WOIPFG’s Investigative Report on the Alleged Organ Harvesting of Living Falun Gong Practitioners at Kunming No.1 People’s Hospital and Its Staff Members Suspected of Participation

Jun 2,2023

Address: No. 504, Qingnian Road, Xishan District, Kunming City (South Campus)

No. 1228, Beijing Road, Kunming City (North Campus)

Preface

In 2015, the CCP announced that organs from executed prisoners would be banned, but since then, the number of liver and kidney transplants at The First People’s Hospital of Kunming has grown rapidly. The hospital has formulated a discipline construction strategy centered on organ transplantation and established three national-level organ transplant centers (liver transplant, kidney transplant, and heart transplant). [1]Telephone investigations show that the hospital performs 400-500 kidney transplants and more than 300 liver transplants annually. The wait time for organs is generally two to three weeks or even as short as one day. The number of organ donations in this province is far less than the number of transplants in this hospital, and the source of organs is suspicious. A nurse in the kidney transplant ward of the Department of Urology said in a telephone investigation in 2016 that (organs from Falun Gong) had been banned since the previous year. Given the background of the CCP's national crime of organ harvesting, the hospital is suspected of participating in the crime of live organ harvesting from Falun Gong practitioners and other groups.

I. Hospital Overview

Kunming No.1 People’s Hospital is a large Grade-A Tertiary General Hospital. The hospital has more than thirty departments, among which the Organ Transplant Center, composed of departments such as hepatobiliary surgery and kidney transplantation, is the key department of the hospital. The hospital has 1,100 ward beds and advanced medical equipment such as magnetic resonance imaging system (MRI), whole-body CT, color Doppler ultrasound, artificial kidney machine, and C-arm X-ray machine.

The hospital’s Hepatobiliary Surgery Department is divided into two departments: the First Hepatopancreatobiliary Surgery Department and the Second Hepatopancreatobiliary Surgery Department. They are located in the hospital’s main campus and Ganmei International Hospital respectively and President Li Li is in charge of both[2].

The official website of the Hospital stated that the Hospital had formulated a discipline construction strategy centered on organ transplantation and established three national organ transplant centers (liver transplant, kidney transplant, and heart transplant). With this strategy, the Hospital will be built into an internationalized hospital, leading in the province and advanced in China, with the transplant specialty as its leading discipline. [3]

II. The hospital’s Hepatopancreatobiliary Surgery Department is the only state-level Liver Transplantation Research Center in Yunnan Province.

The hospital’s Hepatopancreatobiliary Surgery Department is the only state-level Liver Transplantation Research Center in Yunnan Province. The team currently has three chief surgeons, eighteen associate chief surgeons, seven attending surgeons, fifteen employees with doctoral degrees, and eighteen graduate students. The center is the only liver transplant center in Yunnan that has obtained the qualification issued by the National Health and Family Planning Commission. The liver transplant team is centered on President Li Li.[4]

III. Telephone Investigation Recordings

Summary: The Hospital has done a large number of liver and kidney transplants. The wait time for organs is usually two to three weeks or even as short as one day. Hospital beds are in tight supply, and added beds are available.

1.President Li Li and two vice presidents all perform liver transplants. The use of organs from Falun Gong practitioners has been banned since last year.

Investigation Subject: Ran Jianghua, Vice President of Kunming No.1 People's Hospital, liver transplantation

Investigation Time: February 27, 2016 (+86-18987162566)

Summary:

We have been doing liver transplants.
We have performed eight liver transplants in 2016. (No break during the Chinese New Year.)
In Yunnan, a part of (transplant expenses) can be reimbursed as subsistence allowances.
The total cost is 300,000 to 400,000 yuan. The Yunnan Provincial Development and Reform Commission specifically mentioned the cost price of a donor organ, which is 120,000 yuan.
We applied for government support for patients in Yunnan Province, and the state can subsidize 100,000 yuan.
We obtained more than ten (livers) on Chinese New Year’s Eve, all with type B blood. We not only performed transplants for our own patients, but also transferred patients from Hangzhou to our hospital to do (transplants). Now the patients are doing well.
Even if it is a holiday, we will still do it. It waits for no one!

(Recording 1. Download: MP3; Transcript Download: pdf 49)

Investigation Subject: Zhao Yongheng, Vice President of Kunming No.1 People's Hospital, liver transplantation

Investigation Time: May 6, 2016 (+86-15877990896)

Summary:

We have been doing liver transplants. Today we perform one liver transplant and two kidney transplants.
Including local hospitals, we have conducted price assessments through the Development and Reform Commission. The total charge for liver acquisition and preservation is 120,000 yuan.

(Recording 2. Download: MP3; Transcript Download: pdf2)

Investigation Subject: A nurse in the kidney transplant ward of the Department of Urology of Kunming No.1 People's Hospital

Investigation Time: May 7, 2016 (+86-87167390509)

Summary:

I called yesterday, yet you had one liver transplant and two kidney transplants and the doctors were too busy to pick up the phone!
Vice President Ran Jianghua and Zhao Yongheng both do liver transplants.
Those directors in our department. Director Sun, Director Hu, and Director Zhou. Our director is Sun Xun.
There is a doctor in charge of the kidney source, Dr. Ma Yunrui.
Investigator: Doesn’t your hospital harvest (organs) yourself? Some hospitals harvest (organs) themselves. They said that those Falun Gong practitioners detained in prisons can no longer be used now?

Nurse: No. It’s not like it used to be. In the past, kidneys were surely harvested on the spot!

Investigator: You did a lot last year. (Organs from Falun Gong practitioners) could still be used last year, right?

Nurse: It should be the year before last. It didn’t seem to be allowed last year.

(Recording 3. Download: MP3; Transcript Download: pdf3)

2.The number of kidney transplants reached four to five hundred. The number of liver transplants reached more than three hundred.

Investigation Subject: A nurse in Kunming No.1 People's Hospital, liver transplant, 8th floor, Ward B[5]

Investigation Time: July 20, 2017 (+86+ 87167390507)

Summary: We did more than three hundred liver transplants last year. This year till now we have definitely done more than one hundred liver transplants. We also do kidney transplants. So long as we put forward an application, if there’s a liver source, the liver will be shipped here.

(Recording 4. Download: MP3; Transcript Download: pdf 102)

Investigation Subject: A nurse in the north campus of Kunming No.1 People's Hospital, kidney transplant ward, 7th floor, Ward B[6]

Investigation Time: November 10, 2017 (+8687167390509)

“We just do transplants with donated organs, not with organs from patients’ parents. In terms of donated organs, we do relatively a lot (in comparison with other hospitals). Last year, we’ve probably done more than 200 cases. When half a year passed in this year, it already exceeded (200 cases).” There could be 400 or 500 cases in 2017.

(Recording 5. Download: MP3; Transcript Download: pdf 177)

A Nurse from the 7th Floor B of the Kidney Transplantation Ward, North Campus, the First Hospital of Kunming[7]

Investigation Date: June 6, 2018

“We do a lot (of kidney transplants) every year!” When being asked whether the hospital performed 400 or 500 cases of this kidney transplantation in 2017, the nurse didn’t deny it.

(Recording 6. Download: MP3; Transcript Download: pdf 178)

Summary: They did lots of kidney transplants. (When asked if four to five hundred kidney transplants were done last year, she didn’t deny it.) [8]

Investigation Subject: A doctor in Kunming No.1 People's Hospital, liver transplant outpatient clinic[9]

Investigation Time: March 24, 2019 (+86-871-67390506)

Summary:

Q: Are you doing a lot now?

A: We do a lot. We did up to four (liver transplants) a day!

(Recording 7. Download: MP3; Translation Download: pdf 033)

Kidney donated from other places were transported here by helicopter.

Investigation Subject: A nurse in Kunming No.1 People's Hospital, kidney ward, 7th floor, Ward B[10]

Investigation Time: 2017-07-23 Tel (+86+ 87167390509)

Summary: More than two hundred kidney transplants were done last year. This year more than one hundred kidney transplants have been done. Donors are usually brain dead. Sometimes they go to other places to get (kidneys), which are all brought in by helicopter.

(Download Recording 8 MP3. For complete transcript, please see pdf 8)

3.The wait time is usually two to three weeks. If you are lucky, you call today to register and may get an organ tomorrow.

A ward doctor for kidney transplant operations at the First Hospital of Kunming

Investigation Date: July 22, 2016 (Phone number: +86+ 871-67390509)

The hospital has done around 200 transplants in the past six months. The patients’ donor organ wait time is approximately one month.

(Recording 9. Download: MP3; Transcript Download: pdf 176)

Investigation Subject: A doctor in Kunming No.1 People's Hospital, liver transplant ward, 8th floor, Ward A (South Campus)

Investigation Time: November 13, 2017 (+86-87167390554)

Summary: We do not only liver transplants here, but all sorts of transplants. Maybe the patient needs to wait just one or two weeks for an organ transplant after coming here.

(Play or download Recording 10. MP3. For complete transcript, please see pdf11)

Investigation Subject: Yang Ping, a surgeon in the Hepatobiliary Department in Kunming No.1 People's Hospital[11]

Investigation Time: March 21, 2019 (+86-871-68261904)

Summary: The wait time shouldn’t be long if it’s type B blood. If you’re lucky, you call today to register and may get an organ tomorrow. This happened a lot!

(Recording 11. Download: MP3; Translation Download: pdf 030)

Investigation Subject: The Hepatobiliary Department in Kunming No.1 People's Hospital[12]

Investigation Time: October 23, 2019 (+86-871-68261904)

Summary: Normally a liver transplant can be done within two to three weeks.

(Recording 12. Download: MP3; Translation Download: pdf 137)

Investigation Subject: A nurse in the Hepatobiliary Department ward in Kunming No.1 People's Hospital[13]

Investigation Time: October 23, 2019 (+86-871-68261904)

Summary: The ward beds are in short supply. We can add extra beds on the aisle. If you’re lucky, a liver transplant can be done within two to three weeks.

(Recording 13. Download: MP3; Translation Download: pdf 137)

5. The number of organ donations are far less than the number of organ transplants in this hospital, and the source of organs is unknown

Investigation Subject: Mr. Chen, the Organ Donation Office at the Red Cross Society of China, Yunnan Branch

Investigation Time: December 1, 2016

Summary: According to Mr. Chen’s statistics, two days before the phone investigation, the number of organs donated was nearly 70 for the entire year of 2016. An Organ Donation Office at the Provincial Red Cross Society should be able to oversee the sources of all organs donated in the entire province[14].

(Recording 14. Download: MP3; Transcript Download: pdf 233)

Investigation Subject: Staff-on-duty, the Organ Donation Office at Red Cross Society of China, Yunnan Branch

Investigation Time: June 5, 2018

Summary: In 2017, there were 60 to 70 cases of organ donation in Yunnan Province, but not all of these organs could be used for transplants[15].

(Recording 15. Download: MP3; Transcript Download: pdf 234)

IV. List of Responsible Persons:

KMDYRMYY001 Li Li

Position and Title: Professor of hepatopancreatobiliary surgery, President, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee, Member of the Organ Transplantation Group of the Chinese Medical Association.

Personal Profile: He obtained his PhD in Hepatopancreatobiliary Surgery from West China Medical University in 1991. From 1995 to 1998, he was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Cincinnati School of Medicine in Ohio, USA. He is currently mainly engaged in experimental and clinical research on organ transplantation.

He presided over and successfully performed the first liver transplant in Yunnan Province in 1999. In 2003 and 2005, he presided over and successfully performed the first living-related partial liver transplant and the first combined liver-kidney transplant in Yunnan Province. In May 2006, he presided over and successfully performed the first liver transplant in Kunming No.1 People's Hospital. In July of the same year, he successfully did the first living-related partial liver transplant between adults in Yunnan Province. He has successfully performed 149 liver transplants (including seventeen living-related partial liver transplants and three combined liver-kidney transplants). He specializes in liver transplantation.[16]

KMDYRMYY002 Ran Jianghua

Position and Title: Vice President, Director of Hepatopancreatobiliary Research Center and Hepatopancreatobiliary Surgery Center. Core member of Yunnan Liver Transplant Center and Kunming Organ Transplant Center.

Personal Profile: In July 1989, he graduated from the six-year program of the Department of Pediatrics of Shanghai Second Medical University with a bachelor's degree in clinical medicine. From September 1997 to July 2000, he studied in and graduated from the on-the-job postgraduate class of Kunming Medical College. In September 2003, he was admitted to the Hepatobiliary Surgery Department of Kunming Medical College for a Ph.D. in medicine and obtained his Ph.D. in general surgery in July 2006. He was exceptionally promoted to associate chief surgeon and associate professor in 1999 and to chief surgeon and professor in 2003.

He is mainly engaged in general surgery, hepatopancreatobiliary surgery and organ transplantation research. Since 1995, he has participated in animal liver transplantation experiments, and is one of the earliest members of Yunnan Province to study liver transplantation technology. As the main staff, he participated in and successfully completed the first liver transplant in Yunnan Province on October 22, 1999, the first combined liver-kidney transplant in Yunnan on April 3, 2001, and the first living donor liver transplant in Yunnan in December 2003. From March 2002 to January 2003, he studied liver transplant techniques at the Organ Transplant Center of West China Medical University. In April 2006, he was recruited by Kunming No.1 People's Hospital as a talent for hepatopancreatobiliary surgery and liver transplantation, and was appointed as the Director of Hepatopancreatobiliary Surgery Department at Kunming No.1 People's Hospital.

From November 2008 to June 2009, he successively studied at the University of Arkansas School of Medicine (UAMS) and OKLAHOMA INTEGRIS Nazih Zuhdi Transplant Institute in the US, conducting his postdoctoral research on liver transplantation and multi-organ combined transplantation.

He is the key member of the liver transplant team of President Li Li of Kunming No.1 People's Hospital. On May 11, 2006, he completed the first liver transplant in Kunming No.1 People's Hospital. He has participated in more than 270 liver transplants so far. In July 2003, he and Professor Li Li went to the Second Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University to do a liver transplant. In August 2006, he was invited to the Kunming General Hospital of Chengdu Military Region to assist the hospital in performing a liver transplant. On January 17, 2007, he was invited to Yuxi People's Hospital to do a liver transplant. In 2007, he cured GVHD, a rare liver transplant complication. In 2009, he performed a liver transplant for the youngest patient (20 months old) in Yunnan and the first liver transplant with mismatched donor-recipient blood types in Yunnan. He participates in more than 30 liver transplants (including living donor liver transplants) every year. Since 1998, he has been engaged in research on organ resection technology and procedure optimization for organ transplantation.[17]

KMDYRMYY003 Li Xiaoyan

Position and Title: Chief surgeon of hepatopancreatobiliary surgery, Vice President

Personal Profile: He graduated from the Department of Medicine of Kunming Medical College in 1984 with a bachelor's degree in medicine and obtained a master's degree in hepatobiliary surgery from Kunming Medical College in 2001. In 2003, he became a doctoral student of hepatobiliary surgery at Kunming Medical College and also served as a master student supervisor of general surgery at the college. In 1999, as a key member, he participated in the first liver transplant in Yunnan Province. In July 2006, he participated in the first living-related partial liver transplant in Yunnan. In August 2006, he participated in the first living-related double-donor transplant in Yunnan. So far, he has successfully performed a total of 173 liver transplants.[18]

KMDYRMYY004 Chen Gang

Position and Title: Associate chief surgeon of hepatopancreatobiliary surgery, associate professor. He is expert in liver transplants.[19]

KMDYRMYY005 Zhang Shengning

Position and Title: Doctor of Medicine, associate chief surgeon, Director of the First Hepatopancreatobiliary Department, Secretary of the Organ Transplantation Branch of the Yunnan Medical Association, and Youth Member of the Organ Transplantation Branch of the Chinese Medical Association.

Personal Profile: In February 2010, he went to South Korea ASAN Medical Center to study living donor partial liver transplantation. From March 2010 to January 2011, he studied liver transplantation and hepatopancreatobiliary surgery at UAMS, University of Arkansas School of Medicine in the US.[20]

KMDYRMYY006 Wang Lei

Position and Title: Associate chief surgeon of urology

Personal Profile: He has been specializing in urology since 1998. He studied at the People's Liberation Army General Hospital in Beijing twice. He’s also been to the Second Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical College to study minimally invasive urology. He specializes in kidney transplantation.[21]

KMDYRMYY007 Li Kegong

Position and Title: Chief surgeon of urology

Personal Profile: He graduated from Kunming Medical College in 1985 and has been engaged in clinical work in urology for nearly 20 years. He has extensive clinical experience in kidney transplantation and postoperative recovery treatment and guidance.[22]

Reference：

[1]Introduction to The First People’s Hospital of Kunming

https://web.archive.org/web/20221220022517/http://www.ymci.cn/view/klmainMb/24/141/view/2064.html

[2] Baidu Baike: Kunming No.1 People's Hospital

https://baike.baidu.com/item/昆明市第一人民医院

[3]Introduction to The First People’s Hospital of Kunming

https://web.archive.org/web/20221220022517/http://www.ymci.cn/view/klmainMb/24/141/view/2064.html

[4] Good Doctors Online: An introduction to the Department of Hepatopancreatobiliary Surgery in Kunming No.1 People's Hospital

http://archive.is/8kkL8

[5] A WOIPFG Investigation Report on the Chinese Communist Party’s Ongoing Crime of Live Organ Harvesting against Falun Dafa Practitioners (IV)

https://www.zhuichaguoji.org/node/77139

[6] A WOIPFG Investigation Report on the Chinese Communist Party’s Ongoing Crime of Live Organ Harvesting against Falun Dafa Practitioners (V)

https://www.zhuichaguoji.org/node/96870

[7] A WOIPFG Investigation Report on the Chinese Communist Party’s Ongoing Crime of Live Organ Harvesting against Falun Dafa Practitioners (V)

https://www.zhuichaguoji.org/node/96870

[8] A WOIPFG Investigation Report on the Chinese Communist Party’s Ongoing Crime of Live Organ Harvesting against Falun Dafa Practitioners (V)

https://www.zhuichaguoji.org/node/96870

[9] WOIPFG’s 2019 Comprehensive Investigation Results regarding the Chinese Communist Party’s Live Organ Harvesting of Falun Dafa Practitioners

http://www.zhuichaguoji.org/node/125981

[10]A WOIPFG Investigation Report on the Chinese Communist Party’s Ongoing Crime of Live Organ Harvesting against Falun Dafa Practitioners (IV)

https://www.zhuichaguoji.org/node/77139

[11] WOIPFG’s 2019 Comprehensive Investigation Results regarding the Chinese Communist Party’s Live Organ Harvesting of Falun Dafa Practitioners

http://www.zhuichaguoji.org/node/125981

[12] WOIPFG’s 2019 Comprehensive Investigation Results regarding the Chinese Communist Party’s Live Organ Harvesting of Falun Dafa Practitioners

http://www.zhuichaguoji.org/node/125981

[13] WOIPFG’s 2019 Comprehensive Investigation Results regarding the Chinese Communist Party’s Live Organ Harvesting of Falun Dafa Practitioners

http://www.zhuichaguoji.org/node/125981

[14] WOIPFG. “A WOIPFG Investigation Report on the Chinese Communist Party’s Ongoing Crime of Live Organ Harvesting against Falun Dafa Practitioners.” July 19, 2017. https://www.upholdjustice.org/node/389

[15] WOIPFG. “WOIPFG’s Investigation Report on Status Quo of the CCP’s Live Organ Harvesting of Falun Dafa Practitioners (V).” July 20, 2018. http://www.zhuichaguoji.org/node/96870

[16] Good Doctors Online: An introduction to Doctor Li Li

http://www.haodf.com/doctor/DE4r0BCkuHzdugXJc9ZaNDNGERReY.htm

https://web.archive.org/web/20150318035338/http://www.haodf.com/doctor/…

[17] Good Doctors Online: An introduction to Doctor Ran Jianghua

http://www.haodf.com/doctor/DE4r0BCkuHzdugXJcthbpNCqpa7rv.htm

https://web.archive.org/web/20150318072409/http://www.haodf.com/doctor/…

[18] Good Doctors Online: An introduction to Doctor Li Xiaoyan

http://www.haodf.com/doctor/DE4r0BCkuHzdugXJc4wOXKq2IWmiF.htm

https://web.archive.org/web/20150318005214/http://www.haodf.com/doctor/…

[19] Good Doctors Online: An introduction to Doctor Chen Gang

http://www.haodf.com/doctor/DE4r0eJWGqZNKlZRGozCW0G6uJ8FLja7.htm

https://web.archive.org/web/20150320001613/http://www.haodf.com/doctor/…