Who's afraid of Shen Yun?

While traveling with the company from Auckland, New Zealand to Sydney, Australia, Shen Yun dancer (name available upon request) who is a PRC citizen with a U.S. green card and U.S.-issued travel document, was denied a boarding pass at the airport. The airline (Qantas) then checked with an immigration officer in Canberra, Australia, and the explanation given was that her travel document appeared in the system as “reported lost or stolen.” This in spite of the fact that she had been able to enter New Zealand three days prior on the same travel document.

Neither the dancer nor anyone in the company had reported her document as stolen or lost—it was with her the entire trip. After multiple conversations and inquiries by US consulates and immigration authorities in New Zealand, Australia, the United States, and Thailand, no plausible explanation could be given other than someone had entered the system and changed her travel document’s status over the previous several days.

Why was she, specifically, targeted?

One explanation is that her father had just come out of China five weeks prior after spending 12 years jailed as a prisoner of conscience. The incident of her travel document denial took place days after her father visited Washington, DC to tell people about his story, and the very next day after his story was published on a Chinese dissident blog.

Could someone on the inside have done this as an agent of the PRC?

According to an investigation, the Chinese Ambassador to Spain has admitted pressuring the Royal Theater in Madrid to cancel the show. In a recorded, investigative phone call, the Ambassador spoke of personally visiting Royal Theater to convey the message. The shows were subsequently canceled.

Just weeks before Shen Yun was set to perform for the first time in Madrid, the shows were suddenly canceled. The theater claimed the cancelation was due to “technical difficulties,” but organizers said that’s the excuse usually given whenever the Chinese embassy is the real reason.

With three performances scheduled Jan. 31-Feb. 2, the Royal Theater director sent a letter on Jan. 7 canceling the shows. The explanation given was that there was an “unavoidable artistic needs of the stage space” for a production of Das Rheingold. However, that production was already scheduled when the contracts with Shen Yun were signed and it was not perceived to be a problem then.

In a press release, Shen Yun’s local presenter, Puro Arte Humano, said it was confident “the Chinese Embassy has pressured the Madrid Coliseum to achieve the cancellation of the show, something that they already tried in Barcelona without success in 2014.”

This turned out to be the case. On Jan. 22, the World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong (WOIPFG) placed a call to the Chinese Embassy in Spain. The investigator used a tactic WOIPFG had successfully developed while investigating organ harvesting in China, and posed as a high-ranking CCP official calling for information. He got through to the Ambassador.

On the other end of the line, the person identified himself as PRC Ambassador Lü Fan, according to a press release issued by WOIPFG, which includes a recording of the call. The Ambassador then went on to describe how he had succeeded in talking the theater manager into canceling the Shen Yun shows.

The theater manager initially resisted but Ambassador Lü insisted, according to the recording.

“I told him not to think only about the economic income but also politics,” the Ambassador reportedly said. “When you work with China by signing the ‘International League of Theaters of the Silk Road,’ you have a great potential in the Chinese market.”

Some 900 tickets had already been sold at the time the shows were canceled.

Shen Yun’s mission is to revive the essence of 5,000 years of divinely inspired traditional Chinese culture, arts, and values, which have been largely destroyed in China under communist rule.

In ancient times, China was known as the Land of the Divine. Everyone, from emperors to the common people, believed that their culture was a gift from heaven. They lived in harmony with the universe, believed in the oneness of heaven, earth, and humankind, and saw a connection among all things. People believed that good would be rewarded and evil would be punished, valued virtue in everything they did. Traditional Chinese culture embraced these principles for thousands of years.

But the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) advocates struggle against nature and man. It sees this culture as a threat to its power, and for decades it has tried to destroy it, or sometimes co-opt it, and replace it with its own communist culture. It nearly succeeded.

Today, although one can still find traces of traditional Chinese culture in mainland China, it is no longer mainstream and the underlying spiritual essence is mostly lost. Many consider today’s China as a country without a soul, a society with degenerated moral standards. The persecution of Falun Gong, a Buddha school qigong practice deeply rooted in traditions of spiritual self-cultivation, is yet another episode in Beijing’s ongoing war against traditional Chinese culture.

Each Shen Yun show includes about 20 numbers, mostly depicting ancient legends and folk dances. In each performance, there are a couple of dance pieces that also depict the persecution of Falun Dafa in China. As Shen Yun revives traditional Chinese culture, Shen Yun artists also want to help audiences understand how traditional culture was destroyed, and to demonstrate the sacrifices of those who are reviving that lost culture today.

While the persecution serves as context, what is typically highlighted in those two dance pieces is the power of the human spirit, compassion, courage, and desire for freedom in the face of adversity. Many audience members report finding these pieces especially touching and inspiring. This may not be surprising, as tales of the human spirit overcoming adversity have long been a favorite topic in art, film, and drama in the West. In one prominent example, the musical The Sound of Music features the von Trapp family’s escape to freedom from Nazi persecution.

Dual Fears

Despite Shen Yun’s international acclaim, Beijing has felt threatened by it for two reasons.

1. The CCP fears its persecution against Falun Gong will become more widely known.

The regime has invested significant resources to prevent information about Falun Gong and the abuse suffered by practitioners, including deaths in custody, from reaching Chinese and international audiences. Academic and NGO studies consistently report Falun Gong being among the most censored topics in China and a common trigger for government reprisals against foreign media.

2. Shen Yun’s success undermines CCP efforts to legitimize its rule via a monopoly on Chinese culture.

The Communist regime has been telling the Chinese people for years that there is no China without the Communist Party. So much so that they associate the Chinese government with the concept of China.

Clearly this is false. China has thousands of years of history without communism. But the government has staked its legitimacy on Chinese people believing that it is the protector of Chinese culture. As part of that, China has been sending art troupes abroad to perform.

These programs have been greatly outshined by the success of Shen Yun. Why do some Chinese fly to the United States to see Shen Yun? Because they cannot see it, or anything like it, in China. Shen Yun’s success outside of China demonstrates to Chinese people that the true essence of Chinese culture is not something the Communist Party can give them.

One top art official in China even begrudgingly acknowledged the success and high caliber of Shen Yun’s performances, and accused the government of ruining Chinese culture. His comments were reported in a 2013 South China Morning Post article, titled, “State-funded arts troupes fail to shine against Falun Gong rivals abroad.[1]“ This makes it hard for the CCP to claim it is the guardian of Chinese civilization and the legitimate ruler of China.

CCP Tactics

The CCP has tried every possible means to sabotage Shen Yun shows. This website has documented at least 70 incidents in 25 countries.[2] The tactics used range from cyber-attacks against Shen Yun’s ticketing website, to hiring local thugs to slash Shen Yun’s bus tires, to mobilizing online commenters to post negative reviews about Shen Yun. They even organize people to pose as Falun Gong practitioners to send letters to theaters with delirious, nonsensical content in order to give the venues a negative impression of Shen Yun and Falun Gong.

In January 2017, China Daily paid inserts in several major newspapers, including the Wall Street Journal,[3] the Washington Post,[4] the Telegraph in U.K., and Fairfax Media in Australia, all carried an article attacking Shen Yun.

The CCP also uses economic interests to seduce or threaten foreign governments in an attempt to cancel Shen Yun’s performing contracts at state-owned or affiliated venues. This has occurred in Greece, South Korea,[5] Ecuador, Thailand, Vietnam, Hong Kong,[6] Russia, and Ukraine,[7] causing significant financial losses to Shen Yun.

Chinese embassies and consulates are also known to have harassed Shen Yun and pressured theaters not to sign a contract with Shen Yun or to cancel existing ones in many other countries,[8] including Japan,[9] France, Belgium, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, England, Ireland, Scotland, Romania,[10] Moldova,[11] Czech, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Malaysia, as well as in cities throughout the United States.

In this context, Shen Yun has recently encountered difficulties securing the opportunity to perform at opera houses in some European countries. These opera houses, which are most suitable for the Shen Yun performances both in terms of their reputation and stage requirements, are all state-owned or affiliated.

[1] South China Morning Post: State-funded arts troupes fail to shine against Falun Gong rivals abroad

[2] See Incidents and Evidence

[3] The Epoch Times: Paid Insert in Wall Street Journal Carries Chinese Propaganda

[4] The Epoch Times: Washington Post: Arm of Beijing’s Grand Propaganda Strategy?

[5] The Diplomat: The Long Arm of Chinese Censorship Reaches South Korea

[6] U.S. State Department Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2012: China

[7] U.S. State Department 2010 International Religious Freedom Report: Ukraine

[8] U.S. State Department 2015 Report on International Religious Freedom: China

[9] U.S. State Department 2012 International Religious Freedom Report: Japan

[10] U.S. State Department 2010 International Religious Freedom Report: Romania

[11] U.S. State Department 2010 International Religious Freedom Report: Moldova

Just weeks before Shen Yun is set to perform for the first time in Madrid, the shows were suddenly canceled. The theater claims the cancellation is due to “technical difficulties,” but organizers say that’s the excuse usually given whenever the Chinese embassy is the real reason.

With three performances scheduled January 31 – February 2, the Royal Theater director sent a letter canceling the shows on January 7. The explanation given was that there was an “unavoidable artistic needs of the stage space” for a production of Das Rheingold. However, that production was already scheduled when the contracts with Shen Yun were signed and it was not perceived to be a problem then.

In a press release, Shen Yun’s local presenter, Â Puro Arte Humano, said it was confident “the Chinese Embassy has pressured the Madrid Coliseum to achieve the cancellation of the show, something that they already tried in Barcelona without success in 2014.”

Update: PRC Ambassador caught on tape boasting about how he got the shows canceled.

In March 2018 Shen Yun performed in Israel for the first time. Leading up to the shows at the prestigious Tel Aviv Opera House, the Chinese embassy tried to cancel the performances and, when that failed, to limit Shen Yun’s advertising.

The Chinese embassy directly contacted the Opera House manager to request the show’s cancellation. The embassy also exerted force through the Tel Aviv municipality as well as the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Billboard companies that ran Shen Yun ads received letters from the Chinese embassy asking them to remove the ads.

In spite of these pressures, the performances took place and were extremely successful. All four shows and the 6,000 tickets were sold out as Israel’s cultural and artistic elite in attendance went on record speaking of how moved and inspired they were by Shen Yun.

Shen Yun Debut’s in Israel! (Shen Yun website)

Video: Sold-out Shows in Tel Aviv

Why is someone affiliated with the People’s Liberation Army buying Westminster Choir College in Princeton?

New York Times – For Sale: Small Music College, Beloved by Some, Future Uncertain

According to a report in the London Guardian, the Royal Court Theatre canceled its production of Pah-La, a production about the stories of Tibetans in Dharmsala. Although the theater claimed the cancellation was due to financial reasons, it turns out the British Council had told the theater to stop the production because it jeopardized British-Chinese projects. Following the exposure, the theater issued a formal apology and announced its plans to put the play back on in 2019.

A report in Freedom House’s China Media Bulletin (official website) makes the obvious connection:

“Such efforts by Beijing to stifle theatrical productions it deems objectionable are not uncommon, as indicated by dozens of instances of pressure surrounding Shen Yun, a New York–based classical Chinese dance show that tours internationally and includes pieces related to the persecution of Falun Gong and historical events like the Cultural Revolution.”

The Guardian: Royal Court dropped Tibet play after advice from British Council

China Media Bulletin: UK theater hid reasons for pulling Tibet play

An article in Canada’s National Post about a confidential report submitted to the federal government details how Beijing harasses Chinese activists of all colors in Canada.

“They said if this (critical) story comes out in the Canadian press, then you are responsible for the life of your relatives,” one activist is quoted as saying.

According to the article, “Targets include Canadian representatives of what the Chinese sometimes call the five ‘poisons’: the Uyghur Muslim minority, independence-minded Tibetans, Taiwanese, democracy advocates and, especially, the Falun Gong.’

“Over the last decade or so, city councilors, mayors and other politicians have certainly tried to quash Falun Gong commemorative events or protests, often under pressure from local Chinese consulates.”

The forms of harassment mentioned in this article – be it pressuring elected officials, threatening the families of overseas activists, or sending nutso emails – or the exact same ones the Chinese Communist Party has been targeting Shen Yun the last 13 years.

Full article: https://nationalpost.com/news/world/confidential-report-reveals-how-chinese-officials-harass-activists-in-canada-there-is-a-consistent-pattern

According to a report in Danish media, the Chinese Embassy in Copenhagen asked the Royal Danish Theater to again not allow Shen Yun to perform there. The theater has refused to rent to Shen Yun for ten years.

In 2007, local presenters almost succeeded in booking the Royal Theater for Shen Yun before a last-minute cancellation. While the original explanation was logistical reasons, it was later reported in Danish media that the Chinese Embassy had complained about Shen Yun’s scheduled performance at a meeting with the Danish Foreign Ministry. The performances were canceled shortly after.

A mail correspondence between two theater employees obtained by Danish radio revealed what had happened in 2017. This is what the theater employee wrote:

“In August 2017 I met with the Chinese Embassy Cultural Department, as they are considering renting the theater to hold Chinese New Year in February 2018. They ended the meeting by asking if we were in dialogue with Shen Yun, and requested that we not allow them to rent our facilities.”

Danish media report