Human right activists on Tuesday slammed the Vatican for inviting a Chinese health official to attend a summit on organ trafficking as questions linger about Beijing's alleged practice of using executed inmates as organ donors.

Pontifical Academy of Sciences, a scientific academy based in Vatican, has sent an invitation to Chinese health minister Huang Jiefu to attend a two-day organ trafficking summit. Huang is a controversial figure, who has been appointed by the Chinese government, to overhaul the country's organ transplant system.

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Talking to journalists at the summit, Huang described the controversy over China's participation as "ridiculous" but maintained that due to country's enormous population the practice may still exist. "There is zero tolerance. However, China is a big country with a 1.3 billion population, so I am sure, definitely, there is some violation of the law," he said.

Legally, the Asian giant ended the forced human organ harvesting in 2015, but the first regulation for ending the organ trade was issued way back in 2007. Numerous medical experts and human right activists apparently have less faith in Chinese law, as they have demanded a full-fledged independent inspection to ascertain the truth.

"Without accountability, there is no reason to trust the government of China's claim that forced organ harvesting of prisoners has come to an end," said Dr. Torsten Trey, representative of Doctors Against Forced Organ Harvesting (DAFOH) group.      

DAFOH wants to especially know whether Beijing has completely abolished a 1980s law that allows organ harvesting. Over the decades, organ trafficking has evolved into a huge illegal business in China, with the country facing an enormous shortage of organs due to lack of human donors. The shortage of human donors apparently forced the government to use executed inmates as organ donors.

However, this practice has been for a long been subjected to widespread criticism, with the US Congress and European Parliament recently condemning organ harvesting in China. Interestingly, the Vatican was also among the countries that had raised a voice against China.        

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