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?”

中國問題專家章天亮博士

視頻節目： http://www.ntdtv.com/xtr/b5/2010/07/01/a412547.html#video

【新唐人2010年7月1日訊】美國首都華盛頓的神韻主辦方週三在國會特別舉辦研討會，介紹神韻巡演的盛況，同時曝光及譴責中共用外交手段和海外特務，干擾神韻演出的犯罪行為。出席者包括神韻藝術團代表、美國神韻演出舉辦方代表、國會議員助理及人權組織代表。

美國神韻巡迴藝術團團長李維娜：「我們去了16個國家，22個城市，表演了58場。」

在美國國會內舉辦的研討會上，三位剛剛結束歐洲巡演、回到美國的神韻藝術家，介紹了他們今年在歐洲巡迴的盛況。

美國神韻巡迴藝術團主持人林理善：「觀眾們起立鼓掌，有好幾個城市甚至謝幕六、七次，有的地方爆滿，還有的賣站票。」

就在神韻風靡全球的同時，中共卻一直通過各種手段，干擾破壞神韻演出。

林理善：「我們現在面對的干擾破壞方式主要有三種。第一種是我們在東歐遇到的。」

今年中共干擾神韻的手段主要是通過外交和經濟方式，向各國政府、劇院施壓，綁架神韻藝術家的家屬，和假冒法輪功學員名義向劇院和觀眾寫威脅信。

中國問題專家章天亮博士認為，這是中共對神韻新一波的干擾。

中國問題專家章天亮博士：「在全世界各地突然、同時地出現，這絕對不是一個個人的行為。」

作為一場純藝術性的表演，為何中共要使盡卑劣手段進行破壞呢﹖

章天亮博士：「當人們看到神韻演出時，中共在過去六十年竭力製造的黨文化就會一夜之間解體。這就是為甚麼他們這麼害怕。」

針對中共的干擾，神韻演出主辦方已經把事件報告美國聯邦調查局(FBI)立案調查。

新澤西神韻主辦方代表區女士：「我們也去報了FBI，他們對這個事情很重視。他們表示要深入調查這個事件。」

新唐人記者王凱迪美國首都華盛頓報導。

【大纪元7月2日讯】（大纪元记者亦平美国华盛顿DC报导）2010年6月30日下午，美国华府神韵演出主办机构在美国国会众议院朗沃斯办公大楼 （Longworth Building）举办研讨会，揭露中共在世界各地破坏神韵演出的种种卑劣手段。美国多个城市的剧院方或演出主办单位已将中共干扰破坏神韵演出的证据上报 美国联邦调查局（FBI），FBI立案并展开调查。

中共在北美给剧院发匿名信 FBI展开调查

神韵巡回艺术团主持人林理善说，中共使馆发送信件给政府官员、剧院、以及媒体，向他们施压，企图阻止神韵演出，但大多都未能得逞。在美国阿肯色州小石城，剧院经理收到中共驻休斯顿领事馆的抹黑神韵的信件，剧院方将该信上报FBI，这是美国剧院受到骚扰后的常见反应。

MELLY AU讲述中共给美国新泽西州新布朗士维克市（New Brunswick）州立大剧院（State Thestre）发信施压（摄影：李莎/大纪元）

MELLY AU作为证人讲述了今年六月在美国新泽西州新布朗士维克市（New Brunswick）州立大剧院（State Thestre）的神韵演出前夕，中共特务冒充法轮功学员给剧院总裁等写信，故意用很玄乎的口气，威胁要剧院配合做一些事情等。意图是让美国这家剧院的总 裁等负责人认为法轮功学员“不正常”，从而拒绝让神韵在该剧院演出。

美国新泽西神韵演出主办单位–新泽西法轮大法协会将此案上报FBI， 主办方负责人Tom Liang 说：“FBI官员非常关注此案，和我们谈了一个半小时，让我们提供越多细节越好，那位官员还把他的私人名片留给我们，让我们有什么情况随时告诉他，看得 出，FBI官员很想了解这一系列的情况。”

MELLY AU说：“这起事件过后，我们才得知在罗德岛、旧金山、达拉斯、休斯顿、诺瓦克等城市，承办神韵演出的剧院几乎都是在同一时间收到内容如出一辙的骚扰信件，但中共的伎俩都没能得逞。”

研讨会主持人（摄影：李莎/大纪元）

中共以经济利益胁迫民主国家

神 韵巡回艺术团主持人林理善说，今年五月，东欧前共产党国家摩尔多瓦政府受中共胁迫而由剧院单方面取消了神韵演出。另外，中共政权还用商业和经济利益胁迫的 方式逼迫民主国家政府放弃他们的原则。原计划于6月3日和4日在雅典音乐厅的Alexandra Trianti Hall举行的神韵晚会，两周前由于剧院方称出现技术故障而被无限期推迟。这个事件意外的与中远公司总裁在雅典访问同一时间发生。

林理善说，除了采用上述手段外，中共还骚扰和恐吓神韵演员的家属。

神韵巡回艺术团的二胡演奏家美旋在美国国会举办的研讨会上讲述先生江峰被中共绑架﹑判刑的经历。（摄影：李莎/大纪元）

神韵二胡演奏家美旋的丈夫在上海机场秘密绑架案

神 韵巡回艺术团的二胡演奏家美旋也参加了在美国国会举办的研讨会，她讲述了她的先生江峰在来美国上飞机前夕（行李已经托运上机），江峰在登机前夕在上海虹桥 机场突然被中共国安秘密绑架，随后被判18个月劳教。她说：“我现在非常担心江峰的安全，因为我和他都曾经被中共多次绑架过，也知道中国劳教所、监狱和洗 脑班的邪恶，我们也受过很多酷刑折磨。”

美旋讲述了她在欧洲巡回演出之余营救先生的经历，得知她的遭遇后，很多人都难过落泪。联合国酷刑专员、强迫失踪专案组官员、英国国际大赦总部官员、欧盟人权委员会主席以及很多欧盟官员等很多素不相识的人都向她提供帮助和支持。

美旋说：“我和江峰将近11年没见面了，我现在特别想念他，希望能得到美国政府的帮助，要求中共无条件释放我先生。”

中共破坏反映其恐惧和自卑

中国问题专家、美国乔治梅森大学教授章天亮博士曾总结了中共干扰神韵的九大阴招，包括破坏演员乘坐的巴士，试图制造交通事故；偷盗票款、干扰热线；给主办剧场施压；冒充观众抱怨演出内容等。

章天亮认为，这种见不得人的伎俩其实反映出中共深深的恐惧和自卑。中共恐惧的是在欧、美、澳、亚上流社会风靡的神韵让中共在海外苦心经营的对法轮功的谣言烟消云散，对比出中共党文化的低俗与丑陋。中共自卑的则是，它们无论如何拿不出任何能与神韵“争夺观众”的演出。

中国问题专家﹑美国乔治梅森大学教授章天亮博士认为﹐中共采用这些见不得人的伎俩破坏神韵演出﹐反映出中共深深的恐惧和自卑。（摄影：李莎/大纪元）

神韵风靡全球

神韵巡回艺术团团长李维娜女士说：“从今年三月，神韵巡回艺术团到欧洲巡回演出，在16个国家的22个城市演出58场，虽然经历了漫长的旅途，但是我们的演出很成功。”

神韵巡回艺术团主持人林理善说：“在大多数城市，我们看到观众长时间起立热烈鼓掌喝彩， 在一些城市演出结束后谢幕六、七次，观众爆满，还有的剧院卖了站票，观众中有很多社会名流和政府官员。”

林理善说，神韵艺术团三个演出团今年在全世界一百多个城市已演出大约350场。

http://epochtimes.com/gb/10/7/1/n2953697.htm

In her letter, Ms. Hautala wrote: “it is widely believed that Mr Jiang Feng was abducted by security agents and is being interrogated and abused in custody.”

In reply, the PRC Ambassador to the EU, Song Zhe, confirmed that Jiang had been jailed. An excerpt from his letter reads:

The rest of Song Zhe’s letter goes on about Chinese rule of law and there being “no basis to the so-called claim that Jiang is ’subject to abuse’.” Jiang had previously been imprisoned for three years and Mei Xuan for four. Both had been tortured regularly throughout their imprisonment.

This was the first word of Jiang’s whereabouts in nearly three months since his February 18 disappearance. PRC authorities did not even notify his family and Mei Xuan had to find out where her husband is through the European Parliament.

Through the assistance of kindhearted people, Mei Xuan has since learned that Jiang Feng is being held in the Number 3 Brigade of the Anhui Xuancheng Forced Labor Camp. In this camp prisoners work in a coal mine as de facto slaves. Now, in addition to torture, brainwashing classes, and exhaustion, Jiang Feng faces the dangers of China’s most fatal profession.

Hon. David Kilgour is a Canadian former Secretary of State for Asia Pacific, Parliament Member, and lawyer. He has long been dedicated to the cause of human rights around the world and China, in particular, and is co-author of Bloody Harvest: The Killing of Falun Gong for their Organs.

Below is his letter to the Moldovan parliament following the cancellation of Shen Yun’s performances in Chisinau

Scrisoare deschisa Membrilor Parlamentului din Republica Moldova

---

HON. DAVID KILGOUR
OTTAWA, CANADA
Re: Spectacolele SHEN YUN 2010 in Chisinau

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.

Four hours later we headed to the theater to setup for the show that night. But at 8am, when we arrived at the backstage entrance with the truck ready to offload, we were stopped at the door. “You are not allowed in.” “ There is no show.”

We waited for the theater director, Valeri Sircanu, who had told us the show would take place in spite of the pressures, to arrive. Sircanu, a young woman dressed in a pinstripe business suit pulled up in her Audi, brushed past us and darted into the hallway, shooing away our approaches with a flip of her hand behind her back as she disappeared into the theater. A few moments later she came out, rushed into her Audi and screeched away. She never returned, but in her stead came security guards who locked the door.

Hosting organization representative Tatiana Chiriac trying to enter the theater according to Shen Yun 's contract to perform there on May 25 (photo courtesy of Annie Li)

The backstage entrance had probably never seen such action before. Tatiana Chiriac, head of our hosting organization, the Moldova Falun Dafa Association, and a former judge showed up. She asked for an explanation why her contract with the theater was reneged. None was given. ProTV, Publika TV, and other media started piling in. They interviewed Shen Yun performers, but were also blocked at the theater door.

ProTV interview Shen Yun dancer Jessica Quach behind the National Theater's backstage entrance (photo by Annie Li)

This scene carried on into the afternoon and then approached showtime. At 6:45pm, when dancers usually finish the pre-show warm-up and go change into their bright costumes, when the musicians usually change into their tuxedos and black skirts, when backstage usually vibrates with our sopranos’ voices – we stood silently on the front steps of the square Soviet-style theater looking out at the plaza in front of us in the heart of the capital.

Shen Yun performers on the theater's footsteps at showtime (photo by Annie Li)

Hundreds of audience members, elegantly dressed as you would for a night at the nation’s opera house started pouring in. A boy wearing a vest and little bowtie looked confused. A woman who took a 30-hour train from Moscow was holding back tears.

The hosting organization held a makeshift press conference, their volunteers, who also came from Romania, Ukraine, and Belarus, held banners with still-fresh paint that protested the Moldovan theater and government giving in to pressure from the Chinese embassy.

Hosting organization holds a makeshift press conference with Shen Yun performers in the background on the theater footsteps (photo by Annie Li)

As audience members began figuring out what was going on, they came up to our dancers with bouquets bought at a flower market several blocks away.

(photo by Annie Li)

(photo by Annie Li)

Some ticket-holders rounded the corner to the box office and asked for a refund. As you see in the photo, it was impolitely refused.

Ticket office (photo by Annie Li)

Almost an identical scene repeated the following day, with audience members taking the microphone to vent their frustration. This time, the ticket office was locked. A sign had been put up – the theater holds no responsibility for refunding tickets. If you want your money back, contact the hosting organization representative (the one who was the victim of breech of contract), Tatiana Chiriac; here’s her phone number.

From the information I’ve been able to gather so far from meeting with a Moldovan government representative and from media interviews, here’s what appears to have happened:

-       The director of the National Theater, Valerie Sircanu, revealed that she had received daily visits from the Chinese embassy. She admitted this on several occasions, although later, on live television, she denied ever being contacted by the Chinese authorities.

-       The Ministry of Culture sent a letter to the theater director recommending that they cancel the show. On the same live talk show with Jurnal TV, the minister himself denied any Chinese authorities involvement.

-       A Foreign Ministry representative, who had served with the Moldovan embassy in Beijing, instructed the theater director that it was the ministry’s position that the show should be canceled.

-       The Chinese embassy also visited the mayor’s office to ask them not to support Shen Yun.

Oh, did I mention that last July the PRC promised Moldova a $1 billion loan (Reuters article)? At the time of the show’s cancellation, the Moldovan government is still eagerly waiting the check to come in.

It appears that at our press event in front of the theater we also had a few friends of the Chinese Communist Party eager to make a good impression. Take a look at these two photos – the second taken an instant after they realized we were photographing them. The photo is a little blurry, but you get the idea.

(photo by Annie Li)

(photo by Annie Li)

See Moldova’ Jurnal TV report here.