Renowned Hong Kong Surgeon Allegedly Linked to Organ Harvesting in China Dies

Renowned Hong Kong Surgeon Allegedly Linked to Organ Harvesting in China Dies
Falun Gong practitioners hold up a banner calling on China to end its state-sanctioned practice of forced organ harvesting in San Francisco, Calif., on Nov. 14, 2023. Zhou Rong/The Epoch Times
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Dr. Joseph Lau Wan-yee, a Hong Kong expert in liver cancer treatment and transplantation, died at the age of 76 on Feb. 7. During his career, he had close ties with hospitals and doctors who were suspected of participating in forced organ harvesting from prisoners of conscience in China, according to a rights group.

Born in Hong Kong in 1947, Dr. Lau graduated from the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Hong Kong in 1972 and was promoted to professor of surgery in 1993 at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK). During his career, he served as an honorary or visiting professor at various prestigious universities and hospitals in China, Southeast Asia, Australia, Europe, and the United States.

Dr. Lau joined the faculty at CUHK in 1989. In 2003, he earned the highest academic title—an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). He was also the chairman of the Hong Kong Medical Council for the past nearly 12 years.
Dr. Lau was an expert in hepato-pancreato-biliary surgery and was reportedly the first surgeon in the world to pioneer a segment-based liver resection
In 1990, he played a key role in establishing the liver transplant center at CUHK. He was one of the pioneers of liver transplantation in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia, having started living-donor liver transplantation at an early stage, according to Chinese news reports. 

Forced Organ Harvesting

Dr. Lau’s expertise allowed him to establish an extensive network of international doctors and researchers. He promoted research and cooperation with Chinese doctors and hospitals. He was a visiting professor at Sun Yat-sen University, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, the People’s Liberation Army General Hospital, and more than a dozen other medical research institutions in China, all of which were involved in hepatobiliary and pancreatic surgery, according to government records.

On April 30, 2014, an international multicenter clinical project and research forum was held at Nanjing Gulou Hospital in China, hosted by Dr. Ding Yitao. Dr. Lau was among the attendees, along with professor Dong Jiahong of the People’s Liberation Army General Hospital, professor Fan Jia of Zhongshan Hospital of Fudan University, professor Li Xiangcheng of the Jiangsu Provincial People’s Hospital, among others.

It is noteworthy that almost all of the hospitals and doctors mentioned above are suspected of live organ harvesting, according to investigations by the World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong (WOIPFG).

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual practice involving meditative exercises and moral teachings centered on the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance. In the 1990s, the practice grew by word of mouth to reach as many as 100 million adherents in China by 1999.

The Chinese Communist Party, perceiving the practice’s popularity as a threat to the communist regime’s grip on power, launched a sweeping repression campaign in 1999, vowing to eliminate Falun Gong and its believers.

The London-based China Tribunal in 2019 concluded that forced organ harvesting had been taking place in the country on a “significant scale.” While Falun Gong practitioners were the primary target group, the tribunal found that other suppressed religious communities, such as Tibetans and Uyghurs, were also victims.

On April 24, 2021, WOIPFG released a report on Nanjing Gulou Hospital and individuals allegedly involved with live organ harvesting of Falun Gong practitioners. According to the report, the hospital had a strong team of liver and kidney transplant doctors and many beds. The waiting time for organ transplants was very short. Although the hospital was unable to account for the origin of the organs, some doctors admitted to having harvested the organs of Falun Gong practitioners. Moreover, the report claimed that Dr. Ding primarily led the initiative.

The WOIPFG reported that Jiangsu Provincial People’s Hospital allegedly participated in live organ harvesting. A kidney transplant doctor at the hospital told WOIPFG investigators, “There is no guarantee that the kidney source was a voluntary donor.”

Honorary Professor

Dr. Lau was an honorary professor at China’s People’s Liberation Army General Hospital, the largest military hospital in China.
On April 27, 2021, the WOIPFG released a report on the suspected live organ harvesting conducted at this hospital. The report states that the People’s Liberation Army General Hospital is responsible for liver transplants for officials in the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) central government, provincial government, and in the military ranks. According to the report, the transplant department at the hospital has a questionable source of organs and can provide multiple donors for one patient, guaranteeing liver replacement within one week. It also provides a “selection” of organs to local hospitals.
The People’s Liberation Army General Hospital had frequent exchanges and collaborations with international medical professionals, and Dr. Lau was closely associated with the hospital as he was a visiting professor, according to WOIPFG. 
Chen Huanwei, a former student of Dr. Lau’s, was listed by WOIPFG as a surgeon who was allegedly involved with live organ harvesting at the First People’s Hospital of Foshan. Between December 1999 and December 2021, Dr. Chen allegedly participated in 13 split liver transplants and 15 other liver transplants between May 2011 and December 2012, the report said. From March 2003 to December 2006, he was involved in 28 living-donor liver transplantations, and the supposed “donors” all had no liver diseases.

In 1998, Dr. Lau was a visiting professor at the First People’s Hospital of Foshan, where he trained surgeons and other medical professionals. Dr. Chen later studied under Dr. Lau at the Prince of Wales Hospital in Hong Kong in 2002 and became a leading liver transplant surgeon in China. In addition, Dr. Lau was also a visiting professor at Xiangya Hospital of Central South University and the First Hospital of Jilin University in China, according to Chinese news reports.

WOIPFG also listed Xiangya Hospital and First Hospital as suspected venues for live organ harvesting.

Eva Fu contributed to this report. 
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