The decision was an encouraging step toward ensuring cultural freedom and curbing the power of the Immigration Department, said Chairperson of Hong Kong Human Rights Monitor Chong Yiu Kwong.

“I’m happy about the court’s decision. … I feel that the court’s verdict is quite fair. It puts a limit on the discretionary power of the Immigration Department,” said Chong. “After the court’s verdict, Immigration can no longer be so reckless and unreasonably refuse others to enter Hong Kong.”

The legal case was filed by the Epoch Group—the local presenter of Shen Yun—against the director of Immigration, after he refused six members of the company entry to Hong Kong just seven days before the shows were due to commence in January 2010. The Epoch Group also publishes the Hong Kong edition of The Epoch Times.

The New York-based Shen Yun, referred to as the world’s premier classical Chinese dance company, was invited by the Epoch Group to perform seven shows at the Lyric Theatre Jan. 27–31, 2010.

Shen Yun believes the visa denial in Hong Kong was due to interference by the Chinese regime. In a Jan. 24, 2010, press release Shen Yun stated: “The Chinese communist regime has been seeking to interfere with our performances for years by trying to pressure officials and theaters to cancel our shows. We regret that the Hong Kong people are denied their right to see Shen Yun Performing Arts and understand that this incident constitutes a violation of Hong Kong people’s freedom. We hope the people of Hong Kong who treasure their freedom will urge the Hong Kong government to undo this mistake.”

Shen Yun master of ceremonies Leeshai Lemish also said that upon the cancellation of the show audience members who planned to travel to Hong Kong from mainland China had their tickets confiscated by authorities and some were even arrested.

The Hong Kong ruling, issued by Judge Andrew Cheung in the High Court of the Special Administrative Region, ordered that the director of Immigration’s decision be “quashed” on the grounds that he “failed to take into account relevant considerations.”

According to its website, Shen Yun’s mission is to revive traditional Chinese culture. It has been invited to perform at some of the world’s most prestigious venues, such as the Lincoln Center in New York, the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and Palais des Congrès in Paris.

The organizers said that the performances were completely sold out within days of the public ticket release.

The sudden visa cancellation forced the organizers to refund over HK$5 million (US$642,000) to the public in lost ticket sales, said Mr. Kan.

“We were shocked by the director’s decision. The refusal to allow key production staff into Hong Kong just days before the shows was clearly a premeditated action to sabotage the show,” he said.

“We welcome the court’s decision, and we thank all the righteous support from Hong Kong and overseas, and praise the court for being able to clear the obstacles,” said Mr. Kan.

In Hong Kong there are no specific visa schedules for visiting artists or sports teams. Such groups have to apply under the so-called GEP schedule, known as General Employment Policy. The provision essentially requires the applicants to prove the necessity for “employment” and that their work cannot be performed by local experts.

While in most cases such proof is not enforced, the final decision has been left to the director of Immigration, whose powers remained largely unchallenged.

This latest court decision by Judge Andrew Cheung has created an opening for greater discretion, says To Yiu Ming, assistant professor, Department of Journalism, Hong Kong Baptist University.

“I feel that the court’s decision respected art exchanges [and] has a positive effect on cultural exchange in future,” said Mr. Ming.

“This is a testing case to see if the court is really independent,” he added.

One unique feature of the Shen Yun performances is the use of state-of-the-art technology to project digital backdrops, often synchronized with the dance performers.

The court documents from Judge Andrew Cheung cite evidence the six visa applications were denied to the staff that was specifically responsible for technical support and back stage assistance, in particular lighting, sound, and projector operations.

According to the summary of the minutes from the Immigration Department meeting provided as evidence, the director asserted, “The duties of applicant as audio engineer are of [a] general nature and the knowledge, experience, and skills required do not meet the requirement that they are not readily available in Hong Kong.”

In other words, the visa applications were refused on the grounds that the staff can be replaced by local engineers.

The reasons were refuted by the applicant’s lawyer, Mr. Paul Harris.

“The decision to refuse all production staff … ignores the simple fact that being able to operate the lighting [and] sound effects of backdrop for a stage event is not a matter of knowing how to operate them, but a matter of when to operate them,” argued Mr. Harris.

The Epoch Group plans to reinvite Shen Yun to Hong Kong as soon as possible, says Mr. Kan.

The government can appeal the court’s decision within four weeks, but some feel that will be unlikely.

“I can tell you, he may not dare to appeal after going through the verdict,” said Albert Ho, leader of the Democratic Party.

Mr. Ho believes the verdict re-established Hong Kong’s values.

“There is a bottom line, Hong Kong is still a place where rule of law is a deeply rooted tradition, that does not easily lose its function under political pressure,” he said. “This is also what’s valuable in Hong Kong.”

By Mei Xuan

Have you ever waited at an airport for a loved one you have not seen in a long time? Surely you remember the giddy expectation, scanning arriving passengers for that familiar face. But what if your loved one never arrived?

My husband never turned up. On Feb. 18, I waited for him at Newark International Airport with flowers. It had been over three years since I last saw him before fleeing China. Jiang Feng was to arrive on a Continental Airlines flight from Shanghai, but after the last passengers left he was still nowhere to be seen. My calls to China confirmed my greatest fears: He checked in, but never boarded the flight. Chinese secret police abducted him.

We married 12 years ago in Anhui province. I was a musician and he worked as a piano tuner. But before our first anniversary we were kidnapped from our workplaces and jailed. That was July 20, 1999, the first round of arrests of Falun Gong practitioners like us.

Our worlds collapsed as the campaign rolled in with a force equal to that of Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution. Suddenly, we were enemies of the state, cut off from our family and friends. We were arrested for practicing meditation and following our discipline – principles of truthfulness, compassion and tolerance. Falun Gong was becoming too popular for the Communist Party’s liking and our crime was having an independent belief system.

As I was a prominent musician, my director pulled strings to get me out, but my husband was jailed for three years. In 2002, literally days before his release, I was standing on a sidewalk when plainclothes police suddenly shoved me into a taxi and drove me to a detention center. They imprisoned me for four years. I was tied to a chair for 75 days without being allowed to sleep or use the restroom. My fingers and feet swelled three times their size. I was electrocuted, beaten and repeatedly knocked unconscious. I watched my friends, one after another, take their last breaths. Somehow, I survived and, after being released in 2006, fled to the United States.

My husband and I planned to reunite here. After I was generously granted political asylum, he also received the status of “derivative asylee,” obtained a U.S. visa, packed his bags and checked in at the Shanghai Pudong International Airport.

He would have been with me in Washington this week, as thousands of Falun Gong practitioners from around the world mark yet another anniversary of persecution in China. Instead, he is in an Anhui province labor camp in which prisoners toil in a coal mine. In addition to torture, my husband now faces the dangers of being trapped, suffocated or crushed underground in China’s most fatality-prone work.

Many people think the persecution of Falun Gong is mostly a thing of the past, a blotch on China’s slow but steady progress. Quite the contrary. In the months before the Olympics, over 8,000 practitioners were arrested, often from their homes for no apparent reason other than their faith. Many were sent to labor camps for periods far exceeding the length of the Olympic Games. Last year saw an upsurge in sham trials with hundreds of Falun Gong practitioners sentenced to prison for up to 18 years, often simply for downloading an article or distributing leaflets exposing persecution.

My husband and I were wed 12 years ago but, separated by persecution, we have shared married life for only a few months. I am extremely worried about his safety as I know what he faces every minute.

As you notice the Falun Gong activities this week, please remember that these victims of oppression are real people. They are our husbands and parents and children. They need your international voices of support. We have seen how, when the world looks away, we face the darkest pitilessness of the Chinese Communist Party. Your direct, public statements of support have a great restraining effect.

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/jul/21/an-empty-seat-a-broken-heart/

Mei Xuan tells how she waited in vain at a N.J. airport for her husband to arrive. (Gary Feuerberg/ The Epoch Times)

WASHINGTON—During Shen Yun’s 2009-2010 world tour, the New York-based performing arts company endured various actions aimed at stopping its performances. On Wednesday, Shen Yun performers and sponsors of Shen Yun shows came to the Longworth House office building on Capitol Hill to tell congressional staff and the press about the ongoing campaign of interference directed by the Chinese communist regime.

“[Chinese regime] diplomats threatened theaters, told them to ignore their [Shen Yun] contracts, and even harassed patrons not to attend shows,” said Mr. Xiang Dong. Mr. Xiang hosted the briefing and also represented the Washington, D.C., Falun Dafa Association, which sponsored several shows by Shen Yun in D.C.

Mr. Xiang added that the tires of the Shen Yun tour buses have been damaged a few times and family members of Shen Yun performers residing in Mainland China have been detained and harassed.

In Ottawa on Jan. 13 the driver of a Shen Yun tour bus discovered damage to one of the front tires. Police said two three to four-inch-long cuts deep into the tire had apparently been made by a craft knife. If undiscovered, the damage to the tire could have caused a blowout at high speed on the highway.

In Phoenix the previous year, the tire of a Shen Yun tour bus did blow out on the highway. On inspection, the tire was discovered to have had a hole drilled into it.

Dong Xiang described a coordinated pattern of interference and harassment in the U.S. and in the world by the Peoples Republic of China. (Gary Feuerberg/ The Epoch Times)

Pressuring governments and theaters

The interference by the Chinese regime has not stopped the exponential rise in the number of shows, Mr. Xiang said. Shen Yun debuted in 2006-7 with 26 shows; the next season there were 90 shows, followed by 218 in the 2008-9 season. This year, Shen Yun will tour in over 100 cities, with over 300 shows, on five continents.

The most common form of interference involves letters and phone calls from Chinese consular officials asking local government officials not to support or see the show and asking theaters not to host the show.

In the United States, local government officials and theaters have generally brushed off such requests. In Eastern Europe, however, the pressure is greater, and “there is more room for manipulation” in the former communist countries, said Leeshai Lemish, one of the master of ceremonies for Shen Yun Performing Arts.

Mr. Lemish said the efforts to cancel the shows in eastern European countries need to be understood in a broader context. He said Shen Yun has experienced full houses, celebrities and VIPs at the shows, and very few cancellations.

Mr. Lemish described the cancellation of two scheduled shows his company was scheduled to perform at Chisinau, Moldova—a country, Lemish said, whose government is divided and where the communist party ruled not long ago.

When the company arrived at the theater at 8 a.m., May 25 to set up, they were not allowed in. Half an hour later, the theater director arrived at the theater, and refused to allow the performers in or to meet with the company director to explain the lockout.

Lemish surmised what probably motivated the theater director, who had vowed earlier that she would resist Chinese embassy pressure. First, a Moldovan government official revealed that the theater director received “daily” visits from the Chinese embassy.

Second, a Moldovan Foreign Ministry official met with the theater director and said it was the ministry’s position that the show be canceled.

Finally, the theater director was in possession of a letter from the Moldovan Ministry of Culture saying it recommended the show be canceled.

Leeshai Lemish explains how the Chinese embassy pressures theater managers in Eastern Europe. (Gary Feuerberg/ The Epoch Times)

Both the Moldovan Minister of Culture and the theater director said to the president of the Moldovan Falun Dafa Association, the sponsor of the show, that the Chinese ambassador told them Moldova would face financial repercussions if the show was not canceled.

Last July, the Chinese regime promised the Moldovan government a US$1 billion dollar loan, Lemish said, citing a Reuters article. This was money that the European Union would not loan to Moldova, Lemish said. “The theater director was caught between the financial pressure from the PRC [People’s Republic of China] and the fact that she had a contract and a conscience, and the performing company was ready to go,” Lemish said.

“On both days that the show was scheduled to perform, Moldovan television reported on the show’s cancellation and the frustration of audience members, who protested outside the theater entrance. Some audience members had traveled from as far as Russia and Belarus, over 30 hours by train,” said Lemish.

Fraudulent emails

Shen Yun has been interfered with by the Chinese regime since its first performance, but this year’s tour saw a new wrinkle in the attempts to stop the show.

Emails written by individuals impersonating Falun Gong practitioners have been sent to theater managers. This email campaign may be more insidious than previous acts of interference because it attempts to harm Shen Yun by confusing the theater management.

“The emails portray Falun Gong practitioners and the hosting Falun Dafa association as zealots, for example, by warning the theater that if it does not fully support the show, they will incur punishment and misfortune. Apparently, the aim is to cause the theater to question the integrity of the show and the hosting organization, and, ultimately, cancel the show,” said Mr. Xiang.

Ms. Nelly Au of the New Jersey Falun Dafa Association spoke about the emails received by the New Brunswick State Theater in New Jersey.

Ms. Nelly Au told of emails to the president and CEO of the New Brunswick State Theatre by persons posing as zealous Falun Gong practitioners. (Lisa Fan/ The Epoch Times)

The theater’s director of operations wrote Ms. Au that they were getting “a bunch of emails.” He requested Ms. Au to “please have your constituency stop sending us these emails. I would hate this to have a negative impact on your future usage here.”

Ms. Au says she later learned that theaters in Rhode Island, San Francisco, Dallas, Houston, and Newark received similar emails.

Mr. Lemish pointed out that sometimes the letters sent to different cities in the U.S. were the same, proving a conspiracy to defraud.

Each of the local Falun Dafa associations where the fraudulent letters were discovered had reported the problem to the FBI and the Congress member in their district, said Mr. Xiang.

Harassment of family members

Mei Xuan, which is her stage name, plays the erhu—a two-stringed traditional Chinese instrument. She said that on Feb. 18, she was waiting with flowers and a camera in hand at the Newark, N.J. airport, feeling “extremely happy” that after many years of forced separation, she would be reunited with her husband, Jiang Feng.

In their 11 years of marriage, they had spent only a few months together, due to the Chinese regime’s persecution of Falun Gong. Both are Falun Gong practitioners. He was sentenced to 3 years in prison for practicing Falun Gong and she was sentenced to 4 years in prison a few days before his sentence ended. On her release, she fled to the United States in 2006.

Both have been tortured. She was subjected to severe beatings, sleep deprivation, and long hours of forced labor.

Jiang was not on the Shanghai flight though he had passed through the security checkpoint. He disappeared and a disappointed Mei Xuan could only guess the worst had happened and that public security officials had taken him away.

Other members of her family have been harassed. “The police visited my sister’s business and my brother’s office many times, asking them to pressure me to leave Shen Yun,” she told The Epoch Times in a Feb. 22 interview.

Not long after her husband’s disappearance, she left with Shen Yun for a tour in Europe. There, she contacted the European Parliament, which made inquiries of the Chinese ambassador, who confirmed that Jiang had been seized by public security officials and that he was sentenced to 18 months in a forced labor camp.

Mr. Lemish pointed out that she had never received official notice of where Jiang was. Instead, the first word of Jiang’s whereabouts came through the European Parliament nearly three months after his disappearance. Friends told Mei Xuan the location of the labor camp was in Hefei in Anhui province. In this camp, prisoners work in a coal mine as de facto slaves, said Mr. Lemish.

Mei Xuan said that when in Europe, people were always asking her, “What is the United States government doing about this?”

JURNAL TV morning talk show part 1 part 2 part 3 - interviews with hosting organization representative, Shen Yun performers, the minister of culture, and the theater director.

Radio Europa Libera (audio): The minister of Culture says it’s not his responsibility, while another official says it’s the responsibility of the Minister of Culture, yet a third official he was in Italy at the time…

Radio Europa Libera II (audio)

Radio Vocea Basarabiei: Reprezentanţi ai Asociaţiei Obşteşti „Falun Dafa” cer guvernului explicaţii (audio)

Ziarului de Gardă: Azi protest SHEN YUN în faţa Guvernului

PRO-TV: Membrii Falun Dafa au protestat astazi in fata Guvernului (video)

Publika-TV: Administraţia Teatrului Naţional de Operă şi Balet susţine că a preîntâmpinat despre interzicerea spectacolului dansatorilor chinezi din New York

Infotag News Agency: Falun Dafa [Association] asks for explanations regarding illegal actions against the company Shen Yun Performing Arts

JURNAL TV: “They remained without the show”

JURNAL TV: “Chinese culture forbidden?”

FALUN DAFA [ASSOCIATION] ASKS FOR EXPLANATIONS REGARDING ILLEGAL ACTIONS AGAINST THE COMPANY SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS

From left to right: Kuki Szabolcs, Tatiana Chiriac, Man-yan Ng

(This is a partial translation – the original report in Romanian follows)

Falun Dafa Association in Chisinau asks for explanations from the Moldovan Government regarding the illegal actions taken regarding the company Shen Yun Performing Arts from New York.

The president of the Association, Tatiana Chiriac, mentioned on Thursday, during a press conference at INFOTAG agency, that the performers arrived in Chisinau for presenting a show of Chinese classical dance, on 25 and 26 of May, at the National Theatre of Opera and Ballet.

According to her, Falun Dafa Association signed a rent contract for 25 and 26 of May.

Here is a translated transcript of the press conference speeches:

Tatiana Chiriac:

”The members of Shen Yun company, 100 artists, found themselves in front of the closed doors of the Theatre, with a valid contract, totally fulfilled by our side and totally unfulfilled by the administration of the National Theatre of Opera and Ballet. Now, that I am in front of you I have no answer why all that happened. We have not received a verbal answer form the theatre administration, we have not received a verbal or a written answer from the Ministry of Culture. We even organized protests in front of the Government to allow someone to get out and give us an explanation about what is going on.

I make an appeal to them even now, to say that the company is still in the country; they leave the day after tomorrow- so we are ready even today to set up the scene and tomorrow to have the show, at least one, because those who suffered the most in this case, are the citizens of Republic of Moldova, those who wanted to see the show. We convinced ourselves once more that we have so many rights verbally but not in reality. It was a great loss for the people that the show didn’t take place.

The Theatre was so supportive at the beginning, they guaranteed everything was all right and there would not be any problem. When I talked to the Ministry of Culture- I personally talked to him on Friday- he put it plainly that the Chinese ambassador had made him a visit insisting that these shows to be canceled and to not take place in Moldova. As I understood from the Theatre administration, they had also been visited by the Chinese ambassador, not only once, with the same request. But they kept on promising they would not fall prey the pressure from the embassy and they would respect a legally signed contract stipulated by the law of Republic of Moldova, to find ourselves now in the situation that they don’t want to answer my phonecalls. All the authorities are silent now as if nothing has happened, as if there have not been100 American citizens in front of the Theatre. It’s abnormal to behave like this with some foreign people who had been invited here and also have their own rights. It’s such a disgrace by those who were elected by us and we entrusted our fate in their hands.

We went in front of the presidency and the president told us he has nothing with breaking the show. So, I appeal to them once more: we can still stage the show in the Republic of Moldova. The troupe is still here. They did not come only to us, they are in an international tour in Europe.”

Man-yan Ng:

“And we were actually very encouraged to have the opportunity to have Shen Yun to come to Moldova. And unfortunatelly you have experienced that- there was no show in Moldova. I understand from the theatre management and also from the Ministry of Culture we’ve never received any expalnation why they never opened the door to the theatre. This is a sabotage from the Chinese communist regime through their different embassies in Europe. The Chinese regime doesn’t even allow Moldovan people to have the freedoom to choose whatever show they want to see.

Some people may not see such an event of stopping a show as a big thing, but this is totally ignoring the basic human rights and basic human dignity of people. And in its extention this can mean a lot of trouble for the people in Moldova, even to allow such things to continue to happen.”

INFOTAG News Agency report:

FALUN DAFA CERE EXPLICAŢII REFERITOR LA ACŢIUNILE ILEGALE ÎNTREPRINSE FAŢĂ DE TRUPA SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS

Asociaţia obştească Falun Dafa cere explicaţii de la Guvernul Moldovei referitor la acţiunile ilegale întreprinse faţă de trupa de actori Shen Yun Performing Arts din New York.

Directorul asociaţiei, Tatiana Chiriac, a menţionat joi, în cadrul unei conferinţe de presă la agenţia INFOTAG, că actorii au sosit la Chişinău pentru a prezenta în zilele de 25 şi 26 mai pe scena Teatrului Naţional de Operă şi Balet un spectacol de dans clasic chinez.

Potrivit ei, Falun Dafa a încheiat cu teatrul un contract privind arenda scenei pentru zilele de 25 şi 26 mai.

„Asociaţia a respectat condiţiile contractului, încă în ziua cînd urma să aibă loc spectacolul conducerea teatrului nu a permis actorilor să-şi aducă echipamentul şi să înceapă repetiţiile, iar ulterior a anulat spectacolul fără a aduce careva explicaţii. Am sunat la Ministerul Culturii, la teatru, dar aşa şi nu am reuşit să aflăm din ce cauză a fost anulat spectacolul. Ministrul culturii, Boris Focşa, care anterior a promis că ne va ajuta, „şi-a spălat mîinile”, a pus totul pe seama conducerii teatrului şi pretinde că nimic nu s-a întîmplat”, a comunicat Chiriac.

Potrivit ei, „anularea spectacolului este provocată de presiunile din partea Ambasadei Chinei de la Chişinău, dat fiind faptul că organizaţia Falun Dafa este interzisă în China, iar ambasadorul chinez s-a întîlnit în repetate rînduri cu ministrul culturii şi cu administraţia teatrului, cerînd să nu permită ca spectacolul să fie prezentat”.

Ea a îndemnat Guvernul Moldovei să nu permită Ambasadei Chinei să facă presiuni asupra Moldovei.

„Practicanţii Falun Dafa în Moldova împreună cu actorii au protestat timp de două zile la Guvern, însă nimeni nu a ieşit să vorbească cu noi. Ne e ruşine pentru ţara noastră. Au fost peste 100 de persoane cetăţeni străini, iar actorii sînt cetăţeni ai SUA, care au prezentat spectacolul în întreaga Europă. Este pentru prima dată, aici în Moldova, cînd nu li s-a permis nici chiar să intre în incinta teatrului. Nu am aşteptat aşa ceva de la Guvernul nostru”, a subliniat Chiriac.

Ea a spus că trupa de actori se vor afla în Moldova şi în ziua de vineri, de aceea nu este tîrziu ca spectacolul să fie prezentat.

„În urma acestei situaţii cel mai mult au avut de suferit spectatorii care au procurat bilete. Ei sînt dezamăgiţi. Ei nu pot înţelege cum este posibil aşa ceva în Moldova, ţară democratică. Ei nu ştiu pe cine să creadă. În Moldova sînt multe drepturi, însă pe hîrtie. În realitate drepturile omului nu se respectă”, susţine Chiriac.

Ea a menţionat că, dacă teatrul nu va îndeplini condiţiile contractului şi nu va permite prezentarea spectacolului, Falun Dafa îşi rezervă dreptul de a se adresa în instanţele de judecată.

„Vom acţiunea administraţia teatrului în judecată pentru încălcarea drepturilor noastre şi vom solicita achitarea unei pagube de $200 mii. Vom solicita ajutorul tuturor ONG-urilor din Moldova şi al organizaţiilor internaţionale pentru apărarea drepturilor omului. Sperăm că vom fi auziţi şi vom fi ajutaţi”, a spus Chiriac.

Preşedintele asociaţiei Falun Dafa în Europa, Mann-Yan Ng, este convins că „anume Ambasadei Chinei a fost cea care nu a permis desfăşurarea spectacolului, deoarece autorităţile din China au încercat în repetate rînduri şi în alte ţări din Europa să împiedice prezentarea acestui spectacol al trupei Shen Yun Performing Arts, aflată într-un turneu mondial”.

INFOTAG precizează: Falun Dafa este o metodă de autoperfecţionare a omului, la baza căreia se află principiul Adevăr-Bunătate-Toleranţă. În Moldova Falun Dafa se practică din anul 2006. În fiecare sîmbătă Asociaţia rădpîndeşte materiale informative în parcul central „Ştefan cel Mare” şi la Ambasada Chinei.

26 May 2010

Shen Yun performers in Moldova at showtime - on the theater steps instead of on stage

Watch TV report (in Romanian, translated transcript below)

0:08

The company Shen Yun received flowers from those who bought tickets for the show even if they couldn’t enjoy the artist’s performance. Tenths of people gathered in front of the National Theatre of Opera and Ballet are indignant especially because some of them came from abroad to participate in this cultural event.

0:25

“It’s very bad something like this happened. I want go to theatre to see the show, I don’t want politic here, also. ”

0: 35

“I took a leave and came especially for this show. I have to go back because I’ve already bought train tickets and I cannot come again. I feel like crying.”

0:45

“Music and dance have always been outside politics. I don’t know why in our country it’s the other way.”

0:52

The organizers of the show say that they will give money back to people if the show will not take place in the following days.

0:58

“In case the shows won’t take place, the theatre will be charged with all expenses, the moral damage- which is enormous- is also included. We’ll do our best to give people their money back.”

1:12

The show of the New York based company should have taken place at the beginning of this week. The organizers and the artists say they will come again in front of the Theatre of Opera and Ballet and hope they will manage to put Shen Yun show on stage.

Watch report (in Romanian, translated transcript below)

Report transcript:

0:08

Shen Yun show scheduled for May 25 and 26 may not take place. Many people who bought tickets for the show organized a peaceful protest in front of the Government building. They say that this interdiction come from the China embassy in Chisinau, who warned the administration of the National Theatre of Opera and Ballet not to present the show.

0:29

We bought tickets for the Shen Yun show that should have taken place at the National Theatre of Opera and Ballet, on 25 and 26 May. But out of unknown reasons we found out today that they want to cancel the show.

0:46

We are protesting here in front of the Government to support Shen Yun show. Under the pressure of the Chinese embassy there is the attempt to cancel the show.

0:57

The president of the Falun Dafa Association in Chisinau, Tatiana Chiriac, who is in charge with organizing the show is indignant of the behavior of the authorities in Chisinau. She mentioned that 60% of the tickets were sold.

1:10

Regretfully I reached the conclusion that I don’t understand what is the change in the Republic of Moldova? Do we go from a Moldovan communist regime to a Chinese communist regime? What is the change? From a regime to another? I am very disappointed.

1:24

The director of the Theatre, Valeria Seican, says that the Theatre of Opera and Ballet displays only good performances, with artistic value. At the same time, the Ministry of Culture, Boris Focsa, says that it’s not within the Ministry competence to deal with organizing such events.

1:39

(By telephone: Valeria Seican)  “First of all I want to say that the Theatre has the responsibility for the basic activity, which are shows of a high artistic value for us.”

1:48

(By telephone: Boris Focsa) “The Theatre of Opera is an economic agent. It has full rights to take decisions. We do not get involved, in fact the Ministry of Culture has no right to involve.”

2:00

Shen Yun show is organized by the company Shen Yun Performing Arts from New York. The program includes almost 20 dances and songs that evoke the traditions of the legendary history of China.

Censorship at Athens Concert Hall due to Cosco?

Created 26/05/2010 – 07:21

By Vasilis Kostoulas

Deliberate postponement of the performance Shen Yun, that among other presents human right abuses in China according to what its organizers say. The unexpected discontinuance of ticket sales happened at the same time with the visit in Athens of the President of the Chinese Company, Cosco (This Company is active in Piraeus port). Athens Concert Hall claimed the need to have their ventilation system in the particular Hall that will stage the show be persevered. Meanwhile the Hall emphasizes that it is not cancellation but postponement of the artistic event.

The performance Shen Yun is based on traditional Chinese dance. It consists of 20 self contained parts. In 2 of them the artists tell about persecutions that happen to an energy practice group in China. Shen Yun performance was scheduled to be presented on the 3^rd and 4^th of June in Hall Alexandra Triandi of Athens Concert Hall.

“On Friday the 21^st of May we got information that tickets sales has been discontinued by Wednesday morning”, said to tvxs.gr Mr. Kostas Tsolis, President of the non profit association Falun Dafa, that it is the presenting association in Greece. Mr Tsolis added that on the day of the postponement, a happening took place in Concert Hall in which the President of Cosco, seniors of the Chinese Company and Greek politicians participated. “Obviously it is not coincidental. In almost every country that has accommodated the show, an issue has arisen,” asserts and explains.

“As they say (Music Hall’s management) it’s about a technical problem in the particular Hall that has to be fixed in those days. However the five day conference that is scheduled for this week is not cancelled. “We shall take the risk” the president of the Music Hall said and on our part we ask why they don’t take the risk with our show too.”

The management of the Hall said that they discontinued ticket sales by way of precaution and that they didn’t inform us (the organizers) not to worry us because the matter wasn’t clear yet. They denied any interference to the show although at our meeting Mr. Manolopoulos rarely looked us straight in the eye and I could say that he was artfully calm. They told us to find new dates. In my opinion and I can say that I am certain that all these happen to avoid any issue to arise at the visit of the President of Cosco in Athens. The ticket sales have been discontinued by Wednesday morning, obviously on anticipation of his visit.”

“Despite the fact that the show has been met with the approval of the President, the Vice President and members of the European Parliament, the show internationally has met similar problems that are caused by the local Chinese embassies. In general those interferences have not succeeded but in Romania for example the performance has been canceled.” concludes Mr. Tsolis

Tvxs.gr communicated with the Press Office of Athens Concert Hall which answering to the relevant questions said: “Those particular performances happened the same days as the preservation in the ventilation system in the particular Hall should be done (1 to 7 June). The preservation wasn’t scheduled. This specific need occurred and that is the reason why we asked the organizers to change the dates. The whole issue is related to the postponement not to the cancellation of the performance. We don’t know exactly when the performance shall be staged because our program is very tight but certainly we shall take care of it. The performance is not connected to a political issue and even if it did on Concert Hall’s part there will be no problem.”

Published on TVXS.gr (http://tvxs.gr/node/59071)

THE CHINESE embassy in Dublin has circulated a letter to all foreign diplomatic missions in the city to “kindly remind” recipients not to attend a performance by a Falun Gong-linked performing arts company at the Grand Canal Theatre this weekend.

The New York-based Shen Yun company, due to perform two shows at the newly opened theatre tomorrow, bills its performances as a mix of traditional dance, mime and music. Most of the cast are members of the Falun Gong movement which is banned in China.

On the Grand Canal Theatre website, the show is described as “weaving a wondrous story of heavenly realms, enchanting dreams, and the classic struggle between good and evil . . . following the tragic erosion of traditional Chinese culture under decades of communist rule, [Shen Yun] endeavours to rediscover a lost artistic and cultural heritage”. According to reviews, the Shen Yun show also features scenes depicting the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners.

The Grand Canal Theatre website states that Shen Yun has performed to audiences totalling more than 800,000 people in 20countries across the world. This is its first show in Ireland.

Earlier this week, the Chinese embassy e-mailed a letter marked “urgent and important” to all embassies and consulates in Dublin. The letter, which has been obtained by The Irish Times , draws attention to Shen Yun’s links with Falun Gong and describes the latter as an “illegal” group. “The embassy kindly reminds you not to attend the show,” the letter, which was sent by ambassador Liu Biwei’s secretary, states.

According to the Shen Yun website, the Dublin performances are presented by the Irish Falun Dafa (Gong) Association. All inquiries related to the shows are directed to an Irish e-mail address.

[...]

A NEW York-based musician is appealling for help to find her husband who vanished as he boarded a flight from China to the United States amid fears he was seized for his Falungong beliefs.

Mei Xuan, who fled to the United States from China in 2007, said she went on February 18 to Newark Liberty International Airport to welcome her husband Jiang Feng who was due on a flight from Shanghai.

But he never arrived and phone calls went unanswered. Mei said she confirmed that the 42-year-old Jiang had checked in to the Continental Airlines flight and concluded that he disappeared between security and the boarding gate.

“I’m very, very worried for him,” Mei told AFP on a recent visit to Washington, where she was seeking help from lawmakers.

“Because we both practice Falungong, we have experienced this before and know they can just take you away,” she said. “I thought we could finally be together. We want to have a baby.”

Mei plays the erhu, a Chinese stringed instrument, in the Shen Yun ensemble, which incorporates Falungong themes. The troupe was recently in the spotlight when members said they were denied visas to perform in Hong Kong.

China outlawed Falungong — a spiritual movement loosely based on Buddhist, Taoist and Confucian philosophies – in 1999 following a silent mass gathering in Beijing by its members. China denounces the group as an “evil cult”.

The New York-based Falun Dafa Information Centre, which supports Falungong’s rights, said it had information that Jiang was taken to his native Anhui province where agents are trying to force him to renounce his beliefs.

Mei, who uses an alias for security reasons, said she and her husband suffered abuse in lengthy previous spells in detention.

In one incident, Mei said plain-clothes police shoved her into a car as she waited on the street for a taxi. She said she was then handcuffed to a chair and deprived of sleep for two and a half months.

“The only reason was because I practice Falungong,” she said. “I didn’t want to give up my beliefs so they just tortured me physically and mentally.”

“My feet were so swollen I couldn’t put on any shoes.”

The Falun Dafa Information Centre appealed for international pressure to ensure Jiang’s “immediate release and safe passage to the United States”.