Doctor testifies to China's reuse of prisoners' organs

A Chinese doctor described to a US government subcommittee last month how, when he had lived in the People's Republic of China, he had removed body parts from executed prisoners to provide material for transplantation to wealthy patients.

Dr Wang Guoqi, a 38 year old doctor with advanced degrees in surgery and human tissue studies, was a former specialist in the burns victims unit at the Paramilitary Police Tianjin General Brigade Hospital in Tianjin. He testified to the US subcommittee on International Relations and Human Rights at a hearing last month.

The committee's chairman, Republican representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Miami, said that Dr Guoqi's testimony showed that China had “found a lucrative industry in the field of organ transplantation, which not only yields great financial rewards, but provides the regime with a powerful tool to coerce and intimidate the population into submission.”

Dr Guoqi told the committee: “My work required me to remove skin and corneas from the corpses of over 100 executed prisoners, and on a couple of occasions, victims of intentionally botched executions. It is with deep regret and remorse for my actions that I stand here today testifying against the practices of organ and tissue sales from death row prisoners.”