While the world watches China’s growing economic and military ambitions, human rights groups are sounding the alarm on something far more chilling happening in the shadows—a massive expansion of organ transplant centers in Xinjiang, the region at the heart of Beijing’s persecution of Uyghur Muslims.
And it’s not just the scale that’s alarming—it’s the growing fear that this expansion could mean more forced organ harvesting, something China has long been accused of but continues to deny.
A Troubling Plan to Triple Transplant Facilities
Back in December 2024, China’s National Health Commission quietly announced plans to triple the number of organ transplant hospitals in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region by 2030.
Six new medical centers will join the three already operating, each equipped to handle transplants of hearts, lungs, livers, kidneys, and pancreases.
But there’s a glaring contradiction: Xinjiang’s voluntary organ donation rate is incredibly low, sitting at just 0.69 donors per million people.
That’s one-sixth the national average—and far too small to support such a large network of transplant hospitals.
Human Rights Experts Raise Red Flags
Experts are now asking the obvious question—where will all these organs come from?
“This dramatic expansion in a region known for repression raises very disturbing questions,” warned Dr. Wendy Rogers of the International Coalition to End Transplant Abuse in China.
“The donation rate can’t justify this kind of growth. So what is it really for?”
International watchdogs, human rights lawyers, and medical experts say the only plausible explanation is that organs are being harvested from prisoners of conscience—a practice that China has been accused of for years but never officially outlawed.
From Falun Gong to Uyghurs: A History of Horror
While much of the world is only now paying attention to the Uyghur crisis, this pattern of abuse goes back decades.
Since 2006, practitioners of Falun Gong, a peaceful spiritual discipline, have allegedly been the main victims of forced organ harvesting.
Now, Uyghur Muslims—many held in detention camps—are reportedly being added to that list.
Detainees have described medical tests targeting their organs, including blood work and ultrasounds—standard procedures for organ matching.
But when performed without consent, and inside detention facilities, it’s a chilling signal.
Cheng’s Story: A Survivor of the System
One of the most horrifying personal accounts comes from Cheng Pei Ming, a Falun Gong practitioner from Shandong province.
After years of imprisonment and torture, he survived multiple forced organ removals—without consent, without anesthesia, and without justice.
Cheng was once drugged and woke up with a massive incision across his chest.
Medical scans later showed parts of his liver and lung had been removed.
The method used even matched a paediatric liver transplant technique—suggesting he was used for advanced surgical experimentation.
Despite the trauma, he escaped, fled China, and eventually made his way to the U.S., where he now advocates for victims of these abuses.
Beijing Continues to Deny, But Evidence Mounts
China has long denied allegations of forced organ harvesting, even claiming in 2015 that it stopped using organs from executed prisoners.
But no laws were passed to ban the practice.
There are still no legal protections in place to prevent prisoners of conscience—like Falun Gong practitioners or Uyghurs—from being used in this horrifying trade.
“Voluntary consent is a fiction in a place like Xinjiang,” said David Matas, a human rights lawyer who has investigated the issue for nearly two decades.
Global Community Begins to Respond
The international response is growing louder.
In the U.S., Congress recently passed the Stop Forced Organ Harvesting Act, and multiple states—including Texas, Arizona, and Utah—have moved to ban any collaboration with Chinese transplant institutions.
Twelve UN special rapporteurs have also weighed in, raising concern that China is building a national organ-matching database using involuntary medical exams from detained minorities.
What Lies Ahead
As pressure mounts, campaigners are urging greater international scrutiny of China’s plans—especially in Xinjiang, where surveillance, repression, and secrecy already run deep.
“This could be industrial-scale organ harvesting,” said Dr. Maya Mitalipova, a genetics expert who testified before U.S. Congress.
And unless more nations speak up, many fear the abuse will only grow—hidden behind hospital walls and government denials.
