A group trying to raise awareness of forced organ removal in China made a stop in Grande Prairie Wednesday. An update to a 2006 report released in June found that of the 60,000 to 100,000 transplants performed annually in that country, the vast majority are from executed Falun Gong practitioners who were wrongfully imprisoned. Coordinator of the non-profit group Minnan Liu says the business is very lucrative in China, where it’s advertised someone can get an organ in just two weeks.
“Very short waiting time. You see organ transplants booming; it’s a billion dollar industry and they just kill people and sell their organs because under this big persecution policy this kill Falun Gong practitioners and cremate them and their family maybe just gets a box of ash.”
Also known as Falun Dafa, Falun Gong is a traditional Chinese spiritual practice that China’s Communist Party cracked down on in 1999. Their core principles are truthfulness, compassion and tolerance.
At that time, it’s believed there were more than 70 million practitioners, and hundreds of thousands are still considered prisoners of conscience – people in jail for their political or religious views. Liu says it’s something Canadians should care about and protest.
“Talk to your friends and families; talk to their MLAs, their mayors, their councillors, their MPS; ask them to speak up. We recognize Canadians do fly to China for organ transplants; any actions, no matter how big you can do, saves lives.”
Liu adds that Canadian taxpayers end up paying for the after care when transplant recipients return home. She hopes Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will bring it up on his trip to China next month.