Moldova’s JURNAL TV – “Chinese culture forbidden?”
Posted by admin in In the media on May 28th, 2010
Chinese business behind Greek censorship?
Posted by admin in In the media on May 27th, 2010
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 3rd and 4th of June in Hall Alexandra Triandi of Athens Concert Hall.
“On Friday the 21st 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)
Encouragement at EU
Flowers. Hugs. A letter from the EU to the PRC embassy – that’s how our Belgium run ended today in Louvain-La-Neuve.
Earlier this morning, our erhu virtuoso, Mei Xuan, and I visited the European Parliament to seek support for her husband, Jiang Feng. Jiang disappeared in China while boarding a flight in Shanghai on his (luckless) way to reunite with his wife in New Jersey. Mei Xuan believes he was abducted by secret 6-10 Office agents with the purpose of pressuring her to stop performing with Shen Yun.
We were warmly received by three people who are dedicating their careers to fighting for the rights of people they will probably never meet. They listened to Mei Xuan’s story –
how she and her husband were arrested when the persecution of Falun Gong first began; how he had been jailed for three years and, days before his release, she was picked up off the street and sentenced to four years; how she had been handcuffed to a chair for 75 days and not allowed to sleep; how she was tortured and knocked unconscious many times; how she saw her friends die in prison one after another; how she had escaped to the United States; how she and her husband, married for over ten years, had only been given a chance to spend a few months together; how they were to be reunited; how he disappeared, and how worried she is about him now, because she knows what they do to Falun Gong practitioners.
And when she was done with the basics, they simply told us – we would like to write a letter to the Chinese authorities about this case. We will draft it this afternoon.
We invited them to see our last performance in Louvain-La-Neuve, just outside Brussels, that night and rushed to the theater.
Mei Xuan played beautifully. She always does – an amazing feat considering she has no idea where her husband is and whether, while she is in the spotlight on the world’s most famous stages, her husband is under the interrogation lamp being tortured for a false confession.
But maybe it was something about having spent the day with her, translating her story, that made her moving music that much more stirring. Even the silent pauses between her notes were charged with conviction. The applause roared as she finished her own composition: “The Calling.”
Right after the show, at 11:00 pm, a security worker approached me backstage saying three people were waiting for Mei Xuan. As we worked our way around the curtain to the audience we saw our new friends with a beautiful bouquet of flowers. On top of the flowers was an envelope with a copy of the letter that they had already sent to the PRC Ambassador to the EU.
No one seemed wiling to part – they were touched by Mei Xuan and Mei Xuan was touched by their compassion and encouragement.
I must also mention that, while I didn’t have the honor to meet the representative, someone from Amnesty International also presented Mei Xuan with a flower bouquet at that how. Amnesty had just issued an “urgent action” about her husband’s case. The card on Amnesty’s flowers read: “We fully support you.”
Here’s a copy of the letter from the Chairwoman of the European Union’s Subcommittee on Human Rights Ms. Heidi Ms Hautala.
From the Chairwoman of European Parliament Subcommittee on Human Rights Ms Heidi Hautala
Posted by admin in Letters and support on May 11th, 2010
Ms Hautala wrote on 11 May a letter to the Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to the EU expressing concern over the disappearance of Mr Jiang Feng.
Dear Ambassador,
I am writing to you concerning the treatment of Mr Jiang Feng.
On 18 February 2010, Mr Jiang Feng travelled to Shanghai’s Pudong International Airport aiming to board Continental Airlines Flight #CO86 to Newark, U.S.A, where his wife was scheduled to meet him.
Inquiries with the Continental Airline confirmed that Mr Jiang Feng did not board the plane and his luggage was removed from the aircraft because he never arrived at the gate, although his friends witnessed him pass through security checkpoint. He did not call back to his wife and friends and his mobile phone has gone unanswered.
Given Mr Jiang’s past imprisonment for practicing Falung Gong, it is widely believed that Mr Jiang Feng was abducted by security agents and is being interrogated and abused in custody.
Dear Mr. Ambassador, I would therefore be grateful if you could inform your authorities of my strong interest in the situation of Mr Jiang Feng. In this context I would very much hope that his right to freedom of movement be fully respected permitting him to reunite with his wife and family.
I have informed Mr Jerzy Buzek, the President of the European Parliament and Mr Crescienzio Rivellini, Chairman of the European Parliament delegation for relations with China, of this letter so that this matter can be discussed in the framework of our well established inter parliamentary relations including the hearing on human rights in China the Subcommittee on Human Rights will organise on 15 July 2010.
Yours sincerely,
Heidi Hautala
Amnesty International URGENT ACTION – arrest of Shen Yun artists’s husband
Posted by admin in Letters and support on May 11th, 2010
AI URGENT ACTION FALUN GONG PRACTITIONER MISSING IN CHINA
Falun Gong practitioner Jiang Feng went missing in Shanghai on 18 February and is believed to be detained by the Chinese authorities. He is at risk of torture and other ill-treatment.
On 18 February, Jiang Feng went missing at Shanghai’s Pudong International Airport. He checked in for his flight to New York, but never boarded the flight. Airline staff said he was taken away by public security officials after passing through the security check point. The authorities have not told Jiang Feng’s family where he is held, and their efforts to obtain information from police in Shanghai about his whereabouts have failed. Friends in China believe he may have been taken to his home city of Hefei in Anhui province, hundreds of kilometres from Shanghai.
Jiang Feng had previously been imprisoned for three years from 1999 to 2002 for his Falun Gong spiritual practice. When he went missing, he was on his way to join his wife, Mei Xuan, a musician with the New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts group. She fled to the United States in 2006, following her release from four years’ imprisonment in China for practising Falun Gong. Jiang Feng may have been detained in order to pressure her to cease her involvement with the Shen Yun Performing Arts group, as some of the group’s performances includes artistic representations of the persecution of the Falun Gong.
PLEASE WRITE IMMEDIATELY in English, Chinese or your own language:
Urging the authorities to reveal Jiang Feng’s whereabouts;
Calling for his immediate release unless charged with an internationally recognized crime;
Calling for a guarantee that he will not be tortured or otherwise ill-treated while he remains in custody.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 21 JUNE 2010 TO:
Director of the Anhui Provincial Department of Public Security
XU Liquan Tingzhang
Anhuisheng Gong’anting
282 Anqinglu
Hefeishi 230061
Anhuisheng
People’s Republic of China
Fax: +86 551 2801208
Salutation: Dear Director
Director of the Hefei City Public Security Bureau
Shouqunlu 290
Hefeishi 230041
Anhuisheng
People’s Republic of China
Salutation: Dear Director
And copies to:
Minister of Public Security of the People’s Republic of China
MENG Jianzhu Buzhang
Gong’anbu
14 Dongchang’anjie
Dongchengqu
Beijingshi 100741
People’s Republic of China
Salutation: Dear Minister
Also send copies to diplomatic representatives of China accredited to your country. Please check with your section office if sending appeals after the above date.
Copy of Oblconcerteservice Odessa cancellation letter (translation forthcoming)
Posted by admin in Letters and support on May 4th, 2010
Irish Times: Embassy warns diplomats of Falun Gong-linked stage show
Posted by admin in In the media on March 27th, 2010
MARY FITZGERALD Foreign Affairs Correspondent
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.
[...]
AFP: Man vanishes before boarding flight
Posted by admin in In the media on March 13th, 2010
AFP March 11, 2010 10:42am
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”.
Our erhu player’s husband abducted in China
I’ve known erhu player Mei Xuan for three years – we’ve spent much of that time touring together with Shen Yun Performing Arts. Those who have seen her perform will remember that she plays the two-stringed erhu with tremendous emotional depth. Perhaps some of it stems from she has been through – Mei Xuan, a Falun Gong practitioner, spent spent four years as a prisoner of conscience in China. But her suffering doesn’t end there.
The persecution of her faith has also forced her to be separated from her husband of ten years. Late at night, after our shows, you could often find Mei Xuan sitting alone in the hotel lobby, calling her husband back in China. Until now.
Last Thursday, her husband checked in at Shanghai’s Pudong Airport, ready to board a flight for Newark, NJ, to be reunited with his wife. He passed through security and disappeared. He never made it on the plane. Airport employees suggested he was taken by the 6-10 Office, the special police force running the persecution of Falun Gong.
The View – Shen Yun and Beijing’s interference with the show mentioned briefly
Posted by admin in In the media on February 18th, 2010