“I woke up after being injected to discover my organs had been harvested”
A shocking account has surfaced of Cheng Pei Ming, alleging that he experienced state-sanctioned detention and involuntary organ harvesting by the Chinese Communist Party due to his practice of Falun Gong, considered an “evil cult” in China. Mr. Cheng claims he was presented with a medical consent form, which he refused to sign, and was subsequently injected against his will with a sedative.
Waking up in a hospital bed after being sedated, Mr. Cheng discovered a surgical incision on his chest and learned that parts of his liver and lung had been removed while he was unconscious. He recounted being forcefully restrained by guards during the injection process and experiencing confusion and unconsciousness as he awoke with tubes in his nose and was in and out of consciousness.
Photographic evidence of the incident, believed to have been taken by a hospital staff member, shows Mr. Cheng unconscious and bound to a hospital bed. These images, widely shared on websites such as Minghui.org, a platform documenting the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners, shed light on the brutality Mr. Cheng endured.
While medical experts have not definitively determined the reason for the extraction of Mr. Cheng’s organs, Professor Wendy Rogers of the International Coalition to End Transplant Abuse in China noted that he did not have a medical condition necessitating such surgery. She highlighted the callousness of the authorities’ treatment of prisoners of conscience, emphasizing that Mr. Cheng’s experience is part of a broader pattern of persecution and torture.
Following the ordeal, Mr. Cheng fell severely ill, experiencing chronic exhaustion and breathing difficulties, but was denied additional medical care while in custody for another 18 months. In a desperate bid for freedom, he embarked on a hunger strike and subsequently escaped the facility before undergoing another unexplained operation.
Taking advantage of a brief lapse in the guard’s vigilance, Mr. Cheng managed to flee the hospital, evading further harm. His journey to freedom spanned nearly a decade in hiding across China before seeking refuge in Thailand unofficially and eventually finding sanctuary in the United States with the support of the United Nations.
Renowned human rights lawyer David Matas emphasized that Cheng’s survival and escape from China set him apart from the thousands of victims of forced organ harvesting. Mr. Matas described Mr. Cheng as a testament to the horrific reality of mass organ harvesting from Falun Gong practitioners and the necessity of accountability for these crimes against humanity.
The China Tribunal’s findings, led by Sir Geoffrey Nice, exposed the widespread practice of forced organ harvesting in China, estimating thousands of illegal organ transplants performed annually. Consequently, the US Senate is considering legislation to sanction individuals involved in these abuses and challenge the Chinese government’s denial of forced organ harvesting allegations.
In response to criticism, the Chinese government maintains that organ donation must be voluntary and without payment, despite evidence suggesting a systemic abuse of organ procurement practices. The harrowing tale of Cheng Pei Ming stands as a testament to the atrocities perpetrated against prisoners of conscience, underscoring the urgency of international action to address forced organ harvesting and uphold human rights standards.