UK MPs reject bid to end state complicity in Chinese forced organ harvesting

An amendment to the UK Procurement Bill, which would have granted powers for UK medical organisations to exclude suppliers based on involvement with forced organ harvesting, was rejected by the House of Commons on Wednesday.

The amendment, which would have been the first piece of UK legislation to define forced organ harvesting, would have been a “critical step to prevent UK complicity in China’s illegal billion-dollar forced organ harvesting trade,” according to a press release issued on behalf of the International Coalition to End Transplant Abuse in China that was shared with Euractiv.

With 274 votes in favour and 194 against the motion to disagree on the Lord’s amendment proposal tabled by Lord Philip Hunt, the amendment failed to pass the scrutiny of the House of Commons.

“The world is becoming increasingly aware of the Chinese Communist Party’s multi-million-pound business of forced organ harvesting from prisoners of conscience. And yet, presented with an opportunity to prevent complicity in these crimes, the government has rejected our proposed amendment,” said Hunt.

In 2016, a UK-China hospital partnership worth £300 million was signed, which unveiled a 10-year global hospital partnership that includes involvement in building and managing the new 200-bed IHG Qingdao International Hospital and future projects in Shanghai and Chengdu.

Forced organ harvesting is a state-sanctioned Chinese programme in which prisoners of conscience are executed for their organs, and an estimated 60,000 – 90,000 transplants are carried out as part of a nationwide industry worth more than £800 million, according to the Telegraph.

“This is a gross misstep and a failure by the British government to protect UK citizens from inadvertent complicity. Taxpayers’ money should not support these horrific crimes,” he added.

“It is disappointing to hear the UK government has failed to pass this important amendment to the Procurement Bill that was designed to protect UK citizens and institutions from complicity with the forced organ harvesting crimes that the People’s Republic of China is accused of,” said Dr Adnan Sharif, Secretary of the non-Government Organisation Doctors Against Forced Organ Harvesting (DAFOH) which campaigns against illegal and unethical organ procurement around the globe.

“The passing of this amendment would have sent a clear signal that such crimes, the killing of innocents, will not be tolerated,” he added.

“The UK government needs to move quickly to tighten legislation to protect UK citizens from inadvertent complicity. It needs to send a clear message to China that the UK will not turn a blind eye,” said Susie Hughes, Executive Director of the International Coalition to End Transplant Abuse in China.

(Sofia Stuart Leeson | Euractiv.com)