Editorial: Louisa Wall breaks ranks with claims of organ harvesting in China

Labour List MP Louisa Wall spoke out against China on a radio programme the Prime Minister and the Foreign Affairs Minister had declined to participate in. Photo / Dom Thomas, RNZ

Editorial

EDITORIAL

Labour List MP Louisa Wall displayed the determination we have come to expect from her in speaking out about China's alleged abuses of the Uyghur and Falun Gong populations.

She is right, because allegations of organ harvesting go to the very core of what we consider ourselves to be as civilised beings, and of the rights of others.

In recent weeks, United Nations human rights experts have expressed "extreme alarm" at reports of alleged organ harvesting targeting minorities, including Falun Gong practitioners, Uyghurs, Tibetans, Muslims and Christians, in detention in China.

The experts say they have credible information that detainees from ethnic, linguistic or religious minorities may be forcibly subjected to blood tests and organ examinations such as ultrasound and x-rays, without informed consent; while other prisoners are reportedly not required to undergo such examinations. The results of the examinations are claimed to be registered in a database of living organ sources that facilitates organ allocation.

Wall is also well-placed as part of a global network of politicians monitoring the actions of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). She is one of 40 co-chairs of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, an international cross-party group of legislators working towards reform on how democratic countries approach China.

However, by breaking ranks with her own Labour Government, Wall is testing the party's patience. She spoke as part of a Radio NZ series on the influence of the CCP in New Zealand, even after Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta refused.

There are diplomatic lines specifically devised for concerns such as this to be conveyed, and there are good reasons they have been established.

How would such reciprocal statements be met if, for instance, a low-ranked CCP member decided to issue criticisms of New Zealand for its world's worst youth suicide rates, or the gruelling testimonies at our Royal Inquiry into Abuse in Care?

It would have been more appropriate for Wall to take the findings of the network of politicians up with the minister responsible and seek clearance to issue a statement that she had done so. This would have fairly represented her concerns; her party responsibilities and her constituency.

Indeed, Wall has done this when she and co-chair National MP Simon O'Connor recently wrote to the Minister of Justice Kris Faafoi, arguing against the extradition of New Zealand residents and citizens to China, in light of claimed abuses in China's judicial system.

As an MP of more than a dozen years, Wall should know where the lines are drawn on foreign affairs and Minister Nanaia Mahuta would be absolutely within her rights to remind her of it.

This will have further impacted Wall's standing within the party, after she was given little choice but to relinquish the safe seat of Manurewa. Wall has achieved well on the sports and political fields, but here she risks getting further offside.

Yes, we must continue to speak out on human rights, and Wall should be admired for her advocacy, but it should be directed through the most effective and appropriate means.