Interview with Renowned International Organ Transplant Expert, Professor Björn Nashan

(WWW.Chinafxj.cn, December20, 2024, reported by Lin Muzi and Wu Jianing) “From the images provided by Falun Gong, there is no evidence to conclude that any organ of Cheng Peiming was retrieved for organ transplantation,” said Professor Björn Nashan, a renowned expert in the field of organ transplantation, in a recent interview with www.chinafxj.cn Professor Nashan, who has served as the President of the Deutsche Transplantationsgesellschaft (DTG), Chairman of the the Deutsche Stiftung Organtransplantation (DSO) and Vice Chairman of the Permanent Committee for Organ Transplantation (StäKO) at the Germand Medical Association (GMA) as well as Board and Council Member of Eurotransplant (ET), is highly esteemed in the organ transplantation field. He analyzed the medical images presented by Falun Gong claiming to prove Cheng Peiming’s alleged organ harvesting, and pointed out, “On the contrary, the images show that everything is intact, and that all organs are complete.”

Since July 2024, Falun Gong operatives out of China have frequently held press conferences, portraying Cheng Peiming, a fugitive now in the United States, as the “first survivor of organ harvesting.” They had falsely claimed that Cheng Peiming was forcibly subjected to partial organ harvesting during his imprisonment in China 20 years ago.

Professor Nashan stated that for many years, Falun Gong has been spreading rumors about “organ harvesting” by the Chinese government. The term 'organ harvesting' is unscientific and is often used by Falun Gong as a means to demonize and slander. However, in the eyes of experts, these claims are not worth refuting. The Cheng Peiming incident is nothing more than another clumsy hoax fabricated by Falun Gong to deceive the public and malign China.

▲ Professor Björn Nashan, a globally renowned expert in the field of organ transplantation, being interviewed by reporters from www.chinafxj.cn

“Performing thoracotomy to remove the blade and the nail is a very standard procedure”

Cheng Peiming, a native of Jixi, Heilongjiang Province, was born in 1965. In 2002, he was sentenced to eight years in prison for “Crime of Sabotaging Legal Enforcement by Using Heretical Religion”. He served his sentence at Daqing Prison, where he used various methods for refusing to follow management.

On November 16, 2004, Cheng Peiming swallowed a blade measuring approximately 8.3 cm long and 1.7 cm wide, along with a 10 cm-long iron nail. To save his life, the Fourth Hospital of Daqing City performed thoracotomy on him with the consent of his sister, Cheng Peifeng. The surgery successfully removed the blade and the nail, as documented in the hospital’s preserved medical records.

▲The “Hospitalization Medical Records” of Cheng Peiming in the Fourth Hospital of Daqing City in 2004.

▲ The blade and the nail removed from Cheng Peiming’s body by doctors that year.

“Using thoracotomy to remove the blade and the nail is a very standard procedure,” said Professor Nashan.

The hospital records show that the blade was lodged at the second constriction of the esophagus, close to the aorta and bronchus bifurcation, posing a life-threatening risk. Radiological examinations revealed the nail had entered the intestines. Multiple consultations ruled out endoscopic removal, leading to the recommendation for thoracotomy.

“In such an emergency situation, I would also recommend using this surgery,” Professor Nashan said. In addition to being an organ transplant surgeon, he is also a well-trained general surgeon and has performed surgeries related to esophagus injuries before.

“Having the blade stuck in the second narrow of the esophagus is very dangerous, as there is a constant risk of its piercing through, and it is impossible to predict when that might happen,” Professor Nashan stated. “If nothing had been done at that time and they waited for it to pass on its own, it would not have been a good option. On the contrary, the thorough and meticulous diagnosis, along with the well-documented procedure, highlights the high standard of medical care provided in this situation.”

“Because even if the blade only cuts the esophageal mucosa, this wound could tear and burst,” he explained. “By performing thoracotomy, they could at least ensure that if any unexpected event occurred, the doctors could handle it immediately, thus preventing further complications.”

“In that emergency situation, they opened the chest, located the blade and the nail, and successfully removed them. They succeeded, and there were no issues with the treatment that year,” Professor Nashan said.

However, to cover up the truth, Falun Gong claimed that in 2004, Cheng Peiming was forcibly sent to the hospital “without knowing” and “without any physical discomfort,” falsely accusing the life-saving thoracotomy as being for the purpose of “organ harvesting”.

Professor Nashan emphasized that performing organ transplant surgeries demands highly stringent medical conditions and a comprehensive medical evaluation of the potential donor. Dr. Cheng Liwen, who participated in Cheng Peiming’s surgery at Daqing Fourth Hospital, told reporters that their hospital still does not have the capability or conditions for organ transplants now, let alone 20 years ago.

“No evidence of organ removal for transplantation in provided images”

March 2, 2006, Cheng Peiming swallowed three broken saw blades again and escaped while being treated outside of the prison. He first smuggled himself into Thailand, and later fled to the United States in early 2020. Behind this, of course, was the planning and operation of the Falun Gong organization and anti-China forces in the West. Robert Destro, former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State, also publicly admitted to his involvement.

For more than ten years of fleeing, Cheng Peiming had not made any public appearances. It was not until June 25 this year, when the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill accusing China of “organ harvesting,” that Cheng Peiming was pushed forward by Falun Gong, claiming that he had been a victim of “live organ harvesting” in China. He appeared as a key “witness” at press conferences and in media interviews.

At the press conference, Falun Gong claimed that after Cheng Peiming arrived in the United States in 2020, he underwent nine medical imaging exams, including three CT scans, three ultrasounds, two X-ray exams, and one MRI. Falun Gong also displayed several so-called medical images, claiming they could prove Cheng Peiming had been “organ harvested” and that parts of his left lung and liver were removed, falsely attributing this to the chest surgery in 2004.

Some foreign media quoted Falun Gong’s claims and published the medical images it provided. However, Professor Nashan analyzed the images and stated, “I did not find that any part of an organ e.g. a left lateral lobe of the liver or a lower lobe of the left lung suitable for transplant has been removed.”

“On the contrary, the images show that everything is normal, and that all organs are intact in their anatomical structure,” Professor Nashan said. “An organ is build like a tree with branches. Each branch has the anatomical structures such as artery, portal vein and bile duct (liver) or artery, pulmonary vein and bronchus (lung), critical in case of donation to connect the donated lobe with those of the recipient. And exactly these structures are fully intact and indicate that nothing was removed to be transplanted”

He pointed out that if the organs were to be used for transplant, a complete lobe of the lung would need to be removed. However, Falun Gong claimed that “American doctors” medical exams show that Cheng Peiming’s left lung was partially removed.

“Pay attention to their wording,” Professor Nashan emphasized. “They stated that it was 'partially removed,' meaning that even if it is true that part of Cheng Peiming’s lung is missing, it could not have been used for organ transplantation, as the anatomical integrity of the organ remains unaltered.”

It is also worth noting that before Cheng Peiming was imprisoned, he had been diagnosed with tuberculosis. Medical experts explained that a person that has had tuberculosis is not suitable to be used as an organ transplant donor. No one in need of a lung transplant would want a lung from a patient with tuberculosis.

When analyzing the “3D CT angiography of the left lung donor” image provided by Falun Gong, Professor Nashan pointed out that if an organ had been removed for transplant e.g. the left lower lobe or any other lobe, that part would not be visible, but the image clearly shows that it is still there and though are all other lobes of the lung.

He also mentioned that if the left liver lobe or left lateral liver lobe had been removed, there would be scars on the abdomen, and Titanium Clips to seal the vessels and small bile ducts at the resection surface of the liver, but when Cheng Peiming stripped off his clothes to show his upper body at the press conference, neither scars were visible on his abdomen nor Titanium Clips on the CT. “How is that possible? The experts from Falun Gong did not provide an explanation,” Professor Nashan said.

“Moreover, if one were to accept the claims of Falun Gong as true, it would represent an unprecedented surgical approach: removing a left lateral liver lobe through an incision in the left thorax, opening the diaphragm, maneuvering around the stomach, and then attempting to access the area beneath the liver to identify and resect the artery, portal vein, and bile duct. ” Professor Nashan smiled and made an analogy，“This scenario would be akin to attempting to change a car battery located under the hood from the trunk.”

When analyzing the 3D reconstruction image of Cheng Peiming's liver provided by Falun Gong, Professor Nashan pointed out that the image showed his left lateral liver lobe still existed. “Based on the images selected by Falun Gong, the left lateral liver lobe is intact,” he said. Falun Gong fabricated an elaborate hoax. “It’ s like magic, they make you focus on this image, then tell you to believe what they say! Look! It’s gone!”

“The Falun Gong rhetoric is absurd and laughable; the ‘organ harvesting’ claim is not worth refuting.”

As early as 2006, Falun Gong began fabricating rumors about “organ harvesting” in China and spreading them widely. For a long time, Western anti-China forces have tirelessly demonized China. Not only have they encouraged Falun Gong to create these rumors, but they have also spared no effort in helping spread them.

Professor Nashan told reporters that he had also heard such a ridiculous story: in the United States, a Chinese person claimed to be a surgeon who had participated in “organ harvesting” in Xinjiang during the 1990s, using this to prove that this barbaric act was truly happening in China.

“But the surgical methods he described were completely false. In fact, the organs he was referring to weren’t even suitable for transplant. He was just talking nonsense,” Professor Nashan said.

“However, for those who don’t understand the situation and lack professional medical knowledge, they succeeded. The fabricated story was so enticing that it easily attracted attention,” Professor Nashan added. This is how rumors are created.

In Professor Nashan’s view, the claim made by Falun Gong that China is conducting large-scale “organ harvesting” is utterly absurd and laughable, to the point that it is not even worth addressing. For example, for many years, Falun Gong has insisted that since 2000, China has conducted 60,000 to 100,000 organ transplants annually, with most of the organs coming from the “live harvesting” of Falun Gong practitioners. But in fact, the total number of organ transplants worldwide is only around 100,000 per year.

“Just think about it. If what Falun Gong says were true, China would need a massive number of surgeons, anesthesists, ICU physicians and nurses, tons of anesthetics, and many, many intensive care units to carry out such a scale of organ transplants. If immunosuppressive drugs were involved global production would have been needed to be doubled, the hospital bills would also be sky-high...” Professor Nashan said. “Is this possible? Absolutely not.”

To continue fabricating and packaging lies, Falun Gong constantly brings in several so-called experts to back them up, hoping to deceive the public into believing that “organ harvesting” is real. This time, they have portrayed Cheng Peiming as the “first survivor of organ harvesting,” with various so-called experts claiming that parts of his liver and lungs were removed.

“But the so-called experts they bring up, I have never even heard of them”, said Professor Nashan, an internationally recognized expert in the field of organ transplantation. “The so-called experts from Falun Gong are not authoritative at all. In contrast, the real experts in organ transplantation that I know, when talking about Falun Gong, all think it's nonsense.”

“Clearly, Falun Gong is a political organization opposing China waging a war of atrocious propaganda,” Professor Nashan concluded. “Their (Falun Gong operatives) goal is to defame, smear and malign China. What the truth is doesn't matter to them, as long as the fabricated rumors are sensational enough to deceive the public. They will go to any length to continuously hype them up.”

“For example, in Germany, Falun Gong organizes a kind of performance on the street,” Professor Nashan explained. “They set up a table with a puppet on it, and then package the scene to look like it's in an operating room. A person pretending to be a doctor will begin to cut open the puppet's stomach and remove organs.”

“They make it look as though blood is everywhere, and they shout loudly: ‘Look! Look! This person is still alive! The Chinese doctors are performing surgery! They’re ‘live harvesting’ his organs! Look! Look! They’re taking out his kidney!’” Professor Nashan vividly described. He said that this absurd performance, full of blood and violence, is extremely eye-catching. Many passersby are drawn to watch and are left exclaiming, ‘Oh my god! Is this happening in China? This is terrifying!’”

“obviously, ‘Falun Gong’ is copying scenes from an American movie by the name “Turistas” from 2006.Its plot focuses on a group of international backpackers in Brazil who find themselves in the clutches of an underground organ harvesting ring.” Professor Nashan said.

“In reality, it’s all fake. To me, it looks more like a well-crafted ‘movie,’” Professor Nashan said. But Falun Gong’s goal was achieved. It deceived many uninformed people into thinking that this terrifying scene was really happening in China.

Although the “organ harvesting” rumors are absurd and laughable, some politicians from certain countries have disregarded the facts and used them as a weapon to attack China.

“For example, the United States,” Professor Nashan said. “The United States still is the world’s number one power, but China’s rapid development started to make them nervous. Parts of the political establishment have obviously embarked on Falun Gong’s atrocious propaganda attempting to scandalize China and harm its reputation.”

“China has over 1.4 billion people. If China’s economy runs well and avoids getting caught up in wars, Chinese society will inevitably develop, with hundreds of millions of middle-class people and more and more wealthy individuals,” Professor Nashan said. “This is what the United States fears and parts of the establishment see as a threat.”

“Some people in the United States are using Falun Gong’s narratives to attack China,” Professor Nashan said. Refuting the “organ harvesting” rumors might also bring him some trouble. “They already attacked me in Germany, so nothing new,” he said, “as scientists we must resist such manipulative tactics and continue to rigorously evaluate, cross-check, balance, discuss, and draw evidence-based conclusions. ”