Peiming Cheng — the world’s first known survivor of forced live organ harvesting — has exposed the dark reality of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) organ harvesting practices, once again thrusting the regime’s illicit organ transplant crimes into the global spotlight. On September 4, 2024, joined by medical experts, political figures, and human rights activists, Cheng held a press conference at the U.S. House of Representatives to refute the CCP’s denials regarding the forced removal of his organs.
During the press conference, medical experts presented a detailed analysis of the medical evidence — specifically, Cheng’s surgical scars and physical injuries — to rebut a statement issued by China’s Tianjin Municipal Public Security Bureau. On July 22, the Bureau published an article on its website claiming that Cheng’s scars were the result of a medical procedure performed to remove a razor blade and nails he had swallowed.
Dr. Xiangchun Li — a medical graduate of Sun Yat-sen University in China who also conducted diagnostic research at Harvard Medical School — pointed out that the CCP’s claims blatantly contradict basic medical common sense.
Cheng’s scars are consistent with a typical thoracotomy (open-chest surgery). However, this procedure was performed not to remove foreign objects, but to harvest organs. Dr. Li explained that under normal circumstances, the standard treatment for swallowed foreign objects involves endoscopic surgery rather than open-chest surgery.
He noted: “Eighty percent of patients who accidentally swallow foreign objects require no surgical intervention whatsoever; the objects typically pass through the body naturally. Only a small fraction — less than one percent — requires surgical treatment. Even in those rare cases, the foreign objects are almost invariably removed via endoscopy. Open-chest surgery is an extremely rare occurrence.”
Physical evidence
At the press conference, Peiming Cheng once again displayed the 35-centimeter-long (just under 1 foot 2 inches) scar stretching across his upper body.
“I stand here today, and you see a man who appears normal — I speak normally, and I walk normally. Yet, I can never return to the ‘normal me’ of the past. The pain in my left ribcage and the ache from my wound throb in sync with my pulse — every heartbeat brings a fresh wave of pain. It is unbearable! At night, I struggle to breathe deeply enough to sleep, making it nearly impossible to find rest,” he told the media.
Dr. Sen Nie, a Professor Emeritus at The Catholic University of America, further elaborated on the inadequacies and flaws in the CCP’s official response during the press conference. He pointed out that the CCP’s denials not only failed to conceal the truth but, on the contrary, further corroborated Cheng’s experience of having his organs harvested while he was still alive.
“We believe that the CCP’s response confirms that Cheng is the first known survivor of the CCP’s live organ harvesting,” he said. Dr. Nie stated that an article published by the Tianjin Public Security Bureau on July 22 confirmed at least four points: First, Peiming Cheng was sentenced by the CCP to eight years in prison for practicing Falun Gong. Second, hospitals in China did indeed perform surgery on Cheng. Third, the 35-centimeter scar on Cheng Peiming’s body was the result of that surgery performed in November 2004. Finally, the hospital performed the surgery without Cheng’s consent.
However, the Tianjin Public Security Bureau’s article glossed over the critical details, failing to mention that portions of Cheng’s liver and lungs were removed during the surgical procedure. Peiming Cheng managed to escape China in 2015, made his way to Thailand, and subsequently arrived in the United States in 2020 with assistance from the U.S. government. The Cheng case has become a pivotal example in exposing the CCP’s crimes of live organ harvesting.
Moving forward, the international community will continue to intensify its scrutiny and investigation into this issue, ensuring that this atrocity is fully exposed and that all those responsible are ultimately brought to justice.
Translated by Patty Zhang and edited by Tatiana Denning
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