.png)
Gold medal winner at NTD Television’s 4th International Classical Chinese Dance Competition. Recently, Chinese National Security police pressured a prospective competition dancer to spy on the upcoming competition. (Dai Bing/Epoch Times)
HONG KONG—The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is at it again. Chinese National Security police pressured a Chinese dancer to spy on New Tang Dynasty (NTD) Television, the organizer of an international dance competition.
The dance contestant, who wishes to remain anonymous, told an NTD Television staff member his circumstances in a telephone conversation. The staff member, puzzled by the strange wording in an email she received from the contestant, called him to get clarification. The dancer recounted how he was pressured to send the email in an attempt to elicit inside information.
“I was summoned by my dean to meet two people who wanted to talk to me. I went to see them and was told that they are from the Public Security Bureau, and that they wanted to assess the situation. They told me it’s about this issue [the dance competition], and then I was asked to keep in touch with them and report to them whatever conversations or contacts I have with you,” he said.
The Public Security Bureau works under the direction of the Political and Legislative Affairs Committee (PLAC), which ensures the security and stability of one-party rule in China.
But, the contestant has no desire to cooperate with Chinese authorities. He said, “I want to make my stand clear. If anyone sends an email or QQ to you, please don’t respond, just ignore it.” QQ is a popular free instant messaging computer program in China.
Ms. Ma Lijuan, senior vice president of NTD Television and director of NTD’s competition series, strongly condemned the PLAC’s attempt to intimidate the mainland participant.
“This participant is a professional artist; he doesn’t want his purity in arts to be stained by such dirty acts of the Chinese police,” she said.
According to Ma, the purpose of the all-Chinese dance competition is to revive traditional classical Chinese culture. She appealed to all participants from mainland China to remain undeterred by the CCP’s interference.
“We all stand together to boycott the CCP’s despicable acts. … The only reason they try such tactics is because some of us are afraid of them. For they succeed only by intimidation,” she declared.
This year marks the Fifth Annual International Classical Chinese Dance Competition, which will conduct preliminaries in a new Asia-Pacific category for the first time, in Hong Kong.
NTD Television, a New York-based primarily Chinese-language broadcaster, frequently reports on human rights issues in China.
The International Classical Chinese Dance Competition organizing committee issued a statement on June 30, calling for participation from mainland Chinese dancers, and encouraging them not to fear the CCP or be influenced by its politics.
The Epoch Times publishes in 35 countries and in 19 languages. Subscribe to our e-newsletter.
