Sara Kaffashi - Environmental Economist in Southeast Asia

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sara-Kaffashi/289976778037

167.9

Post Quality

That's 169.9 on a TYPICAL scale of 1 to 5.

Quite a gift of candor to global health and human rights

China Admits to Organ Harvesting

by Alanna Shaikhtrans

Published August 29, 2009 @ 08:04PM PT

(photo credit: Daquelle manera)

The China Daily, a government-controlled Chinese newspaper, admitted Wednesday that organ donation in the country was heavily dependent on executed prisoners. This is the first government admission of the link between executions and organ donations.


They made the admission in an article published on August 26 that focused on China's new Red Cross-run national organ donation system. It stated that "China launched a national organ donation system yesterday in a bid to gradually shake off its long-time dependence on executed prisoners as a major source of organs for transplants and as part of efforts to crack down on organ trafficking."


I am stunned. This was the stuff of shady rumors and hand-letters signs carried by crackpots. I can't believe that the Chinese government is really admitting this, and I can't believe there hasn't been more outcry from the global community. It's a very canny move by the government of China, I guess. Deny everything until you have a system in place to fix things. Then what can anyone do? You're already trying to fix it. As an added bonus, if the Chinese population doesn't start singing up for voluntary organization donation, then the government can blame the people when they go back to using prisoner donations.


The article does not address some of the darker claims made about Chinese organ harvesting. The worst I have heard is that the Chinese governments advertises to "organ tourists" about clean-living Falun Gong prisoners, and then executes condemned prisoners once their organs are sold. This also leads to an implication that the government of China has an incentive to arrest, condemn, and execute constant flow of prisoners.  (And if you think that sounds paranoid, think how crazy the organ harvesting sounded until the government of China admitted it was true.)


I don't think those darker fears are irrational. If a Chinese government mouthpiece is admitting that "Some just ignore legal procedures regarding organ donations from executed prisoners and make a fat profit," and "organ middlemen have been faking documents in order to make a person who is desperately in need of money be considered ‘emotionally connected' to the recipients," you have to wonder what they're not saying.

Happy Chinese Valentine Day! August 26th

I want to wish you a Happy Chinese Valentine Day! August 26th

China's Qixi Festival takes place on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month (mid-August by our calendars) and has its root in an ancient legend about two lovers separated by the Milky Way who can only meet once a year on this night. This year the festival takes place on Wednesday, August 26.

Some conservative Chinese citizens have criticized the traditional festival for its Westernization as couples have participated in Valentine's Day rituals on the day. In recent years, the West's Saint Valentine's Day on February 14 http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Arts/Valentine_Clip_Art.html has exploded in popularity in China. Flower vendors hit the streets, convenience stores sell stuffed animals (though not much chocolate, given the Chinese traditional aversion to sweets), and tables are full at restaurants.

In China's metropolitan areas, it's not difficult to find young men who complain about the difficulty in finding girlfriends or wives. Not only is there a well-known shortage of available women because of the country's "one-child" policy, but Chinese women are increasingly practical and look for suitors with promising jobs and those who already own cars or apartments. In China's countryside, arranged marriages are still the norm.

Qixi festival tells the story of Niulang, the cowherd, who fell in love with a beautiful fairy Zhinu when grazing his cow. But their love was interfered with by Wangmu, wife of the Jade Emperor, the Supreme Deity in Taoism. She separated the couple by drawing a river, the Milky Way, with her hairpin between them.

Touched by their love, magpies come in flocks every Qixi festival to form a bridge spanning the galaxy with their bodies so that the couple can meet.