HONG KONG—The Hong Kong Falun Dafa Association, host of Shen Yun Performing Arts, has accused the Hong Kong administration of sabotaging its performance here last year by not issuing several members of Shen Yun visas with allegedly illegal excuses. A three-day judicial review of the case started on Jan. 24.
The Falun Dafa Association held a rally on Jan. 23 under the title “Uphold Justice and Welcome Shen Yun.” Dignitaries and VIPs spoke in support of Shen Yun.
One year ago, Shen Yun, an internationally acclaimed performing arts company from New York, was scheduled to play at the Hong Kong’s Lyric Theatre from Jan. 27 to 31, 2010. But less than a week before opening night, and with all seven shows sold out, the show was forced to cancel as the Hong Kong Immigration Department refused to give seven members of Shen Yun’s core production team entry visas.
The reason given by the Hong Kong Immigration Department was that these production jobs should be filled locally. According to Shen Yun, the production members are highly specialized; they cannot be replaced, and the show cannot go on without them.
Visas for Shen Yun tour members were applied for on Oct. 13, 2009, but the denial came only three days before the group’s scheduled departure for Hong Kong.
CCP Interference Suspected
Joseph Cheng, professor of Political Science at City University of Hong Kong, and a representative of the Civic Party, called on the people of Hong Kong to stand up and help stop the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from interfering with Shen Yun’s performance in Hong Kong.
“If we fail to do so, one day our rights may very well be trampled [by the CCP]. I call on the Hong Kong government to respect [Shen Yun artists’] human rights,” Cheng said.
Bao Tong, former political secretary of the late CCP general secretary Zhao Ziyang, said in a prerecorded tape, “I hope that through this incident, the people of Hong Kong and the rest of the world learn that there is no judicial independence in Hong Kong.”
Albert Ho, chairman of the Hong Kong Democratic Party and a member of the Legislative Council, participated in the rally via a prerecorded video. Ho said he would do everything in his power to support Shen Yun’s hosting organizers and ask for justice through legal means.
“Shen Yun must be given the rights to perform freely, including freedom of expression, freedom of information, and freedom of legally entering the country,” Ho said.
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Waiting for Court Verdict
Article 34 in Hong Kong Basic Law states: “Hong Kong residents shall have freedom to engage in academic research, literary and artistic creation, and other cultural activities.”
On Jan. 25 the plaintiff’s attorney stated in court that the constitutional rights of the host of Shen Yun to engage in artistic activities should not be prohibited unreasonably. The members of Shen Yun are inseparable from the performance, and denying the entrance of members who are in charge of critical technical tasks in the show is arbitrary and unreasonable.
Teresa Chu, a human rights attorney from Taiwan, who attended the court hearing, told The Epoch Times that based on the CCP’s record of interfering with Shen Yun’s performances around the world, there is a good reason to believe that this incident in Hong Kong was another attempt by the CCP to stop Shen Yun from performing.
Chu said she hopes the judge will also examine a previous judicial review regarding Falun Gong practitioners from Taiwan who were being denied entry into Hong Kong in September 2009. In his 60-page verdict, Geoffrey Ma, the current Chief Justice of the Court of Final Appeal of Hong Kong, showed how the Hong Kong administration was not being honest.
Chu said: “We must find out why the Hong Kong Immigration Department was abusing its power to stop Shen Yun from coming to Hong Kong to perform. The Hong Kong government must be honest, and it must explain clearly why exactly it refused to issue visas for Shen Yun’s six core technical staff, and whether this abuse of power came by orders of the CCP.”
Kan Hung-Cheung, chairman of Hong Kong Falun Dafa Association, said the local and international communities have been watching this closely and have viewed it as a test to see whether the judicial system in Hong Kong is independent from China’s politics. “We hope the court upholds justice and conscience, and has ample morality and courage to expose the truth and make a righteous verdict.”
Shen Yun is a Performing Arts company out of New York with a vision to revive the lost traditions of ancient China through music, dance and story telling, and inspiration drawn from ancient myths and legends as well as some modern-day tales. During its five years of touring the world, Shen Yun has become the number one live performance sensation worldwide and has delighted and inspired over one million spectators in over 100 major cities on five continents, according to Shen Yun’s website.
Zheng Enchong, a prominent Shanghai rights attorney, who has seen Shen Yun’s performance on DVD, said the show’s influence is great and far-reaching. “It is not only a revival of Chinese traditional culture on the world stage, but it also elevates people spiritually. It is an awakening of one’s conscience and true nature.”
Read the original Chinese article.
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