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Calls on Senate to take up his Stop Forced Organ Harvesting ActSmith chairs hearing on gruesome, systemic practice of forced organ harvesting and trafficking in China

Fri, 15 May 2026 04:00:00 GMT

At a congressional hearing on Capitol Hill, Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Co-Chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC), heard chilling testimony from expert witnesses about the barbaric, systemic, and lucrative practice of forced organ harvesting and trafficking in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and beyond.

“Today, this Commission examines one of the most barbaric human rights atrocities of our time: the forced harvesting of organs from prisoners of conscience, death row inmates, and other vulnerable people—especially in Communist China,” said Smith during his opening remarks.

Smith explained how Falun Gong practitioners, Uyghurs, Tibetans, Christians, death row inmates, and other religious and ethnic minorities in China are targeted and tortured for their organs, which are then implanted into Chinese Communist Party elites or sold to the highest bidder.

“What we are examining today is the conversion of the imprisoned and persecuted into inventory. Hearts. Livers. Kidneys. Lungs. Corneas. Taken from the living. Sold to the desperate. Hidden behind hospital walls. Protected by secrecy, corruption, fear, and state power,” the China policy expert and human rights lawmaker continued.

Smith, who chaired his first congressional hearing on forced organ harvesting thirty years ago, underscored the importance of his Stop Forced Organ Harvesting Act of 2025 (HR 1503), which passed the House with broad bipartisan support and by a margin of 406 to 1, and urged the Senate to immediately take up his legislation for a vote.

“The Senate has not acted on the bill, but they must. Delay is denial. Every day without consequences is another day perpetrators operate in the shadows, witnesses are intimidated, evidence disappears, and families never learn what happened to their loved ones,” stated Smith.

“No dictator, no party boss, no wealthy patient, and no broker should be able to purchase longevity with the organs of the poor and persecuted. That is all the more reason to pass the Stop Forced Organ Harvesting Act and make unmistakably clear that the United States will not stand by in the face of such cruelty.”

Policy experts, investigative journalists present evidence

Ethan Gutmann, a Senior Research Fellow in China Studies at the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation and the author of The Xinjiang Procedure (2026) and The Slaughter (2014), testified about the nature of China’s forced organ harvesting “market,” drawing from the first-hand accounts of medical and direct witnesses and his extensive research on the gruesome practice.

“If we use one million detainees as the baseline population across camps, prisons, forced-labor facilities, and other carceral environments, that means 25,000 to 50,000 Uyghurs, Kazakhs, and other Turkic detainees harvested per year. If two to three organs are taken from each victim, that is enough to support a transplant volume of at least 60,000 successful transplants annually,” he told lawmakers.

“On that basis, my minimum estimate for the cumulative death toll from forced organ harvesting in Xinjiang is over 200,000,” Gutmann continued.

The Hon. Sam Brownback, the former U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, explained how the practice of forced organ harvesting is a byproduct of the CCP’s broader war on religion and human dignity: “Disfavored religious communities are particularly targeted by the perpetrators of the forced organ harvesting scheme, with Falun Gong practitioners systematically catalogued based on biometric markers and then murdered for their organs.

“The organs of Uyghur Muslims are marketed to wealthy Middle Easterners as ‘halal,’ in an unimaginably cynical perversion of their Muslim faith,” Amb. Brownback continued.

Jan Jekielek, the Senior Editor of The Epoch Times and the author of the New York Times bestseller, Killed to Order, described how Chinese prisoners of conscience are dehumanized and commercialized, tissue-typed and made available for rapid transplant matching.

“This is why I titled my book Killed to Order,” explained Jekielek. “Because that is exactly what it is: organs delivered on a schedule, matched in advance, extracted from living human beings who are then discarded.

“It is industrialized forced organ harvesting made possible by the CCP’s unique combination of totalitarian control, mass dehumanization, and the willingness to turn human beings into spare parts for profit, power and elite longevity,” he argued.

Detention camp survivors provide eyewitness accounts

The hearing, entitled “A Market Built on Victims: Stopping Illegal Organ Trafficking in China and Beyond,” also featured the eyewitness accounts of two Chinese detention camp survivors, Kalbinur Sidik and Seyed Alireza “Ali” Motevalian.

Sidik, who was forced to work as a Chinese-language instructor at a detention camp in Sangfanggou Village No. 5, Ürümchi City, said: “Every Monday, no classes were held for the detainees. Instead, blood was drawn from them. They were given unidentified injections. Afterwards, they were given small white pills.

“Every day in the classroom, detainees were constantly replaced,” she continued. “Older and stronger prisoners were taken away, while new ones arrived. Familiar faces disappeared, and we were expected to accept whatever explanation the guards gave us.”

Motevalian, who was wrongfully imprisoned in the PRC and spent extended periods of time inside the Shanghai Prisons General Hospital, described an institutional pattern of prisoners being restrained or sedated, forced to provide thumbprints on consent forms, and taken to surgery, never to return. He also detailed the presence of mobile freezer carts, which were moved quickly by guards to waiting vans; the separate handling of bodies or coffins towards an incineration area; and the occurrence of “sleepers,” or unconscious or deeply sedated prisoners, being brought into the surgery area by armed People’s Armed Police personnel.

“Prisoners were restrained or incapacitated, thumb-printed, taken to surgery, and did not return. A freezer cart then moved quickly from the surgery area to a waiting van, while the body or coffin was handled separately toward the rear incineration area. Unconscious restrained prisoners were also brought from outside under armed PAP escort and taken directly toward surgery,” said Motevalian, whose submitted testimony was read at the hearing.

“Based on the repetition, the layout, the behavior of guards and Laodong workers, the separate handling of the freezer cart and body, the lack of ordinary specialist medical care, and the large, controlled surgery area, I understood this as non-consensual organ procurement inside the prison hospital,” he concluded.

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Opening statement of Co-Chairman Smith at CECC hearingA Market Built on Victims: Stopping Illegal Organ Trafficking in China and Beyond

Thu, 14 May 2026 04:00:00 GMT

Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Co-Chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC), delivers his opening statement as his May 14th hearing, "A Market Built on Victims: Stopping Illegal Organ Trafficking in China and Beyond."

The following are excerpts of Co-Chairman Chris Smith’s (R-NJ) opening statement at the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC)’s May 14^th hearing, entitled “A Market Built on Victims: Stopping Illegal Organ Trafficking in China and Beyond”:

Last September, the world heard something chilling. As Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin, and Kim Jong Un walked together in Beijing, a hot mic picked up an unguarded conversation about organ transplants and the possibility of living to 150 years old.

That was not macabre small talk among aging dictators. It was a glimpse behind the curtain—a glimpse into a world where human beings can be treated as interchangeable parts to prolong the lives of autocrats.

But forced organ harvesting is not healing. It is murder masquerading as medicine.

Today, this Commission examines one of the most barbaric human rights atrocities of our time: the forced harvesting of organs from prisoners of conscience, death row inmates, and other vulnerable people—especially in Communist China.

Let me be clear: ethical organ transplantation is noble and lifesaving. But what we are examining today is the opposite. It is the conversion of the imprisoned and persecuted into inventory. Hearts. Livers. Kidneys. Lungs. Corneas. Taken from the living. Sold to the desperate. Hidden behind hospital walls. Protected by secrecy, corruption, fear, and state power.

I chaired my first of several hearings on forced organ harvesting thirty years ago, on June 18, 1996. Since then, the evidence has become more disturbing, more detailed, and more compelling.

The most persistent allegations in China centered first on Falun Gong practitioners—peaceful men and women targeted by the Chinese Communist Party for eradication. Later came mounting evidence concerning Uyghurs, already victims of genocide in the Uyghur Region; Tibetans; Christians; death row inmates; and others treated as property of the state.

Experts, like Ethan Gutmann, have documented how this atrocity expanded from death row prisoners to prisoners of conscience and religious detainees. The China Tribunal concluded that forced organ harvesting has been committed in China for years, on a significant scale. Witnesses at previous hearings have warned us about military hospitals, impossibly short wait times, organs available on demand, and a transplant system that cannot withstand scrutiny.

And yet, Beijing now asks the world to believe the problem has been solved. It says its transplant system now meets international standards. And once again, the disappointing and corrupt WHO takes Beijing’s claims at face value—just as it did in the early days of COVID.

But today, this Commission has received rare and extraordinary eyewitness accounts from inside the Chinese gulag itself: Ali Motevalian’s written submission details his incarceration in a PLA-linked prison hospital near Shanghai, and Kalbinur Sidik’s testimony from the detention camps of the Uyghur Region. Together, their accounts shatter Beijing’s fiction that its transplant system is voluntary, transparent, and compliant with international standards.

Ali Motevalian spent years inside China’s prison system. His submission describes coerced thumbprints on so-called consent forms, bondage, tranquilizers, “last rooms of terminal patients,” prisoners taken to surgery and not returned, mobile freezer carts, and bodies moved toward incineration. His account strikes at the heart of Beijing’s favorite defense. The Chinese Communist Party told the world it had ended the use of executed prisoners’ organs. Ali says otherwise.

Inside the prison hospital system, in 2020 and 2021—years after Beijing told the world it had stopped taking organs from prisoners—Ali says he saw unconscious, shackled men, known as “sleepers,” brought by armed personnel directly into surgery rooms. They never returned. What a nightmare. That is not voluntary donation. That is execution by organ extraction.

Kalbinur Sidik brings us inside another part of the Chinese gulag: the camps of the Uyghur Region. I will not summarize her testimony in detail, because in just a few minutes she will speak for herself. But her account shows a system where human beings are reduced to commodities, where the state controls the body as well as the mind, and where coercion and fear are used to destroy dignity.

The prison hospitals and gulag described in these testimonies are not places of care, rehabilitation, or education. They are crime scenes—part of a system of coercion, medical abuse, and genocide China. Organ crimes are not just a China problem. It is global one that flourishes wherever coercion, poverty, corruption, secrecy, and demand intersect. That is why Congress must act.

The House has twice passed my legislation with overwhelming bipartisan support. H.R. 1503, the Stop Forced Organ Harvesting Act of 2025, passed the House 406 to 1. It would criminalize forced organ trafficking, impose serious sanctions, require reporting, deny visas, and create penalties of up to 20 years in prison and up to a $1 million fine for knowing complicity. This bill is not a press release. It is enforceable policy.

It says to brokers, traffickers, corrupt officials, complicit doctors, hospitals, researchers, insurers, and middlemen: if you profit from coerced transplants, directly or indirectly, you should risk your money, your visa, your access to the United States, and your freedom.

The Senate has not acted on the bill, but they must. Delay is denial. Every day without consequences is another day perpetrators operate in the shadows, witnesses are intimidated, evidence disappears, and families never learn what happened to their loved ones.

Forced organ harvesting is barbaric. It is systematic. It is state-enabled. And it is big business. And, speaking frankly, no one wants Xi Jinping or Vladimir Putin to live forever. I suspect on this point there would be broad bipartisan agreement.

But behind that dark irony is a deadly serious point: no dictator, no party boss, no wealthy patient, and no broker should be able to purchase longevity with the organs of the poor and persecuted. That is all the more reason to pass the Stop Forced Organ Harvesting Act and make unmistakably clear that the United States will not stand by in the face of such cruelty.

Not with our expertise. Not with our money. Not with a dollar of American complicity.

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The Epoch Times article on Smith's H.Res.1259'Congress Passes Resolutions Urging Trump to Press Xi on Political Prisoners'

Thu, 14 May 2026 04:00:00 GMT

By Joseph Lord
Published May 14, 2026

The U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate on Wednesday passed resolutions urging President Donald Trump to confront Chinese leader Xi Jinping on political prisoners currently held in state custody by China.

The House measure passed in a 414–0 vote.

H.Res. 1259, introduced by Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), cochair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, names five individuals who he said were “unfairly punished” by Beijing for exercising freedom of speech and religion.

“Shamefully, the People’s Republic of China currently detains thousands of political and religious prisoners, which include American citizens and the family members of U.S. nationals,” Smith previously told The Epoch Times.

The U.S. Capitol building on April 29, 2026. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times

He said the resolution calls out the Chinese regime’s “abysmal record of human rights abuses and arbitrary detentions” and urges Trump to raise these concerns at the upcoming meeting.

The five individuals named in the House resolution include Pastor Jin Mingri; Pastor Gao Quanfu and his wife, Pang Yu; Jimmy Lai; and Dr. Gulshan Abbas.

In May last year, Gao, pastor and founder of a house church called Light of Zion Church, was detained at his home and accused of “using superstitious activities to undermine the implementation of law,” his son Gao Pu told The Epoch Times.

Two months later, his wife, Pang, another church leader, was also detained. The resolution notes that she has since been “denied access to critical prescription medication.”

In October 2025, Jin, founder of another house church known as Zion Church, was detained at his home as part of a broader operation by Chinese authorities that also led to the detention of nearly 30 pastors and church members.

Abbas has been imprisoned for nearly 3,000 days, and her detention is widely believed to be linked to her sister Rushan Abbas’s human rights advocacy activities in the United States.

The Senate also passed a measure calling on Trump to prioritize the release of the five individuals named in the House resolution.

Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) issued a joint statement on the resolution, which they sponsored in the Senate. It passed unanimously.

“The Chinese Communist Party is an authoritarian regime that jails dissidents, silences religious believers, and violates basic freedoms,” Cruz said. “The Senate’s passage of this bipartisan resolution underscores that America will continue fighting to secure the release of those wrongfully detained and hold the CCP accountable for these detentions.”

Durbin echoed the sentiment, saying, “No one should fear for their lives or suffer political imprisonment for standing up for democracy and freedom.

“While the Chinese have ... made some important gestures, it’s time for the immediate release of [the prisoners],” Durbin said. “Now that this resolution has passed the Senate, I urge President Trump to raise their cases with Chinese President Xi Jinping during his current visit to China.”

This article was published on May 14, 2026 and can be found online at: https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/congress-passes-resolutions-urging-trump-to-press-xi-on-political-prisoners-6025623

VOA Mandarin Service article on Smith's H.Res.1259'On the Eve of the U.S.-China Summit, Both Houses of Congress Unanimously Pass Resolution Urging China to Release Political Prisoners'

Thu, 14 May 2026 04:00:00 GMT

By Li Yihua
Published May 14, 2026 at 7:27

Capitol Hill — On Wednesday (May 13), both the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate successively passed resolutions by unanimous consent, calling upon the U.S. President—in his future engagements with Chinese leaders—to prioritize efforts to secure the release of numerous political prisoners and religious figures, including Jimmy Lai and Pastor Jin Mingri. President Donald Trump arrived in Beijing on the same day and is scheduled to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday.

On Wednesday evening, the House of Representatives passed the resolution by a vote of 414 to 0. The measure urges the President, in his future meetings with President Xi Jinping of the People's Republic of China, to prioritize advocating for the release of individuals currently detained in China, including Pastor Jin Mingri (Senior Pastor of Zion Church), Pastor Gao Quanfu of Zion’s Light Church and his wife Pang Yu, Uyghur physician Gulshan Abbas, and Jimmy Lai, founder of Hong Kong’s Next Digital.

The Senate also passed an identical resolution by unanimous consent later on Wednesday evening.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed Resolution H. Res. 1259, calling upon the President to prioritize advocating for the release of numerous political prisoners and religious figures—including Jimmy Lai and Pastor Jin Mingri—during meetings with Chinese leaders. (May 13, 2026)

The House version of the resolution was introduced by Republican Congressman Chris Smith—a long-time advocate for human rights issues in China—and garnered strong bipartisan support from lawmakers.

"House Resolution 1259 addresses precisely these individuals who are being unjustly detained," Congressman Smith, who represents New Jersey, stated during a floor speech on Wednesday morning.

Smith continued: "I would like to remind my colleagues that I have served in Congress for 46 years, and throughout that time, I have consistently worked to champion the cause of political prisoners around the world—dating back to the Soviet era. We have consistently found that when the United States calls out political prisoners by name, it is an effective strategy. President Reagan frequently did this during his tenure, as did his Secretary of State, George Shultz; by publicly naming specific individuals, they helped ensure that many of those receiving such solidarity were ultimately released. This approach also helps secure access for lawyers, family members, and medical visits—and can even save lives. Moreover, it truly does help bring about their release."

During his floor remarks, Congressman Smith urged President Trump—who is currently visiting Beijing—to raise the issue of political prisoners in China, along with other human rights concerns, during his talks with President Xi Jinping. “This is important. It is important to their families; it is important to every prisoner confined in a cell for daring to pray, publish, speak out, worship, or advocate for fundamental human rights and freedoms,” Smith said. “It is also important to the Chinese Communist Party, because when the President of the United States calls them out by name, autocrats listen.”

“Silence is not an option. Silence tells the jailers that no one is watching. Silence tells the prisoners that the world has moved on and no longer cares. Silence tells Beijing that hostage diplomacy, coercive exit bans, and transnational repression can be normalized. None of this can be normalized. We will not remain silent, and we pray and hope that the President will succeed.”

The resolution states that the House of Representatives believes that, in his future meetings with President Xi Jinping of the People’s Republic of China, the President should prioritize advocating for the release of those detained in China—specifically Pastor Jin Mingri, Senior Pastor of Zion Church; Pastor Gao Quanfu of Zion’s Light Church and his wife, Pang Yu; Uyghur physician Gulshan Abbas; and Jimmy Lai, founder of Hong Kong’s Next Digital.

Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), one of the sponsors of the Senate version of the resolution, stated in a written statement: “The Chinese Communist Party is an authoritarian regime that imprisons dissidents, suppresses religious believers, and violates fundamental freedoms. By passing this bipartisan resolution, the Senate signals that the United States will continue to strive for the release of those unjustly detained and hold the CCP accountable for these detentions.”

Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), the Senate Democratic Whip who co-sponsored the resolution with Senator Cruz, also stated: “No one should have to fear for their safety or face political imprisonment for standing up for democracy and freedom.”

“Now that this resolution has passed the Senate, I urge President Trump to raise these cases with Chinese President Xi Jinping during his visit to China,” said Senator Durbin of Illinois.

On October 10, 2025, Pastor Jin Mingri of Zion Church—along with 17 other pastors and staff members—was detained by Chinese authorities on charges of “illegally using an information network.” If convicted, they face a maximum sentence of three years in prison. In recent years, Chinese authorities have expanded the scope of this charge to encompass unauthorized religious activities. On May 17, 2025, Pastor Gao Quanfu of Xi'an Zion Light Church was detained; he is currently being held on charges of "using superstitious activities to undermine the implementation of the law" and "fraud." His wife was subsequently detained on June 7; despite holding no formal position within the church, she remains in custody to this day.

Gulshan Abbas is a retired physician. On September 11, 2018—shortly after her sister, a U.S. citizen, publicly criticized the People's Republic of China government's treatment of the Uyghur people—she was forcibly disappeared. Dr. Abbas was subsequently sentenced to 20 years in prison following a secret trial.

Jimmy Lai, the founder of Hong Kong's Next Digital and *Apple Daily*, has been imprisoned since late 2020, when he was arrested by Hong Kong police on fraud charges. Subsequently, the Hong Kong government charged Lai with additional offenses under the National Security Law, including "conspiracy to collude with foreign forces." In February 2026, the 78-year-old pro-democracy media tycoon was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Prior to departing for China, Trump stated that he would raise the cases of imprisoned Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai and Chinese pastor Jin Mingri during his meeting with Xi Jinping in Beijing.

On Tuesday, the Chinese Embassy in the United States posted on its social media platform, X, stating that "four red lines in China-U.S. relations must never be challenged." Accompanying the post was a graphic card identifying the first red line as the Taiwan issue; the second as democracy and human rights; the third as the political system; and the fourth as China's right to development. "When two superpowers meet, no topic should be off the table," Representative Smith said in an interview with Voice of America (VOA) on Wednesday.

"The leader of the free world is Donald Trump; I believe he is an exceptional leader who holds a deep commitment to human rights and a profound concern for the Chinese people—a concern directed not at the unfortunate government that oppresses its people, but at the Chinese people themselves. Therefore, we—and the U.S. Congress—will stand firmly in solidarity with those who suffer for the sake of pursuing freedom and democracy," Smith said.

Representative John Moolenaar, a Republican from Michigan and Chairman of the House Select Committee on China, was a co-sponsor of the resolution. Following its passage, he issued a statement declaring: "No government has the right to imprison an individual simply because of their beliefs, their faith, or their voice. This resolution makes it clear that the United States will not remain silent when the Chinese Communist Party detains courageous individuals for exercising their fundamental freedoms. These individuals are not criminals; they are voices for truth and human dignity. We must continue to press for their release and ensure that their cases remain a top priority whenever the United States engages with Xi Jinping and the CCP."

This article was published on May 14, 2026 and can be found online at: https://www.voachinese.com/a/house-passes-resolution-calling-on-trump-to-prioritize-release-of-political-prisoner-ahead-of-china-trip-20260513/8149665.html

The Epoch Times article on Smith's CECC hearing on forced organ harvesting'"Perverted" Forced Organ Harvesting Gets Spotlight in Congress'

Thu, 14 May 2026 04:00:00 GMT

By Eva Fu
Published May 14, 2026

WASHINGTON—As U.S. and China delegations convene in Beijing, a bipartisan panel of lawmakers is casting a spotlight on the regime’s forced organ harvesting, saying it’s past time to put the abuse to an end.

Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), co-chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, opened a May 14 congressional hearing by recalling a hot mic incident on Tiananmen Square last September.

A conversation was captured between Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin as they walked together, musing about living to 150 through continued organ transplants.

“That was not macabre small talk among aging dictators,“ Smith said at the hearing. ”It was a glimpse behind the curtain—a glimpse into a world where human beings can be treated as interchangeable parts to prolong the lives of autocrats.”

(2nd L-R) Congressional-Executive Commission on China chairman Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), co-chair Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), and Rep. Dale Strong (R-Ala.), listen to testimonies during a hearing titled, “A Market Built on Victims: Stopping Illegal Organ Trafficking in China and Beyond,” on Capitol Hill in Washington on May 14, 2026. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times

Smith called what the leaders discussed “murder masquerading as medicine.”

Thirty years after Smith’s first hearing on the topic of organ harvesting, the evidence has become “more disturbing, more detailed, and more compelling,” he said, as religious and ethnic groups—including Falun Gong practitioners, Uyghurs, Tibetans, and Christians—face greater risk.

Though Beijing now insists that its transplant system conforms to international standards, he said, “extraordinary” eyewitness accounts reviewed by his commission say otherwise.

‘Enough Is Enough’

One testimony came from Seyed Alireza Motevalian, an Iranian-born refugee and businessman in China. As recently as 2021, he saw unconscious, restrained Chinese prisoners brought in on stretchers and sent to surgery rooms in prison hospitals, never to return—a repeated pattern he linked to organ harvesting.

Kalbinur Sidik, who worked as a Chinese-language teacher in Uyghur detention camps in Xinjiang, testified that she saw blood drawn from detainees every week. The detainees were then given injections of unidentified substances and small white pills that the Chinese nurses described as nutrition supplements, she said. Healthy men disappeared.

Sidik said the special police officer and driver who escorted her said the authorities had converted a local detoxification center into an organ extraction hospital.

Kalbinur Sidik, survivor of China’s genocide and eyewitness to forced labor camps and author of forthcoming book “Heart Full of Light: Love, Loss, and Survival Inside China's Gulags,” testifies online from the Netherlands, before the Congressional-Executive Commission on China on Capitol Hill in Washington on May 14, 2026. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times

“They said, ‘Right now in our country, the halal organ trade is booming,’” she said via a translator.

“Halal organs” are reportedly taken from Muslim ethnic minorities and marketed to wealthy Muslims.

“These are Nazi-like atrocities that are being committed in 2026—it’s getting worse,” Smith told The Epoch Times. “The American public, we all need to mobilize and say, ‘Enough is enough. This has got to stop.’”

Concerns of forced organ harvesting targeting prisoners of conscience first emerged in 2006. Whistleblowers told The Epoch Times they'd witnessed the killing of Falun Gong practitioners for their organs in underground facilities.

Under international pressure, the Chinese regime announced it would transition to having a voluntary organ donation system. But a 2019 study published in the scientific journal BMC Medical Ethics, having analyzed the country’s organ donation data, found it “too neat to be true.”

“These figures don’t appear to be real data from real donations. They’re numbers generated using an equation,” said study author Matthew Robertson, a doctoral student at the Australian National University.

The researchers also compared the figures with data from 50 other countries in a database managed by the World Health Organization and found that none of the other countries’ datasets fit any formula.

In 2019, the independent China Tribunal in London released findings after a year of investigation into the issue. It concluded that the Chinese regime had forcibly harvested organs from prisoners of conscience “on a significant scale,” and that Falun Gong practitioners were the primary victims.

Ethan Gutmann, investigative journalist and author of the “Xinjiang Procedure,” was one of three hearing witnesses who have written books on the issue.

Ethan Gutmann, a China studies research fellow at the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation and author of “The Xinjiang Procedure,” testifies before the Congressional-Executive Commission on China on Capitol Hill in Washington on May 14, 2026. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times

He estimated the average age of victims to be 28.

Smith said he finds that difficult to comprehend.

“These are young people with great futures. They’re very healthy,” and the Chinese authorities “kill them to get their organs,” he said in the interview.

His thoughts then returned to the hot mic moment.

If Xi needs a new liver, Smith said, the Chinese leader will “look to the very people he despises, like the Falun Gong or like the Uyghurs.”

“That is perverted,” he said. “It’s wrong, it’s ugly, it’s cruel.”

‘Extractable Body Parts’

Last May, the House passed two bills—the Falun Gong Protection Act and Smith’s Stop Forced Organ Harvesting Act—aiming to impose sanctions on forced organ harvesting perpetrators. Both now await further movement in the Senate.

Rep. James Walkinshaw (D-Va.), coming out of the hearing, said he hopes the Senate will take action.

Beijing is “using forced organ harvesting as a tool of repression in their repression toolbox, and it’s really important for the United States not to let those kinds of human rights issues slip off of the agenda,” he told The Epoch Times.

Rep. James Walkinshaw (D-Va.) speaks during a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington on May 14, 2026. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times

The issue should be “near the top” of the U.S. policy agenda on China, he said.

“We have important issues to discuss with China, around trade, around technology, around security, all of those things are important,” he said.

“But if we don’t have a robust global human rights framework that can protect the freedoms, the religious freedoms, the political freedoms of every person on the planet, then all those other conversations aren’t very meaningful, are they?”

Rep. Dale Strong (R-Ala.) similarly said the issue needs to be brought to the forefront.

“Illegal harvesting of body parts shouldn’t be occurring in any country,” he told The Epoch Times. “We’re exposing some things here that need to be exposed—should have been exposed a long time ago.”

Epoch Times senior editor Jan Jekielek, whose book “Killed to Order” recently made the New York Times best-seller list, said the lesson from decades of investigating organ harvesting is that “the regime is capable of anything at others’ expense.”

As the United States, “built on a foundational belief and the God-given right of every individual,” celebrates its 250th anniversary, the Chinese Communist Party rejects this truth at its core, he said at the hearing.

Jan Jekielek, Epoch Times senior editor and author of "Killed to Order" testifies before the Congressional-Executive Commission on China on Capitol Hill in Washington on May 14, 2026. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times

“It views its own citizens not as people with dignity, but as a collection of extractable body parts,” he said, and it looks at Americans through “exactly the same lens.”

Among the volumes of corroborating information on the subject, one source he cited was a 2022 medical study in the American Journal of Transplantation, which identified dozens of Chinese language papers on organ transplants where doctors appeared to have taken the organs without confirming the persons’ brain death, an indication that the individuals were killed.

“Killed to order is just kind of the norm of how transplantation is done ... they’ve written that into their scientific methods,” Jekielek said in an interview.

If Washington intends to confront the issue, Jekielek has a suggestion.

“President Trump likes to have great relationships with a lot of America’s prime antagonists,” he said in an interview. In that spirit, he said, the U.S. president could approach it by asking his Chinese counterpart whether or not he wants this on his legacy.

“Does he want his legacy as the ruler of China to be forced organ harvesting—this atrocity and evil yet to be seen on this planet?”

‘No More Free Pass’

Hearing witness Sam Brownback, former ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom and author of the just-published “China’s War on Faith,” said the biggest takeaway from the event should be “no more free pass.”

“China doesn’t get a pass anymore,” he told The Epoch Times.

If the regime insists on being a “hardcore authoritarian communist country” and committing atrocities, he said, Washington should take the same confrontational stance that it took with the Soviet Union.

He cited Falun Gong practitioner Cheng Peiming, who went public in 2024 with the story of how part of his lung and liver were removed forcibly in China in 2004, leaving a roughly 14 inch scar around his chest.

Such stories need to get out, Brownback said.

Amb. Sam Brownback, former U.S. Ambassador-at-Large of International Religious Freedom, testifies before the Congressional-Executive Commission on China on Capitol Hill in Washington on May 14, 2026. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times

“You need somebody to pull a shirt up and show you, ‘here’s the cut,’ so that people can see this has happened,” he said. “You need to go through the numbers.”

Compared with the often years-long wait time for an organ in the United States, Chinese hospitals’ ability to schedule organ transplants within a very short period of time defies understanding, Brownback said.

“The CCP is conducting three religious genocides as we speak—against Tibetan Buddhists, Uyghur Muslims, and Falun Gong practitioners,” he said at the hearing.

Smith noted the massive profit the regime gleans from the illicit organ trade.

“We’ve got to shut it off with a tourniquet, shut it down completely,” he said, urging the Senate to take up on the issue.

“For the victim who tomorrow is going to be slaughtered for their organs, delay is denial,” he added. “I can’t say it strong enough. We don’t have a moment to lose.”

Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), co-chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, during a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington on May 14, 2026. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times

And on one part there would be broad bipartisan agreement, he said at the hearing.

“No one wants Xi Jinping or Vladimir Putin to live forever.”

This article was published on May 14, 2026 and can be found online at: https://www.theepochtimes.com/china/congressional-hearing-spotlights-forced-organ-harvesting-in-china-6026134

Central Jersey Newswire article on Smith's CECC hearing on forced organ harvesting'Rep. Smith warns Congress: China's organ harvesting operation is "execution by extraction"'

Thu, 14 May 2026 04:00:00 GMT

By Central Jersey Newswire
Published May 14, 2026

Washington, D.C - Co-Chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) Congressman Chris Smith chaired a hearing on Thursday examining allegations of forced organ harvesting and illegal organ trafficking tied to the Chinese Communist Party. The hearing, titled “A Market Built on Victims: Stopping Illegal Organ Trafficking in China and Beyond,” focused on testimony from former detainees, human rights advocates, and experts who described what Smith called “one of the most barbaric human rights atrocities of our time.”

In his opening statement, Smith warned that forced organ harvesting has evolved into a global black market fueled by “coercion, poverty, corruption, secrecy, and demand,” with China at the center of many of the allegations. He described the practice as “murder masquerading as medicine” and argued that political prisoners, religious minorities, and vulnerable detainees have allegedly been turned into “inventory” for organ transplants.

Smith noted that he first chaired a congressional hearing on forced organ harvesting on June 18, 1996, adding that the evidence gathered over the last three decades has become “more disturbing, more detailed, and more compelling.” He cited longstanding allegations involving Falun Gong practitioners, peaceful men and women targeted by the Chinese Communist Party for eradication, as well as Uyghur Muslims, Christians, Tibetans, and death row inmates. He also referenced previous findings from the China Tribunal and testimony describing “military hospitals, impossibly short wait times, organs available on demand, and a transplant system that cannot withstand scrutiny.”

The hearing also featured testimony from witnesses who claimed to have firsthand knowledge of China’s prison and detention systems. Smith referenced accounts involving coerced consent forms, prisoners allegedly taken into surgery and never returning, and unconscious detainees reportedly transported into operating rooms under armed supervision.

“That is not voluntary donation,” Smith said. “That is execution by organ extraction.”

Smith additionally criticized the World Health Organization for accepting Beijing’s claims that its transplant system now complies with international standards, arguing international institutions have failed to adequately investigate the allegations.

A major focus of the hearing was Smith’s Stop Forced Organ Harvesting Act of 2025, legislation that passed the House by a 406-1 vote. The bill would criminalize participation in forced organ trafficking, impose sanctions, deny visas to offenders, and create penalties of up to 20 years in prison and fines reaching $1 million for knowingly facilitating coerced organ transplants. Smith urged the Senate to act on the legislation, warning that “every day without consequences is another day perpetrators operate in the shadows.”

This article was published on May 14, 2026 and can be found online at: https://www.centraljerseywire.com/p/rep-smith-warns-congress-chinas-organ

WATCH: 'China Hearings: Rep. Chris Smith | The World Over with Raymond Arroyo'

Thu, 14 May 2026 04:00:00 GMT

Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Co-Chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC), sat down with host Raymond Arroyo on EWTN's The World Over with Raymond Arroyo to discuss the findings of his recent CECC hearing on forced organ harvesting and trafficking in China; the need to interlink human rights with trade; and his reflections on the Trump-Xi summit in Beijing.

The full interview can be viewed by clicking here.

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“America will not be silent while the CCP imprisons the innocent”House unanimously passes Smith resolution urging Trump to raise cases of political prisoners in China during impending meeting with Xi

Wed, 13 May 2026 04:00:00 GMT

Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) debates on the House floor in support of his H.Res.1259, "Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the President should prioritize securing the release of Pastor Jin Mingri, Pastor Gao Quanfu and his wife Pang Yu, Dr. Gulshan Abbas, and Jimmy Lai detained by the People's Republic of China during future engagements with Chinese President Xi Jinping."

Today, by a margin of 414-0, the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ)’s resolution, H.Res.1259, which urges President Trump to highlight the cases and call for the release of political prisoners in the People’s Republic of China (PRC)—including Pastor Jin Mingri; Pastor Gao Quanfu and his wife, Pang Yu; Dr. Gulshan Abbas; and Jimmy Lai—during his upcoming meeting with General Secretary Xi Jinping in Beijing. During the floor debate on the legislation, Smith delivered the following remarks:

Mr. Speaker, I—like many in the House and Senate—thank President Trump for requesting that Xi Jinping release Jimmy Lai and other women and men who are gravely sick.

Hundreds of innocent Americans languish in Chinese prisons today, including Nelson Wells of New Orleans and Dawn Michelle Hunt from Chicago. At a hearing I chaired in September 2024, “Bringing Home Americans Detained in China,” we heard heartbreaking stories from their families and loved ones. I’ve introduced legislation (HR 5491) to create a comprehensive strategy to obtain their release. According to the Foley Foundaton, more United States nationals are wrongfully detained in China than in any other country.
This resolution is also about Pastor Ezra Jin, founder of Zion Church, detained and denied needed medical care. It is about Pastor Gao Quanfu and his wife Pang Yu, detained for peaceful religious leadership. It is about Dr. Gulshan Abbas, serving a 20-year sentence because her sister, Rushan Abbas, dared to tell Congress the truth about the CCP’s genocide against Uyghurs. The CCP imprisoned one sister to silence another. That is hostage-taking, plain and simple.

And this resolution is about Jimmy Lai, the courageous founder of Apple Daily, imprisoned because he defended freedom of the press, democracy, and the rule of law in Hong Kong. His son, Sebastien Lai, testified in 2023 at a hearing I chaired in the Congressional-Executive Commission on China that his father is “still speaking truth to power and refusing to be silenced,” even though “he may die in prison.” That testimony should haunt us—and move us to action. Jimmy Lai should not spend one more night in a Hong Kong prison.

Like Sebastian, Jimmy Lai’s daughter, Claire, has bravely and tenaciously and prayerfully advocated for her dad’s release. Claire told the AP last December that her dad “just wants to reunite with his family. He wants to dedicate his life to serving our Lord, and he wants to dedicate the rest of his days to his family.” Claire and Sebastian’s love for their father is inspiring beyond words.

For decades, the United States has seen that naming prisoners works. It can improve prison conditions. It can secure access to lawyers, family, and medical care. It can save lives. And yes, it can lead to releases—especially when it is done by the President.

That matters. It matters to their families. It matters to every prisoner of conscience languishing in a cell because he or she dared to pray, publish, speak, worship, or advocate for fundamental freedoms. And it matters to the Chinese Communist Party, because autocrats listen when the President of the United States names names.

But silence does the opposite. Silence tells the jailer no one is watching. Silence tells the prisoner the world has moved on. Silence tells Beijing that hostage diplomacy, coercive exit bans, and transnational repression can be normalized. We must not normalize it.

Senator Rick Scott and I led a letter last week, signed by over 100 Congressional colleagues, asking the President to continue pressing for Jimmy Lai’s release. We said, in pertinent part:

“The humanitarian case for Mr. Lai’s freedom is urgent and undeniable. He is a devout Catholic and successful entrepreneur who has already spent five years in detention, much of it in solitary confinement. His health has declined in custody, and prolonged isolation and inadequate prison conditions only increase the risk of permanent harm.

“Mr. Lai’s family is understandably anxious about his deteriorating health condition. His family, his friends, and supporters, have indicated that if he is released, he will leave Hong Kong and withdraw from public life. It is a clear, practical path forward that reunites a family and prevents this case from becoming an irreversible tragedy—and an enduring symbol of repression that will echo far beyond Hong Kong.

“Mr. President, we greatly appreciated that you have discussed this case personally with Xi Jinping in the past, and in light of the urgent health concerns, we urge you to do so again.

“Now is a key time to re-emphasize the case, not only given Mr. Lai's age and health, but also because this will be the first time you are meeting with Xi Jinping since the Hong Kong legal proceedings against Mr. Lai came to an end...”

This resolution reaffirms America’s commitment to defending political and religious freedom and advocating for those unjustly detained for exercising fundamental freedoms.

Mr. Speaker, this is not a partisan issue. It is a matter of American leadership, American credibility, and American security. When the CCP threatens families in the United States to silence advocacy here at home, that is not just repression over there—it is intimidation aimed at us. Today, the House should speak with moral clarity and strategic purpose.

Name the prisoners. Confront the hostage-taking. Make clear that America will not be silent while the Chinese Communist Party imprisons the innocent and reaches across borders to threaten their families.

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Save Jersey article on Smith's advocacy for Jimmy Lai'Chris Smith Urges Trump to Press China on Political Prisoners Ahead of Summit'

Wed, 13 May 2026 04:00:00 GMT

By The Staff
Published May 13, 2026

WASHINGTON, D.C. — As President Donald Trump prepares for a high-stakes summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing, bipartisan pressure is mounting for the administration to prioritize human rights and the release of political prisoners held by the Chinese Communist regime.

Leading that effort is New Jersey’s Congressman Chris Smith (R, NJ-04), co-chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China. Smith revealed this week that more than 100 lawmakers have backed a letter urging Trump to demand the release of imprisoned Hong Kong publisher Jimmy Lai during talks with Beijing.

Speaking on LiveNOW from FOX and EWTN News Nightly ahead of the summit, Smith praised Trump for continuing to raise Lai’s case and said there is overwhelming bipartisan support behind the effort.

“There is solidarity—it’s bipartisan in the House and the Senate—backing the President’s request to release Jimmy Lai on humanitarian grounds,” Smith said.

Lai, the 78-year-old founder of the now-defunct pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, has been imprisoned since 2020 under Hong Kong’s controversial national security law. International human rights advocates have warned that Lai’s health has deteriorated significantly while in custody.

Smith said the situation is becoming increasingly urgent, citing Lai’s age, medical conditions, and reportedly harsh prison treatment. He urged Trump to continue pressing for Lai’s immediate humanitarian release during negotiations with Xi.

The New Jersey congressman also highlighted the plight of other prisoners detained by the Chinese government, including Christian pastor Pastor Ezra Jin, whose case has drawn concern from religious freedom advocates.

Smith has long been one of Congress’s most outspoken critics of the Chinese Communist Party’s human rights abuses, particularly its treatment of political dissidents, religious minorities, and pro-democracy activists.

The renewed congressional push comes as Trump seeks to balance ongoing economic and geopolitical tensions with China while also projecting a tougher stance on human rights issues that many lawmakers say previous administrations failed to adequately confront.

For supporters of Lai and other political prisoners, the upcoming summit represents a critical opportunity for the United States to apply direct pressure on Beijing at the highest level.

Watch below:

This article was published on May 13, 2026 and can be found online at: https://savejersey.com/2026/05/chris-smith-urges-trump-to-press-china-on-political-prisoners-ahead-of-summit/

The Asahi Shimbun article on Smith's advocacy for Jimmy Lai'U.S. Lawmaker Calling for Jimmy Lai's Release Expresses Hope for Summit: "A Golden Opportunity"'

Wed, 13 May 2026 04:00:00 GMT

U.S. Representative Chris Smith speaks to the press. — March 24, 2026, Washington. Photo by Shotaro Hata.

By Sotaro Hata
Published May 13, 2026 at 9:51 AM

On May 11, U.S. President Trump indicated his intention to raise the case of Jimmy Lai (78)—the founder of the now-defunct Hong Kong newspaper Apple Daily, who is currently imprisoned following his conviction for violating the Hong Kong National Security Law—during an upcoming summit meeting. Representative Chris Smith (Republican), a U.S. House member who has long advocated for Lai, spoke with The Asahi Shimbun ahead of President Trump’s visit to China.

A House member for 46 years, Rep. Smith serves on the Foreign Affairs Committee and has dedicated his efforts to issues of international cooperation and human rights. In March, he invited Lai’s daughter, Claire, to attend the President’s State of the Union address.

Rep. Smith praised Apple Daily—known for its editorial stance critical of the Chinese Communist Party—as a "voice of integrity and good faith." He condemned Lai’s conviction as "unjust," citing the fact that the verdict was based on charges stemming from his journalistic work and his meetings with U.S. government officials, through which he advocated for sanctions against the Hong Kong and Chinese governments.

Furthermore, he stated, "Now that a guilty verdict has been handed down, it is highly desirable that he be released on humanitarian grounds and allowed to return to his family."

China: Hong Kong’s Judiciary Is an "Internal Affair"

Since Lai’s arrest, Rep. Smith has actively lobbied both the previous Biden administration and the current administration to provide U.S. support for his cause. On May 7—as President Trump’s visit to China drew near—he organized an open letter signed by members of both the House and Senate, urging the President to raise the issue of Lai’s release during his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Last December, following Lai’s conviction, President Trump remarked that the verdict was "extremely disappointing." He also revealed that he had "asked Mr. Xi to consider his release." When asked why Mr. Trump has chosen to raise the issue of Mr. Lai, Mr. Smith explained that it stems from "Mr. Trump's humanitarian convictions."

Jimmy Lai (center) being arrested by the Hong Kong Police in Hong Kong on April 18, 2020. — AP

However, securing the release of a convicted individual directly implicates the judicial systems—and the "face"—of both China and Hong Kong; consequently, it is widely believed that it will not be easy for the Chinese side to make such a concession. While acknowledging that China "may not necessarily heed our pleas," Mr. Smith noted that if the Chinese side were to demonstrate a positive gesture regarding Mr. Lai, it would present "a golden opportunity for Mr. Xi to declare to the entire world that China possesses a conscience."

On the 12th, Guo Jiakun, Deputy Director-General of the Chinese Foreign Ministry's Information Department, characterized Mr. Lai as the "ringleader of anti-China and Hong Kong-destabilizing activities," asserting that judicial matters in Hong Kong "fall within the scope of China's internal affairs."

This article was published on May 13, 2026 and can be found online at: https://digital.asahi.com/articles/ASV5F02FHV5FUHBI02NM.html?ptoken=01KRGZWWEBSMDP3Z5JBX5AMFWW