China
detains Japanese man over organ brokerage
Saturday,
October 13, 2007 at 07:12 EDT
BEIJING
— Authorities in the Chinese city of Shenyang,
Liaoning Province, have notified the Japanese Consulate
General that they have detained a Japanese man in
connection with illegal organ transplants, officials said
Friday. The authorities have yet to reveal the man's name
or charges, the consulate said. China in May implemented an
ordinance on organ transplants with provisions to respect
donors' wishes and to ban organ brokerage in a bid to
eliminate organ harvesting from executed prisoners and
other murky practices.
According to the Shenyang chapter of the China
International Organ Transplant Center, which supports organ
transplants in the country, a total of 108 Japanese
received transplant surgeries there between January 2004
and December 2005. (Kyodo News)