(Minghui.org) At the recent Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) annual summit in Taiwan on July 30, delegates from 23 countries and the European Parliament discussed polices regarding China. At least eight of these 49 parliamentarians were pressured by Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials before they traveled to Taiwan. Established in 2020, IPAC has held three summits, and this is the first time the meeting was held in Taiwan.
At the press conference in Taipei, a reporter mentioned that the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Falun Gong Protection Act on June 25 this year to stop the CCP’s forced organ harvesting, while IPAC condemned the CCP’s persecution of Falun Gong numerous times. Parliament members from Taiwan and Japan announced in mid-July that they planned similar legislation. The reporter asked if IPAC was considering taking more actions against forced organ harvesting in China, such as encouraging a worldwide legal firewall to protest the atrocity.
Reinhard Butikofer from the German Green Party is a member of the European Parliament and co-chair of IPAC. As an initiator of the organization’s Legislator-Expert Forum, he said IPAC not only considered such actions, but also made efforts as reflected in recent announcements. He said more actions would follow in this context to ensure the position would receive broad acknowledgment and support.
IPAC co-chair Reinhard Butikofer addressed the question of forced organ harvesting in China.
Consisting of over 250 lawmakers in 36 countries, IPAC issues announcements focusing on the CCP’s forced organ harvesting around July 20 almost every year. The following is the announcement made on X this year titled “Statement on the 25th Anniversary of the Persecution of Falun Gong Practitioners:”
“Today marks the 25th anniversary of the Chinese government’s persecution of Falun Gong practitioners—a quarter of a century of protracted and profound suffering.
“Hundreds of thousands of Falun Gong practitioners have been imprisoned, with an unknown number subjected to the most severe forms of torture, including widespread credible reports of state-sponsored forced organ harvesting.
“We join with the many groups and individuals in deploring the denial of basic Article 18 rights to Falun Gong practitioners, who, along with Islamic minority groups, Christians, and Tibetan Buddhists, among others, do not enjoy freedom of thought, conscience, or religion in contemporary China.
“No minority, irrespective of their beliefs, deserves to be stripped of fundamental rights. We call upon our governments to insist that Beijing immediately cease their persecution of religious minorities, and uphold the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, to which China is a signatory.”
Satsuki Katayama, a member of Japanese House of Councilors
Satsuki Katayam from the Japanese House of Councilors called for legislation to oppose forced organ harvesting on July 15, 2024. Yoshitaka Sakurada, a member of the Japanese House of Representatives and a delegate for IPAC, also urged legislation according to the Universal Declaration on Combating and Preventing Forced Organ Harvesting announced in 2021.
Taiwan officially joined IPAC on July 30, 2024. Co-chair Chen Gau-tzu from Taiwan People’s Party also agreed with the global legislative collaboration to oppose forced organ harvesting. Fan Yun from the Democratic Progressive Party began supporting this effort in 2022.
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