China’s large-scale illegal sale of human bodies was exposed by a lawyer, causing public outrage. The authorities quickly suppressed related information, not only censoring the spread of domestic “body theft cases”, but also diverting attention to the so-called “body hiding case” in the United States.
On August 8th, mainland Chinese lawyer Yi Shenghua publicly disclosed a case involving theft, insult, and intentional destruction of bodies online. The case materials revealed that Shanxi Aorui Biological Materials Co., Ltd. (referred to as “Shanxi Aorui Company”) collaborated with multiple funeral homes and crematoria to purchase bodies of individuals aged 20 to 60 who did not die from illness. These bodies were violently cut apart, with some skeletons used to produce biological tissue materials sold to hospitals.
According to the materials, from 2015 to 2023, Shanxi Aorui Company’s operating income totaled 380 million yuan. Authorities seized over 18 tons of body bone raw materials and semi-finished products, and 34,077 finished products. The case involved illegal theft and sale of over 4000 bodies.
The materials indicated 75 criminal suspects involved, including Shanxi Aorui Company, Sichuan Hengpu Company, Shandong Qingdao University Affiliated Hospital Liver Disease Center, Guilin Medical College, Guilin Municipal Funeral Home, Pingle County Funeral Home, Yongfu County Funeral Home, as well as criminal suspect Su controlling the Yunnan Shuifu City Crematorium, Chongqing Banan District Crematorium, Guizhou Shiqian County Crematorium, Sichuan Daying County Crematorium.
The materials, issued by the Taiyuan Public Security Bureau on May 23rd this year, revealed that the case was transferred to the Taiyuan Procuratorate for review and prosecution. On August 8th, lawyer Yi Shenghua made the case public, which was subsequently reported by multiple media outlets including The Beijing News and The Paper.
Following the escalation of the incident, Lawyer Yi Shenghua stated in a post on the 8th: “Received a call from the Beijing Judicial Bureau to discuss whether the exposure of pending cases was appropriate.” That evening, Yi Shenghua revealed that he would be interviewed by the Chaoyang District Judicial Bureau in Beijing next Monday. The information he previously released regarding the “illegal sale of bodies case” had been blocked, making it inaccessible to the public.
Additionally, the authorities censored the reporting of related information by mainland Chinese media outlets, with original reports quickly deleted once republished by other media. Not only did the official authorities suppress the spread of the domestic “body theft cases”, but they also tried to shift focus to the so-called “body hiding case” in American funeral homes.
The authorities’ suppression of discourse and diversion of attention has sparked discontent among mainland Chinese netizens.
A netizen commented on Weibo, saying: “I saw this news from the United States a few days ago, now they are using it to deflect criticism, quite a skillful way to shift the narrative.” “190 hidden bodies, compensated with 9.5 billion US dollars, over 68 billion yuan, then how much for our over 4000 bodies?” “Since they brought out the US for comparison, I support using the same standards for us.”
Another netizen remarked: “The taste of the hedge is too strong, but the United States is capitalist, of course their solution is money, we can’t imitate them, we always downplay big issues, like the blending of cooking and industrial oils, there hasn’t been any punishment for that until now.”
Another netizen commented: “The lives of living people in China are not as valuable as American bodies. Sanlu milk powder harmed 300,000 children, and the one-time compensation was only 3,300 yuan per person, handed out after 6 years totaling less than 200 million. Ridiculously, Sanlu, with an annual turnover exceeding 10 billion in 2007, declared bankruptcy after the incident in 2008, claiming no money for compensation. The compensation was raised by the dairy association, distributing 1.9 billion, bankrupting but protecting assets and earning 900 million. The lifetime of ordinary people is only worth 3,300 yuan.”