An annual spiritual freedom report paperwork the Chinese language regime’s ways in pressuring venues to cancel performances by the group.
The State Division has positioned the limelight on Beijing’s persistent efforts to censor Shen Yun Performing Arts, a New York-based arts group that excursions the world to current conventional Chinese language tradition whereas drawing consideration to ongoing human rights abuses in China.
The division’s annual spiritual freedom report, launched on June 26, paperwork the Chinese language Communist Get together’s (CCP’s) ways in pressuring venues in a number of international locations to “refuse to host or cancel already scheduled performances” by Shen Yun.
“Most of the performers are Falun Gong practitioners,“ the report states in describing Shen Yun, and ”along with conventional Chinese language dances, some dances painting present-day spiritual persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China.”
Falun Gong is a non secular apply involving each meditative workout routines and teachings primarily based on the rules of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance. In 1999, the CCP has declared Falun Gong practitioners a “prime enemy,” deploying an all-out marketing campaign to arrest and torture adherents throughout China, in a bid to eradicate the religion.
Shen Yun, with a mission to showcase “China earlier than communism,” has been a goal for the regime since its founding in 2006. Throughout its international excursions to greater than 20 international locations throughout 5 continents, the corporate has suffered a number of incidents of sabotage to its tour buses and seen venues again out on the final minute after receiving letters from Chinese language officers threatening their international locations’ financial pursuits.
U.S. officers have expressed concern over such strong-arm campaigns on a number of events since they got here to mild.
Forward of the U.S.–China summit in San Francisco in November 2023, a senior Biden administration official described the CCP’s “financial coercion” as “very damaging.”
“And it will likely be vital for international locations to take steps going ahead to attempt to both work collectively to create higher resilience,” he stated, but additionally to ship a collective message that the CCP’s actions “are antithetical to the sleek functioning of a world capital system.”
Attending the report launch occasion was Falun Gong practitioner Zhang Yuhua, a former dean of the Russian language division at a key Chinese language college who spent a mixed 7 1/2 years in Chinese language prisons and went by means of repeated police harassment over her religion till she fled the communist nation. The jail guards made her stand for days and weeks on finish, denying her sleep, till her legs—after which the remainder of her physique—swelled up and she or he had bother respiratory.
Rashad Hussain, ambassador-at-large for worldwide spiritual freedom, described Ms. Zhang as a “brave chief” as they introduced the report’s launch.
Ms. Zhang’s husband remains to be in China and beneath the shut watch of Chinese language police; he has acquired jail sentences totaling greater than 10 years for the reason that CCP’s persecution marketing campaign towards the non secular apply started.
Ms. Zhang stated she was grateful for the invoice’s passage and for officers’ help.
For individuals in China, such efforts are “like a lightweight,” she advised NTD. “The CCP says they don’t care about U.S. authorities motion. However certainly, they’re afraid.”
Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.), the lead sponsor of the bipartisan invoice, stated he hopes these nonetheless dealing with the persecution in China will hold on to hope.
“Hope must be alive,” he advised NTD. “It’s not occurring quick sufficient, however it’s occurring over time.”
