E-003418/2021
Answer given by High Representative/Vice-President Borrell on behalf of the European Commission
(17.8.2021)
Respect for human rights is a requirement in all areas, including in the medical area of organ donation and transplantation. Forced organ harvesting, often from persons belonging to ethnic, linguistic or religious minorities and other persons in vulnerable situation, is a criminal, inhumane and unethical practice.
In his bilateral contacts with Chinese authorities, High Representative/Vice-President Borrell has repeatedly raised serious concerns over detention conditions, discriminatory treatments and harassment against persons belonging to ethnic and religious minorities. Most recently, he raised the human rights situation in Xinjiang in his call with State Councillor/Foreign Minister Wang Yi on 8 July 20211.
In the framework of the EU-China Human Rights Dialogue2, the European External Action Service (EEAS) referred to independent reports on the continuation of organ harvesting from executed prisoners without their consent and asked China to stop this practice, even though a ban had been announced. The EEAS has also repeatedly expressed to China its concerns over the secrecy that surrounds both death penalty and organ transplant statistics in China.
The human rights situation in China will continue to be a key part of the EU-China political dialogue, as well as of its action in multilateral fora, namely within the framework of the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council and the UN General Assembly Third Committee.
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2 The last meeting of the EU-China Human Rights Dialogue took place on 1 April 2019. https://eeas.europa.eu/topics/external-investment-plan/60545/european-union-and-china-held-their-37th-human- rights-dialogue_en
© European Union, 2021 – EP
Source: Answer to a written question – Organ harvesting in China – E-003418/2021(ASW)