CCP Influence Found in China's Organ Transplant System

NEW YORK, NY, UNITED STATES, October 23, 2026 /CourierPR/ -- A new investigation published by the International Coalition to End Transplant Abuse in China (ETAC) has revealed the extent of the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) influence over the country's medical establishment and organ transplant sector.

In six of these cases, the individual holds a position as the hospital’s Party Secretary or Deputy Secretary. The report highlights that these individuals are also leading programmes or hospitals in regions with large populations of prisoners of conscience, including Uyghurs in Xinjiang and Falun Gong practitioners in northeastern China. The findings are part of a new "Red Flags" investigative series, which will address potential indicators of ongoing transplant abuse in China between 2020 and 2025.

The report, authored by Sarah Cook, details how the CCP's authority over China's organ transplant system is pervasive. It examines how political control, enforced Party loyalty, and the lack of independent oversight undermine claims of reform.

The investigation draws on Chinese hospital websites, government sources, academic papers, and an interview with a former doctor from Liaoning Province. It documents how, under official regulations, the Party secretary outranks the hospital director and clinical leadership. Since 2018, the Party's penetration of public hospitals has intensified under directives from the CCP Central Committee. Doctors who are CCP members take the same lifelong oath as other cadres: to carry out the Party’s decisions, observe its discipline, protect its secrets, remain loyal to the Party, and "never betray the Party." The report finds that violating these commitments can carry more severe personal and professional consequences than breaching medical ethics.

The report also examines the consequences for Chinese medical professionals who might encounter evidence of unethical organ sourcing or seek to expose it. It contrasts the Party-dominated structure in China with systems elsewhere, where independent regulators, professional bodies, and whistleblower protections create an expectation to report violations. In China, a doctor who encounters evidence of non-voluntary sourcing would face the hospital Party committee as the first line of authority. Raising concerns outside the institution could expose the doctor to Party disciplinary action, extralegal detention under the liuzhi system, or criminal charges for revealing state secrets.

The investigation concludes that these combined pressures create a system in which the incentives to participate in or conceal potential abuses are structurally stronger than those encouraging medical professionals to protect victims or expose wrongdoing. It does not treat these conditions as proof that abuses are continuing but concludes that the mechanisms needed to enable and conceal such abuses remain in place.

Without institutional independence, transparent oversight, and real protection for those who expose wrongdoing, the report states that official claims of reform in China’s transplant system should not be taken at face value. The findings are particularly significant given the March 2020 independent China Tribunal's conclusion that forced organ harvesting from prisoners of conscience had occurred on a substantial scale in China, identifying Falun Gong practitioners as the principal source. It also found evidence of medical testing on detained Uyghurs, raising concerns about their potential use as an organ source.

The new report is the first publication in a new "Red Flags" investigative series addressing potential indicators of ongoing transplant abuse in China between 2020 and 2025. The series comes as international transplantation collaborations with China rise and foreign governments weigh new legislation. A 2022 legal advisory report and policy guidance by international law firm Global Rights Compliance has previously flagged legal and human rights risks associated with transplant collaboration involving China.