, the waiting period for a vital organ such as liver and kidney in China usually ranges from a few days up to a month while in other countries such as the U.S., it takes 3-5 years.

Please note, China unlike America, did not have a donor registration system till 2010. This indicates a large LIVING people donor pool is at the disposal of the transplant hospitals. Further evidences show a majority of these people are Falun Gong practitioners. Following a European Parliament resolution in 2014, the US congress also passed a house resolution 343 to condemn the forced organ harvesting by the CCP in 2016.

As a result of these and other measures, China started to hide its crime by claiming they are implementing reforms in the transplant field such as stopping using the death row inmates’ organs for transplant. However, the death row inmates’ organs had never been able to account for the large numbers of transplant in China in the first place. In fact, evidences show forced organ harvesting continues to date. You can find more information on this subject at http://www.upholdjustice.org.

Knowing the existence of the forced organ harvesting is of great importance to the people in Minnesota; here is why: Since cheap and healthy organs can be obtained quickly in China, patients from all over the world have been travelling to China for organ transplants. They become accomplices of this crime against humanity unknowingly. I believe our good Minnesota citizens do not want to be part of this; therefore, they need to know the truth.

I understand China is a big business partner and raising this issue may incur political pressure. However, I believe under no circumstances, we should compromise American values for monetary gains. On the other hand, raising human rights issues to China will not hurt us economically simply because China needs the U.S. market much more than the U.S. needs China’s market. The Chinese Communist Party’s only legitimacy lies on economic growth.

Without that, it can’t stay in power. So China will not stop trading with the U.S. as export has been one of the three pillars of its economy.

I hope Minnesota state government could publicly condemn the persecution of Falun Gong and urge China to stop the forced organ harvesting and other crimes against Falun Gong practitioners and other prisoners of conscience.

I hope the state government could tell Minnesota citizens and the Chinese immigrants who live in Minnesota, especially the Chinese medical students, that organ harvesting does exist in China.

I hope the state department could also mandate universities not to provide transplant trainings to Chinese doctors and students because evidences show a lot of Chinese transplant doctors
who might have been involved in forced organ harvesting received training from the U.S.

Let us do everything we can to stop this crime against humanity.

Yours Sincerely,
Grady Yu


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