Chinese officials are throwing their weight around in the United States, using overt demands, and possibly dirty tricks, to try to disrupt a Chinese artistic performance that they don’t like and can’t control.
Last Friday morning, on Jan. 30, officials from the Chinese consulate in Chicago met with a manager at the Peabody Opera House in St. Louis, Missouri, and demanded that they cancel the booking of the New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts—or else it would harm relations between the United States and China.
A few days later the main presenter for Shen Yun performances in two cities had her house broken into—the only items taken were her laptop and passports.
Both incidents were linked, say presenters of the Shen Yun shows, and follow a persistent pattern of interference and harassment mounted by Chinese diplomatic outposts.
