By a practitioner from Taiwan
On October 10, David Kilgour, former director of the Asia Pacific Division
of Canada's Foreign Affairs Ministry and member of the Canadian independent
team that investigated allegations of organ harvesting atrocities in China, arrived
in Taiwan. He will conduct an investigation of cases of Taiwanese having organ
transplants in Mainland China. At press conferences held in Kaohsiung and Taipei
on October 11, Mr. Kilgour presented the evidence that he has collected in the
last several months, which undeniably verified the allegations of organ harvesting.
He pointed out explicitly that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) crime of harvesting
organs from living Falun Gong practitioners does indeed exist.
Wang Jin-pyng, the president of the Legislative Yuan of the Republic of China,
met with Mr. Kilgour. Kilgour appreciated the fact that the Legislative Yuan has
proposed a bill to the Executive Yuan to allocate funds for educating the public
about the CCP organ harvesting. He gave a copy of the investigation report on
the organ harvesting to Mr. Wang and hoped that Mr. Wang would pay attention to
the ongoing investigation.
  Mr. Kilgour meets with Mr. Li Jinyong, the Deputy Minister of the Justice Ministry of the Republic of China |
On October 12, Kilgour
met with Mr. Li Jinyong, the Depuy Minister of the Justice Ministry of the Republic
of China. Mr. Kilgour called upon the Justice Ministry to educate the public about
the organ harvesting and remind the public of the problems that they could encounter
if they seek organ transplants from illegal sources.
Kilgour told Mr. Li that
since the report of his and human rights attorney David Matas' investigation
was published on July 6, he has visited 15 countries. The report has shocked the
international community. Mr. Kilgour voiced hopes that Taiwan would work with
Canada to take actions to stop the organ harvesting.
Mr. Kilgour suggested
that the Taiwanese government educate the public and warn potential medical tourists
so that Taiwanese people would not accept illegal organs for transplant. They
should understand the problems they would have to face if they were to accept
illegal organs.
Mr. Li said that the Taiwanese government takes the report
very seriously. As a member of the international community, the Taiwanese government
would not ignore this problem and will condemn the CCP's brutality. Currently,
the Taiwanese government and other non-governmental organizations are taking actions
to stop the organ harvesting. The Legislative Yuan has proposed a bill to the
Executive Yuan to allocate funds for educating the public about the CCP's
organ harvesting. The media and the Falun Gong Association have also reported
and exposed this issue.
Mr. Li said that the Taiwanese government will have
more detailed plans, such as making laws and promoting the collaboration between
the Legislative Yuan and Executive Yuan on this issue. Based on the information
collected, the Ministry of Health will consider not issuing public health insurance
to those who have organ transplants in Mainland China. Mr. Li said that the Taiwanese
government doesn't want Taiwan to be the biggest organ market for Mainland
China and doesn't want to help the Chinese Communist Party to harvest organs
from living people.
Mr. Cai Tsing-hsing, an officer from the Ministry of Justice,
said that Taiwan has very strict laws about organ transplants. The hospital must
have the signatures of the donor and two of the donor's family members before
the surgery. The patient also must be a close relative of the donor. Most important
is that organ selling and buying are forbidden in Taiwan.
Before coming to
Taiwan, Mr. Kilgour and Mr. Matas have already visited 15 countries and areas,
calling upon governments to take actions to stop the CCP's crime. Mr. Kilgour
also called upon the government to boycott the Olympic Games, which will be held
in China in 2008, if the CCP doesn't stop the crime of harvesting organs.
Posting date: 19/Oct/2006
Original
article date: 17/Oct/2006
Category: World
News