Who's afraid of Shen Yun?

In a new form of propaganda, China Daily, the official English mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party, inserts paid ads that look like normal articles in newspapers around the world. The article title calls Shen Yun “A Blasphemy That Masquerades as Art” and, most disturbingly, appears to the undiscerning eye as a regular article written by the newspaper. Therefore, while it gives the normal party line attacking Shen Yun and Falun Gong, it appears to be written by the esteemed Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, or London Telegraph, to name just a few of the papers who carried this paid insert.

The scale of this blitz is still being uncovered, with media as far as Melbourne Australia and Nashville Tennessee reportedly carrying the identical ad.

The insert is published under the heading China Watch; it appears like a special topic section of the newspaper, with only fine print identifying it as paid content. This media business practice has been called into question for being ethically problematic by publications from The Atlantic on the left to Life Site on the right.

Russia (with the insert titled “Russia Now”) and China are the main sources of such content in an uptick in the production of propaganda for foreign consumption.

According to Cliff Kincaid, director of Accuracy In Media‘s Center for Investigative Journalism, Washington Post owners and editors “are lending their logo to this foreign propaganda,” adding that “If you didn’t know where this comes from, it looks like a regular newspaper.” (quote source)

More:

The Atlantic: Official Chinese Propaganda: Now Online from the WaPo!

The Washington Free Beacon: The China Shills

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

New Tang Dynasty TV news report (Chinese): 中共喉舌攻擊神韻

Opinion: ‘Advertising that’s not worth the human cost’

The PRC’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations sent a letter addressed to “all Permanent and Observer Missions to the Union Nations.” This two-page letter (copy available upon request), bearing China’s UN Mission official stamp claimed that Shen Yun and Falun Gong “harms society and violates human rights.” This letter, sent about five weeks ahead of Shen Yun’s performances at Lincoln Center, told other countries’ UN missions to “remind their diplomats and staff not to support or attend the [Shen Yun] show.”

Shen Yun was scheduled to perform in Thailand for the first time. Just days before the first performance at Bangkok’s Aksra Theatre, however, the theater canceled the show run. A letter from the Chinese embassy in Bangkok to the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Culture threatened diplomatic fallout between China and Thailand should the performances be allowed to take place.

Article in Epoch Times

Prior to the Shen Yun performances at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center in Nashville, the tires of a car rented by staff members of Shen Yun’s hosting organization were slashed. The incident occurred between the evening of Jan. 5 and the morning of the 6. Several slashes were visible on two of the tires.

More images and report (in Chinese)

https://youtu.be/W3351wSLBFY

We were just wrapping up our performances in Ulsan, South Korea on May 4, 2016. Then, as we started packing for our travel to Seoul for performances there two days later, our company manager suddenly told us the performances at the prestigious KBS Hall had just been cancelled that afternoon. With a holiday weekend upon us, there was nothing we could do and no one we could speak to.

Apparently, the cancellation came  from a South Korean district court, whose judge issued an order canceling the upcoming four performances. The ruling cited threats from the Chinese embassy that Korea Broadcasting System (KBS), the owner of the theater, would incur financial losses in the Chinese market if the Shen Yun shows were allowed to go on.

The Chinese embassy had sent at least two letters to KBS Hall telling them to cancel the Shen Yun performances, saying that the shows are “anti-China.” One month prior, in April, local organizers for the Shen Yun show had taken the issue to the district court of Southern Seoul, and the judge considered the case and decided that the arguments for canceling Shen Yun did not hold and that Shen Yun should be allowed to perform.

However, two days before the shows, the same judge and same court overturned their decision and issued a reverse ruling saying that if the shows were canceled KBS would only need to compensate Shen Yun for the tickets, which number in the thousands. The court cited that if China retaliated by not allowing KBS to show their Korean dramas in China, KBS stands to lose a lot more money than Shen Yun ticket sales.

Under pressure from the Chinese regime, South Korea’s act of artistic censorship puts doubts on its judicial independence, rule of law, and democracy.

Video Report: Seoul Cancels Shen Yun Performance

Shen Yun News: Chinese Embassy Forces Seoul’s KBS Hall to Cancel Shows

The Diplomat: The Long Arm of Chinese Censorship Reaches South Korea

The Korea Times: Korea shouldn’t let China infringe on artistic freedom

US Congresswomen, Other Officials Denounce Cancellation of Shen Yun in Seoul Over Chinese Embassy Threat

Here’s a radio interview I did with Australia’s Susie Elelman in Australia ahead of our Sydney performances there. Susie was wonderful to talk to, and we dove into some deeper issues such as what the persecution of Falun Gong is about, how it’s represented in the performance, and some other things as well. Not bad for an interview recorded at 3am.

You can also read a transcript of the interview.

Shen Yun performed two sold-out shows at Aarhus’ Musikhuset. Prior to the performances, the Chinese embassy wrote to the theater and tried to get the performances canceled, claiming it was “extremely anti-Chinese.”

The theater director, however, dismissed the pressure, saying: “We assessed the artistic content of the performance and decided it was sufficiently high enough that we should rent out to them. There is freedom of expression in Denmark, and we intend to uphold it.”

Great editorial by Leo Timm of The Epoch Times about the state-run National Ballet of China performance “The Red Detachment of Women.” This Cultural Revolution-era production appearing at Lincoln Center this summer glorified the violent class struggle of the Chinese Communist Party’s early days, which left millions killed, including the author’s grandfather, who was executed.

Read article about “The Red Detachment of Women” at Lincoln Center