WASHINGTON, D.C.–Communist authorities in China have begun harassing family members of Shen Yun Performing Arts artists with a new soft tactic since Shen Yun was invited to perform in Hong Kong in late January. Family members of some performers living in mainland China are being pressured to ask the performers to return to the mainland and stop performing in certain regions.
Shen Yun Performing Arts is a New York-based non-profit organization that seeks to revive traditional Chinese culture and provide audiences with a unique experience of beauty. Shen Yun has been touring around the world since 2006, and its performances have been seen by 1.5 million plus people. The group has performed in Taiwan and will perform in Hong Kong for the first time later this month.
Many of the group’s performers have been inspired by Falun Gong and some performances convey messages of hope about overcoming the persecution of Falun Gong in China. In the past, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has deployed secret agents to intimidate audiences from attending the performances. Authorities have also used diplomatic and economic strategies to pressure sponsors to retract their support of the performances and performing group.
Columnist Zhang Tianliang believes that despite the CCP’s tactics, Shen Yun’s rapid growth and earning rave reviews globally in the past few years has left the regime feeling helpless. According to Zhang, since the artists are abroad, the CCP has chosen to instead harass their family members who reside in mainland China.
Spokesperson for Midwest Falun Dafa Association Yang Sen believes that they resorted to using these rogue tactics out of panic. He said that former Chinese dictator Jiang Zemin and the 610 office he created to persecute Falun Gong know that their days are numbered and are afraid of their crimes being exposed in the international community.
“We want to warn the perpetrators that it doesn’t matter how long it will take or where they’re going, they will be brought to justice,” Yang said.
Special agents were sent to threaten the siblings of Shen Yun artist Wang Lin (alias). In 2005, the local police try to intimidate Wang’s brother to stop practicing Falun Gong while he was ill. Shortly afterward, he passed away at the age of 50. It is reported that three people who claim to be from the local Political and Legislative Affairs Committee recently visited Wang’s sister to have her persuade Wang to return to China.
According to Wang, the visitors told her sister that they knew she was an activist, well known in the Falun Gong community, and even hosts programs on a Falun Gong television station. They wanted Wang to return to China so they could “have a good chat.”
“Over the phone, I could tell my sister was really scared because she knew our call was monitored. She didn’t dare tell me details,” said Wang.
The parents of performer Chen Li (alias) were also asked by police to persuade her to return to China. According to Chen, the authorities continuously harass her elderly parents and instruct them to gather information on her whereabouts. She believes their conversations are monitored because the authorities instructed her parents to use a designated smartcard when calling her. Each time Chen called her parents during the San Jose, Calif. performance a few days ago, she sensed that her parents showed unusual interest in whether she will perform in Hong Kong.
Chinese authorities have also threatened artist Xu Liang’s (alias) family members since December 2009. Xu’s elderly family members were reported to have been interrogated by special agents for an entire day at a hotel on whether Xu will perform in Hong Kong or Macau. The agents sent for the family members the next day to force them to write a guarantee statement stating that Xu will not perform in Hong Kong, Macau or Taiwan. Authorities threatened that if Xu enters Hong Kong, National Security police will fly them there to force them to take Xu back to the mainland.
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Shen Yun Performing Arts is a New York-based non-profit organization that seeks to revive traditional Chinese culture and provide audiences with a unique experience of beauty. Shen Yun has been touring around the world since 2006, and its performances have been seen by 1.5 million plus people. The group has performed in Taiwan and will perform in Hong Kong for the first time later this month.
Many of the group’s performers have been inspired by Falun Gong and some performances convey messages of hope about overcoming the persecution of Falun Gong in China. In the past, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has deployed secret agents to intimidate audiences from attending the performances. Authorities have also used diplomatic and economic strategies to pressure sponsors to retract their support of the performances and performing group.
Columnist Zhang Tianliang believes that despite the CCP’s tactics, Shen Yun’s rapid growth and earning rave reviews globally in the past few years has left the regime feeling helpless. According to Zhang, since the artists are abroad, the CCP has chosen to instead harass their family members who reside in mainland China.
Spokesperson for Midwest Falun Dafa Association Yang Sen believes that they resorted to using these rogue tactics out of panic. He said that former Chinese dictator Jiang Zemin and the 610 office he created to persecute Falun Gong know that their days are numbered and are afraid of their crimes being exposed in the international community.
“We want to warn the perpetrators that it doesn’t matter how long it will take or where they’re going, they will be brought to justice,” Yang said.
Special agents were sent to threaten the siblings of Shen Yun artist Wang Lin (alias). In 2005, the local police try to intimidate Wang’s brother to stop practicing Falun Gong while he was ill. Shortly afterward, he passed away at the age of 50. It is reported that three people who claim to be from the local Political and Legislative Affairs Committee recently visited Wang’s sister to have her persuade Wang to return to China.
According to Wang, the visitors told her sister that they knew she was an activist, well known in the Falun Gong community, and even hosts programs on a Falun Gong television station. They wanted Wang to return to China so they could “have a good chat.”
“Over the phone, I could tell my sister was really scared because she knew our call was monitored. She didn’t dare tell me details,” said Wang.
The parents of performer Chen Li (alias) were also asked by police to persuade her to return to China. According to Chen, the authorities continuously harass her elderly parents and instruct them to gather information on her whereabouts. She believes their conversations are monitored because the authorities instructed her parents to use a designated smartcard when calling her. Each time Chen called her parents during the San Jose, Calif. performance a few days ago, she sensed that her parents showed unusual interest in whether she will perform in Hong Kong.
Chinese authorities have also threatened artist Xu Liang’s (alias) family members since December 2009. Xu’s elderly family members were reported to have been interrogated by special agents for an entire day at a hotel on whether Xu will perform in Hong Kong or Macau. The agents sent for the family members the next day to force them to write a guarantee statement stating that Xu will not perform in Hong Kong, Macau or Taiwan. Authorities threatened that if Xu enters Hong Kong, National Security police will fly them there to force them to take Xu back to the mainland.
Read the original Chinese article
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