A Chinese diplomat sent an unsolicited email to Rep. Christopher Smith’s office last week, denouncing the New Jersey Republican for introducing a bill that would sanction China over its alleged practice of organ harvesting and pressing the member of Congress to rescind the legislation.
Zhou Zeng, the minister-counselor for the Chinese Embassy in the United States, wrote an email to Smith’s chief of staff to express “strong opposition” to the bill, which passed the House last week with overwhelming bipartisan support. The Chinese diplomat decried the legislation as “baseless,” denying allegations of human trafficking for the purposes of organ removal and harvesting in the country.
MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE VOTES AGAINST SANCTIONING CHINA OVER ORGAN HARVESTING
“China firmly rejects this absurd bill,” Zheng wrote in the email obtained by the Washington Examiner. “Chinese law strictly prohibits the sale of human organs, and China's organ transplantation policy fully complies with the human organ transplantation guidelines formulated by the World Health Organization, with relatively strict management regulations that conform to ethical and legal principles.”
The House passed the measure in a 413-2 vote on March 28, seeking to impose sanctions on people from China who have been involved in forced organ trafficking. The legislation would require the State Department to revoke their passports, as well as those of anyone who has been convicted for “knowingly transferring any human organ for valuable consideration for use in human transplantation.”
The legislation stems from recent reports that China has become a major organ harvester, with lawmakers citing a study from the American Journal of Transplantation that found evidence of Chinese transplant surgeons removing organs before donors were declared brain-dead.
Zheng pushed back against those allegations, arguing data from organizations such as WHO on its organ transplants are “completely unreliable.”
“The so-called ‘forced organ harvesting’ in China is a farce orchestrated and a scam hyped up by ‘Falun Gong,’” Zheng said, referring to a meditative religious movement in China that was banned by the Chinese Communist Party in 1999. “China fully protects the rights and interests of all ethnic minorities, including the Uyghurs in Xinjiang, and the living standards and human rights protection of all ethnic groups continue to improve. The so-called ‘genocide’ and ‘forced organ harvesting’ are lies that will eventually shatter into pieces in front of facts and truth.”
Zheng called on Smith to withdraw the legislation from consideration, noting the Chinese Embassy “looks forward to any argument” to the contrary from the lawmaker.
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Under the bill, the Biden administration would be required to provide Congress with a list of suspects who have participated in forced organ harvesting or human trafficking with the intent of organ harvesting. For each suspect on the list, the president must impose property- and visa-blocking sanctions, according to the legislation.
An identical version of the legislation has been introduced in the Senate, although it’s not clear when it may be brought up for a vote.