http://www.chinapost.com.tw/print/128257.htm
TAIPEI, Taiwan -- All those involved
in the illegal solicitation of organ transplants, reportedly connected to a
visit by a Chinese medical doctor to Taiwan earlier this year, will be punished
if the results of an investigation confirm the report, a Mainland Affairs
Council (MAC) official said yesterday.
The council has also asked the Cabinet-level Department of Health to investigate whether the organization that invited the Chinese medical doctor to Taiwan, and the doctor himself, were involved in other illegal medical practices during his stay in Taiwan, the official noted.
The remarks came after the Taipei-based Liberty Times recently reported that Zhu Zhijun, director of the organ transplant center of Tianjin First Central Hospital in the northern Chinese city of Tianjin, visited Taiwan in March under the cover of medical exchanges, but instead conducted assessments of liver disease patients in the company of two Taiwanese doctors with a view towards traveling to China for a transplant.
The Tianjin hospital is touted as the biggest liver transplant center in Asia.
If the reports are confirmed, Zhu could face a prison term of between six months and five years should he ever return to Taiwan, and if the Taiwanese doctors who helped Zhu are found to have engaged in the sale of human organs they could be disciplined for violating medical ethics and have their licenses to practice revoked.
Meanwhile, the council warned the Taiwanese public of the possibility of violating Chinese laws by having liver transplant surgeries in China, the official said.
The Chinese government outlawed the sale of human organs in May and will issue huge fines to those who violate the laws, the official said.
In addition, violators will face criminal prosecution as Chinese laws require that a written approval be obtained from the organ donor and the organ transplant surgery be conducted only at third-class, first-grade hospitals, a category equivalent to Taiwan's top grade medical centers, the official went on.
Despite the Chinese government's efforts, the official said that the illegal trade in human organs remains rampant and that organs often come from unknown donors.
International media outlets have also reported that Beijing often illegally harvests organs from executed prisoners or Falun Gong practitioners for transplant, the official said, urging the public to beware of possible moral and human rights violations in receiving organ transplant in China.
The MAC urged locals who intend to receive such transplants in China to consult Taiwanese hospitals first and to work through legal channels, the official said.