Cheng Peiming, the first-known survivor of China’s brutal forced organ harvesting practices, now finds himself in the U.S. as he tries to fight for his safety. Having escaped communist persecution in 2020, Cheng is now taking his plight to the public stage in hopes of exposing the atrocities he endured at the hands of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Yet, despite his newfound freedom, Cheng’s life remains under threat, as Chinese security agencies attempt to discredit, silence, and even kill him to keep his story in the shadows.
The harrowing saga of Cheng’s survival began in 1999, when the CCP launched a massive campaign to eradicate Falun Gong — a spiritual meditation practice that grew rapidly in China during the 1990s. As a practitioner in Shandong Province, Cheng was repeatedly detained and tortured, joining the ranks of millions of others who faced brutal repression for refusing to renounce their faith.
But Cheng’s suffering reached an unfathomable low in 2002 when he was transferred to high-security prisons in Harbin and Daqing, where he endured even more severe torture.
Targeted for their organs
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“It was there that I was tortured even more severely,” Cheng recounted in an interview with The Diplomat published on Aug. 10. The darkest chapter of his imprisonment occurred on Nov. 16, 2004, when prison authorities — under the guise of medical treatment — forcibly removed parts of his liver and lung. This invasive surgery, performed without his or his family’s consent, left Cheng with a 14-inch scar across his side, he recalled.
“I believed they would kill me. I’m not sure they thought I could survive, but I did,” Cheng shared with The Telegraph after surviving the ordeal.
MORE ON THIS: Media, Experts Speak With First Known Survivor of Forced Organ Harvesting in China
Cheng’s miraculous survival has made him living evidence of the CCP’s gruesome organ harvesting practices. According to David Matas, a renowned Canadian human rights lawyer, Cheng was undoubtedly a victim of this heinous, state-sanctioned practice.
“Mr. Cheng can say he has been organ harvested as there are parts of his liver and lung that are missing, and it’s incontestable. It provides a visual element, a speaking victim that we’ve never seen before with that type of abuse,” said Matas, adding that his testimony stands in stark contrast to the circumstantial evidence and statistical analysis that has previously dominated reports on this human rights crisis.
Transnational repression
Despite escaping China, Cheng continues to face threats from the CCP, he said. Since July, Cheng has participated in various panel discussions and documentary screenings to raise awareness about the ongoing crimes committed against Falun Gong practitioners and other prisoners of conscience. Medical experts have since also verified his claims, affirming that parts of his liver and lung were indeed removed.
“Cheng survived the horrors of a Chinese prison and then risked his life to escape to the United States where he could speak freely,” said Levi Browde, a representative with the Falun Dafa Information Center. “The Chinese regime is terrified of his testimony and his courage to go public, so it is now attempting to silence him here on U.S. soil. We cannot allow the CCP and its proxy thugs to illicitly target people like Cheng in the United States.”
Yet, the CCP’s long arm has reached across the Pacific in attempts to silence him. On Oct. 24, a propaganda article was published on the website of the Tianjin Municipal Public Security Bureau, falsely accusing Cheng of fabricating his experience. But the smear campaign is only one prong of the CCP’s efforts.
According to insider information obtained by the Falun Dafa Information Center, Chinese security agencies have devised a three-part strategy in their campaign to silence Cheng: pressure him to return to China, bribe him into recanting his testimony, or, if all else fails, stage his death to appear as suicide.
Direct threats
Alarmingly, this campaign has also escalated to direct threats on U.S. soil. On Nov. 2, Cheng’s New York home was broken into after intruders forced open his garage bolt, tampered with his doors, and left tire tracks in his backyard. Even more chillingly, Cheng’s security system suspiciously went offline hours before the break-in.
“These tactics to silence me will not work,” said Cheng, adding, “I will never back down from exposing the truth. I am mentally and physically healthy, with friends and a supporting community in America that I trust. Please remember that I will never rescind my testimony.”
Cheng’s resolve is inspiring but precarious. His account, corroborated by medical examinations, sheds light on the CCP’s forced organ harvesting industry, which has targeted not only Falun Gong practitioners but also Uyghur Muslims, Tibetan Buddhists, and even young students who dare defy the CCP’s authoritarian rule. Wendy Rogers, the advisory board chair at the International Coalition to End Transplant Abuse in China (ETAC), speculated that Cheng’s organs may have been “partially harvested” for practice, or used for pediatric transplants.
Robert Destro, the former Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, played a key role in helping Cheng escape to the U.S. Yet, despite his presence on American soil, Cheng remains a prime target for the CCP’s transnational repression. The Falun Dafa Information Center has called for U.S. authorities to act swiftly, emphasizing that the CCP’s influence poses a clear and present danger to freedom of speech and human rights on American soil.
