The British press has again reported that the Chinese military is profiting from the sale of organs of executed prisoners. A reporter for the London Telegraph posing as an entrepreneur discovered that transplant operations for foreigners are carried out at military hospitals. With their close links to the police, these hospitals can ensure good tissue matches for the patients. The government maintains that all prisoners have agreed to the donation and that in some cases their relatives are compensated.

Although no British patients have yet taken advantage of the service, the Telegraph says, Western patients would be charged about US$40,000 for a kidney transplant, with $12,000 to $15,000 going to a middleman. Asian patients pay about half this figure, but Westerners get VIP treatment.

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Michael Cook

Michael Cook edits BioEdge, a bioethics newsletter, and MercatorNet, an on-line magazine whose focus is human dignity. He writes from Sydney, Australia.

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