(Minghui.org) The 31st Asia-Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology Congress (APAO 2016) was held from March 24 to 27 in Taipei, Taiwan. Many eye doctors and medical professionals learned from this event about the organ harvesting from living Falun Gong practitioners in China.

More than 4,000 ophthalmologists and healthcare professionals from Asia and other continents participated in the congress. Several Falun Gong practitioners working as volunteers at the event informed the attendees of the atrocity in China.

Broad Concerns Over Organ Trafficking

One physician from Europe said he had heard about organ harvesting in China but did not know the details. After watching a documentary video on the subject, he was shocked and asked for a copy of State Organs: Transplant Abuse in China, a book about the involvement of Chinese state institutions in this severe human rights abuse.

The physician came to the booth again the following day with more ophthalmologists. They discussed this further and a few physicians left their business cards for updates so that they could follow up on this issue.

Ophthalmologists learn about live organ harvesting in China.

The United States House Foreign Affairs Committee (HFAC) marked up H.Res. 343 on March 16. The resolution calls on the Chinese government to cease the practice of state-sanctioned organ harvesting from Falun Gong practitioners and to cooperate with investigations into these crimes.

Additional Evidence in China

Many physicians shared what they had heard about organ trade in China.

One ophthalmologist in Taiwan said that if his patient made a donation to a certain foundation in China, he could be assured that an organ would be available in a short time.

One eye transplant physician in southern China said organ transplants were widespread in China a few years ago. “Even a township hospital could perform hundreds of transplants each year,” he added.

Another eye transplant physician from China who passed by looked through the materials on display. He said he knew that the source of organs in China was questionable. “We used to do many organ transplants in my province. Now it has become a sensitive topic. Doctors do not talk much about it and the number of such surgeries has decreased a lot these past years.” He agreed that live organ harvesting still continues in China, except that it has gone underground.

The physician came again the next day and took a copy of Bloody Harvest: Organ Harvesting of Falun Gong Practitioners in China in Chinese. After hearing about the systematic persecution of citizens in China by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), he decided to renounce his membership in the regime.

Hundreds of Chinese physicians attended this four-day event, and many of them accepted materials from Falun Gong practitioners. They thanked practitioners for their efforts to raise awareness about the issue.