A recent scandal involving the organized theft and trafficking of thousands of corpses that were later processed into bone-graft material for dental procedures has prompted horror among the Chinese public, and tremendous censorship on Chinese social media platforms. CDT editors have identified 21 censored Weibo hashtags, about a dozen deleted posts and investigative reports, and many deleted comments and filtered comment sections on social media platforms.
Despite attempts to suppress discussion of the corpse-trafficking scandal, public interest in the case—currently being investigated by authorities in Taiyuan, Shanxi province—remains unabated. CDT editors have put together a selection of online comments, quips, poetry, and blog excerpts related to the case. Some of the writers described the corpse-trafficking scheme as just another example of how ordinary citizens are subjected to various indignities—treated as “chives” or “huminerals” to be harvested and exploited, both in life and in death. Others drew connections between this and previous scandals about melamine-tainted powdered milk and baby formula, recycled “gutter oil,” and tanker trucks used to transport both fuel and cooking oil without being sanitized between loads.
The following are some online reactions to news of the corpse-trafficking scandal and censorship of related hashtags:
Anonymous netizen: When we’re alive, we’re treated as chives. When we die, our bodies are plundered for parts.
Anonymous netizen: We’re huminerals while alive, and raw materials when we’re dead. This is the fate of the Chinese people. [Chinese]
Weibo user YDHBFDXK: Oil tankers are transporting cooking oil, and funeral homes are selling corpses. The living are treated like replaceable cogs, and the dead are treated like replacement parts. This is the awful reality of the twenty-first century. [Chinese]
In a now-censored post from WeChat account 嘉陵桥渡 (Jiālíngqiáo dù, “Jialing Bridge Ferry”), the author asks how such a major case involving the theft and illegal sale of thousands of corpses could have gone undetected for so many years:
This case is horrifying enough to make your hair stand on end. Based on the […] case materials leaked by lawyer Yi Shenghua and confirmed as genuine by Taiyuan police and prosecutors, the case is vast in scale, involving numerous individuals and companies whose activities covered a considerable swath of the country.
Although at present, only a limited number of crematoriums and medical institutions have been confirmed to have been involved in the scheme, it is difficult to believe that the local civil affairs departments and other regulatory and law enforcement bodies could have remained unaware of those individuals and companies engaging in criminal activities within their jurisdictions for such a long period of time. [Chinese]
In another deleted WeChat post, prolific blogger and former journalist Xiang Dongliang expresses dismay that of the hundreds of people who were likely aware of the wrongdoing, not one saw fit to report it—or if anyone did report it, officials may have tried to cover it up:
The most frightening thing is that in addition to the 75 suspects confirmed by the Taiyuan Public Security Bureau to have been involved in the case, there must have been hundreds of people who actually knew about that criminal activity spanning a period of eight years, but either they lacked the conscience to report it, or if they did, the report was suppressed.
In short, this is yet another industry-wide practice that has remained an “open secret” for many years, provoking shock and horror when it is finally revealed to the public.
As a long-time journalist, I have definitely seen my share of the dark underbelly of society. But even I have a hard time believing that such an abhorrent practice could exist, and it is hard to fathom the depths of such depravity. [Chinese]
Weibo user 北国佳人李春姬 (Běiguó Jiārén Lǐ Chūnjī, “Northern Beauty Ri Chun-hee”) placed the corpse-trafficking scandal in a larger context, as a final indignity capping off a lifetime of exploitation and suffering:
“As a baby, I drank melamine-tainted formula, grew up eating trans fats and all sorts of toxic junk food cooked in contaminated gutter oil, and worked the longest hours for the least amount of pay. I went from a childhood beset by insecurity to a lifetime of poor health to an old age in which there was no one to help or support me. The only time I ever had value was after I died, when my heavy-metal contaminated corpse was trafficked by organized criminals and processed into biomedical materials for use in the other unfortunates who were still alive, thus bringing the cycle of suffering full-circle. [Chinese]
Douban user Matrix chose to use verse to comment on the cadaver scandal in relation to the many other struggles in the lives of ordinary Chinese citizens:
When there’s overpopulation, they force abortions
When there’s a shortage, they urge you to have three
Once you’re born, they feed you tainted formula
and make you go to school from dawn to dark
After graduation, you earn only 3000 yuan a month
If you don’t marry, your folks threaten suicide
but if you do get hitched, it’s tough to divorce
You’re laid off at 35, but have to wait until 65 to retire
Once you’re dead, they sell your corpse
Even leaving a comment online gets you 404’d. [Chinese]
In this short verse posted to X, poet Lao Wang comments on scandals and censorship by inquiring about the follow-up to the corpse-trafficking case and two other recent cases. (One case involved a county Party secretary in Jiangxi named Mao Qi who was accused of raping a subordinate named Li Peixia, a former township Party secretary. The other case involved the murder of a 13-year-old boy by three of his classmates—all left-behind children—in the city of Handan, Hebei province.)
“Nevermind, I Won’t Ask”
What’s going on with the tanker oil scandal?
Nevermind, I won’t ask.
What’s the latest on Mao Qi and Li Peixia?
Nevermind, I won’t ask.
What ever happened to those three little devils in Handan?
Nevermind, I won’t even ask.
If I ask again, my account will get banned. [Chinese]
