This file photo shows
re-enactment of organ harvesting in China on Falun Gong practitioners,
during a rally in Ottawa, Canada, 2008. (Epoch Times)
Awareness of one of the gravest—yet little known—mass
atrocities taking place in the world came to Minnesota recently, after
the state senate put up for vote, and passed, a resolution condemning the organ harvesting of Falun Gong practitioners in China.
“Some of you may not know about Falun Gong,” said Senator Alice Johnson at the senate floor vote
on May 20. “It’s a Chinese spiritual practice, a system for improving
mind and body rooted in thousands of years of traditional culture. The
core of Falun Gong’s teachings are the values of truthfulness,
compassion, and tolerance.”
“Who could not accept that?” she added.
Sen. Johnson went on to introduce the core of the bill: this is that
practitioners of the Falun Gong discipline have been killed for their
organs in China, by the state, for over a decade.
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Falun Gong,
a system of five meditative exercises and spiritual teachings which is
taught and practiced freely, became extremely popular in China during
the 1990s, and had even earned the support of the state. By the end of
the decade, however, it had attracted more practitioners than were
members of the Communist Party, and hardliners in the regime—including
then-Party leader Jiang Zemin—decided to launch a comprehensive campaign
of suppression to eliminate the practice. Violence was one of the key
tools used to effect this.
Falun Gong practitioners meditate in a park next to city hall in Los Angeles on Oct. 15, 2015. (Edward Dye/Epoch Times)
It soon became clear, however, that the bodies of the targeted
population were worth more dead than alive. Since 2006, a large and
growing body of research and evidence has indicated that practitioners
of Falun Gong have been killed, in large numbers, for their internal
organs, which are sold to Chinese and paying foreigners.
“The Communist Party of China does not want the world to know of its human rights abuses,” Sen. Johnson said.
Researchers have published books, independent reports and scholarly studies
have been written, and detailed pieces of investigative journalism have
been published, attesting to this grim industry. The documentary “Human
Harvest,” treating the issue, received two major industry awards last
year. This newspaper has also been recognized for its work on the
subject.
Doctors Against Forced Organ Harvesting,
a medical advocacy and research network based in Washington, D.C.,
recently estimated that the death toll from organ harvesting could have
reached into the hundreds of thousands.
The Chinese authorities have never provided an explanation for the
vast number of organ transplants performed in hospitals across the
country. They’ve opted to engage in propaganda and sniping, instead.
Sen. Johnson explained how she soon became a witness to that process.
Minnesota Senator Alice Johnson spoke at the house floor vote.
After introducing the resolution in April 2015, along with Rep.
Phyllis Kahn, she received a letter from the Chinese consulate in
Chicago.
“They came to visit me as well,” she said in her floor speech. Their
goal wasn’t to deal with the evidence however, but instead to slander
Falun Gong. “They mentioned no information about organ harvesting.”
Epoch Times obtained copies of the letters dated April 2015 and March
2016 both of which were identical. They “express deep concerns” over
drafts of the bill. The majority of the letter consists of the same
kinds of slander against Falun Gong as feature in state-run media in
China, however.
“The Communist Party of China does not want the world to know of its human rights abuses,” Sen. Johnson said.
Senator Dan Hall, who also spoke on May 20, encouraged his colleagues to support the bill.
“This resolution goes to the core of our society. This goes to the
freedom of religion we have in America,” he said. “The Falun Gong have
been persecuted. Their bodies parts have been taken and sold to others,
some of them in America.”
Hall said he was also the subject of a surprise visit by a Chinese delegation—including the Deputy Consul General in Chicago.
“It is not often that the official liaisons of a foreign power visit
with, or care about the actions of, a Minnesota state legislator. So,
when I received the Chinese Consul General’s meeting request, I confess I
was surprised,” he wrote in a newsletter to his constituents.
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He appeared disappointed when it became apparent that the complaints
lacked much substance, however. The delegation merely denied the
persecution, said they “resent” the allegations, and went on to attack
Falun Gong.
“We have enough people that give enough evidence that these things
are going on and we need to stop it,” Sen. Hall said on May 20.
Other senators appeared to agree. The bill was passed 52 for and 0 against.
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