The Center for Human Rights at the Catholic University of America has recently published an op-ed by Chen Guangcheng commemorating the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre. To view this article, check the link in the description or go to humanrights.catholic.edu.
Will Deatherage: Hello everyone. Welcome to another episode of the Barefoot Lawyer Reports on China. My name is Will Deatherage, the producer, and joining me as always, is Chen Guangceng.
Chen Guangcheng: Hello, Will. Hello everyone. I’m glad to see you here again.
W: Yeah. Today we have a pretty terrifying topic coming out of China. Guangcheng, could you explain what’s going on?
G: Today, we will share information we just got from mainland China. In June 2025, someone found, in Hainan Province, in Haikou City; in a truck, the person found three children inside. And they were in metal cages in the truck. Yeah. That means, in mainland China, the human trafficking situation [is] getting worse and worse.
That made me remember four years ago, when I called my friends in mainland China, they told me, before, their children come out to play by themselves no problem. You know, that is traditional in mainland China. But today parents are afraid their children may be kidnapped if they go outside to play.
W: Yeah. So Guangcheng, you mentioned that four years ago this wasn’t as big of a problem?
G: Yeah. Now it looks like the situation [is] getting worse and worse. Many people think the children are being kidnapped for forced organ harvesting. So this is why more and more children are going missing.
W: So Guangcheng, is there any official confirmation that these children were being trafficked? Like, did the police say anything about it? I mean, it seems pretty clear to us if they’re in cages in the back of a truck.
G: Yeah. This is why a lot of people criticize the CCP. They said, “Oh, in mainland China, there are a lot of cameras there. For every person there are two cameras.” But when their children disappeared, when they went to the police station to ask them to help them, to find them, the police always say, “The camera is broken,” or, “The computer is broken.” Yeah. If you want to use the surveillance system to find their children — doesn’t work. But if you protest there, of course, the cameras capture every detail to sentence the protesters.
W: Yeah. So Guangcheng, do you know how widespread of a problem human trafficking is in China right now? Do we have any idea, like, you know, how big of an issue it is?
G: I think the biggest problem is, you know, the CCP is behind that. We have heard there are some officials who have had as many as five heart transplants. And now the officials [are] 95 years old.
W: Gosh. One of the other fellows at the Center for Human Rights, where, Guangcheng, you’re a fellow at — Dr. Sen Nieh, he’s come on the podcast a couple times to interview a survivor of organ harvesting. And one thing that we’ve heard on previous episodes you and Dr. Nieh talk about is that there seems to be a surplus of organs in China, but not a ton of willing organ donors. Is that right?
G: Yeah. No donors. Only a few donors [are] there, I think, in mainland China. Because [of] the traditional culture, no one wants to do that. So how they can get a lot…
W: Like five heart transplants for… Gosh, it’s crazy. So usually, forced organ harvesting victims have been members of the Falun Gong religious group. But you’re saying, Guangcheng, that there’s also children being trafficked for organs. People are thinking that, right?
G: Yeah, yeah, we heard some news [that] the CCP found a way to use the children’s blood or some part much better than an adult’s organs.
W: Oh, my goodness. And of course, the CCP isn’t saying anything about this, right, Guangcheng?
G: Yeah, of course. If the CCP has to answer the question, they will say, “Oh, all that is a rumor.” But in fact, the CCP cannot answer why, in mainland China, a lot of people disappeared. They cannot answer. And it’s very easy to get it from a hospital…
W: A new organ, right?
G: Yeah. If you’re in the U.S., you have to wait several years. But in mainland China, if you give them enough money, maybe you can get [one] in several weeks, even several days.
W: Yeah. Guangcheng, these disappearances and these alleged kidnappings, where do they take place? Like, are there parts of China where it’s more common for people to go missing? Do you know?
G: [It’s] very difficult to get more details. This one we just know comes from Hainan Province.
But I believe [it’s] not just Hainan Province. The CCP uses different ways to get the blood transfusions. In school, in prison, in jail. But no one knows what they are doing after they get the blood.
W: So, you mentioned prisoners, you mentioned children persecuted religious groups. It sounds to me like it’s the, you know, people who are vulnerable who are being used for this. Is that right, Guangcheng?
G: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
W: For the rich, right?
G: Yeah. If you are poor, if your children, even your family members, disappeared — no way to find them, right?
W: Communism isn’t working for the poor very well, is it?
G: Yeah, yeah. I remember 2003, one person, he went to my house and he told me his brother went to Henan province to try to find a job.
But three years later, no one knows where he is. And his father is blind. His family is very, very poor. And the CCP forced his father to pay taxes. Of course, that is illegal.
W: Right, people with disabilities aren’t supposed to pay taxes, right, Guangcheng?
G: So I help him to get [the money] back from [the] local government. So you can see, in mainland China, since 20 years ago, even 30 years ago, they are human trafficking.
W: Right. Well, hopefully more information will come to light about all this, and we’ll be sure to share it on our website at humanrights.catholic.edu. Guangcheng, thank you very much for sharing this story with us.
G: Yeah, thank you, Will. Thank you, everyone.
The Catholic University of America’s Center for Human Rights has published a documentary on the United Nations Universal Declaration on Human Rights. The documentary features world class human rights experts, from former State Department officials to ambassadors and human rights activists. It can be found on our website at humanrights.catholic.edu.