David, you said any communist governments' country always have toture and evil things to do to their own people.. Hmmm.. Executions are carried out every month or so in the USA. Maybe taking the prisioners organs for people who need them would be a better way for them to pay their debt to society. I think its a great idea, and I'm all for it! There are huge lines for people in prision to die, and there are huge lines of people who need organs. Sounds too easy to me.

Posted by: Chris | Nov 21, 2006 2:43:03 PM

Really? And if your son or daughter is wrongly convicted you wouldn't mind the fact that his appeals are cut short because a rich person needs an organ? You really think there's no politics at work in the system.

This is the start of rushing death for others who desire somthing they have. But, everything is simple and black and white to a guy like you right?

Strange how you have the same opinion toward prisoners a government condemned by every developed nation in the world including our own.

Thank God we've got a constitution and Supreme court and don't rely only on the opinion of the mob.

Even in the U.S. and with our "advanced" legal system, some people have been wrongly convicted of crimes, then sent to prisons for decades. Perhaps this alone is an argument against the death penalty in ANY country!!! -- innocent people should never be sent to prison, or killed by the state!!! ---

in response to sheila it must be mentioned that a person gives up certain "god-given" rights whenever they join any form of government (look up Locke if i'm correct). In this case, by being under the Chinese government, people give up certain rights in order to be "protected" by the communist party, and to an extent they are. Harvesting a person's organs in China may not necessarily be in violation of their rights, simply our interpretation of what their rights should be.

As for my opinion on this topic. It seems somewhat justified that they are using the organs from executed criminals to help others. However, selling them to foreign citizens instead of "sharing them among the people" is kind of a hypocritical move by a communist government. In addition, the harvesting of the organs of political dissenters does seem a bit appaling, but there is not much I can really do about it.

After all, it is good for the poor poeple to get a transplant operation. Although this is the dark side of human rights.

First thing are these people getting fair trials to prove their innocence? Do they have attorneys protecting their civil rights? If not, then wouldn’t the country be considered for murder; in which they would kill their own people because they can produce a better profit from the dead than alive? Would you want an organ from a murdered victim?

Some of you are being naive if you think this practice is a good thing. Tell that to the 8 year old who just lost her father becasue he was speaking out against communism and human rights abuses.

Poor, needy Chinese people will not receive these organs. Foreigners and, more often than not, wealthy and/or well-connected (read: Party Members)Chinese will receive these organs. It is a business, and a gruesome one at that. How can anyone argue that a Chinese government official would not be tempted to add a few more to the condemned list when a kidney can be sold for US$90,000? There are over two dozen crimes in China that are punishable by death, including the catch-all "crimes against the State".

Forget about the radical Muslims; China is the real enemy of the world and poses the greatest danger to all of us.

This is certainly very disturbing, and it is a sign of how very far China has to go before it comes into alignment with what most of the world considers acceptible behaviour, however, isolating China and thus slowing down thier progress towards becoming a modern economy and society will hurt more than help in the long run. The best approach is to increase ties between our two countries and to mantain pressure. As China becomes more integrated into the world, they will eventually bow to reasonable demands the world makes of them.

Why not use these organs. Why put them in the ground where they have no use. I think that if a person dies and has somthing useful like organs that can save a nine year old kids life why not do that. But to do this for pure profit is wrong.

This no only happen in china, but also most countries in Asia such as india, where it's more serious that many farmers sell their kidney to feed their family, still it's not forbidden by india government .

And to think the Tibetan people have been called liars and "ungovernable" by the Chinese for accusations such as these for years! FREE TIBET!

I disagree with John Locke's philosophy. People don't voluntarily join a society. They are born into one, conquered by another, or kidnapped and brought to the US as slaves. Some people are not allowed to leave their current society to join a new one. But the more money you have, the better your chances are.

I'm not even gonna try to talk about the Nazi regime.

If a government deny certain innates rights to their people, they are pet owners and the people are nothing more than pets. They can do whatever they want within the fenced lawn.

The point of this article is the implication that those whose organs are harvested are not guilty prisoners; they are innocents, whose crime was merely political dissent or religious differences. This is not an argument against the death penalty. This is an argument against a skewed government system, where those who supposedly execute "justice" have an ulterior motive. And no, there is no doubt that Chinese persecution. If you search "Chinese shooting Tibetan" on youtube.com, there is a short movie which shows Chinese soldiers shooting Tibetan dissidents.

To Amy: Nice idea about shutting out China, etc. Do a little homework, though. China OWNS us thanks to the governments propensity to spend like it is an Olympic sport. China buys all the notes on this debt. If they stop, we will collapse. Most Americans have no idea.

China is killing millions of baby girls. The government has little to no respect for human life. This should surprise no one.

China routinely arrests people for trying to speak freely. I wonder how many protesters have been executed to make a buck on their organs. It is not as simple as "at least some good can come out of it." The ends NEVER justify the means.

This is nothing new. China admitted in December 2005 to harvesting a few organs from death row prisoners, but according to the Kilgour-Matas investigation report - -- the principal source of organs for transplants comes from the unwilling Falun Gong prisoners of conscience who are killed during the process. This is murder for organs and it amounts to genocide--a blatant disgrace to humankind. Make no mistake, Beijing is trying very hard to cover the genocide.

Premiere Exhibitions "Bodies: The Exhibition" uses preserved cadavers from China for their shows, and they refuse to provide consent forms or identification to local authorities. Don't go to their shows! They are a publically traded US corporation using legal loopholes and fourwalling to make money off dead Chinese.

Locke's social contract was just that, the idea that a form of civil government and its people had an almost contractual agreement. The governed would give up their individual sovreignty in order to be a part of the "community," in order to be protected.It was a conscious choice. But, the government he was referring to was "civil." China's record on human rights is appalling, and any form of dissent is not tolerated. As such, where is the contractual agreement?
In my opinion, I do agree it does sound noble, the harvesting of organs to help the poor. But, where does the exploitation of prisoners end? Why not use them for medical experiments, why not if it is for the better good?

Chris,
The bizarre irony of what you mention has already occured! One prisoner, I think from Texas, wanted his organs to be harvested before his execution, and that request to my recollection was denied.