You’ve seen Shen Yun ads literally everywhere.
But why is the CCP trying so desperately to shut it down?
Welcome to China Uncensored, I’m Chris Chappell.
During Covid, the Chinese Communist Party was all over the hashtag “stop Asian hate” .
State media kept putting out articles about how US society had “unleashed” anti-Asian hate,
how “much work remains…to tackle anti-Asian racism”
and how there was so much “deep-rooted racism” that
the US probably wouldn’t be able to get rid of it.
Maybe next time the Chinese military sends a bunch of war planes near Taiwan
Taiwan should hold up a sign saying “Stop Asian Hate.”
Because apparently it’s a different story when the hate is aimed at the CCP’s enemies,
like Shen Yun, a New York based performing arts company that promotes Chinese culture.
Shen Yun has become somewhat of a meme. Their ads are everywhere.
The other day I opened up a box of Lucky Charms and out came “China before Communism.”
That might give you a clue to why the Chinese Communist
Party has been trying to shut down Shen Yun.
The CCP will do things like write letters to
theaters and politicians to try to get them to cancel the show.
Yes, they’re literally trying to keep people from dancing. The CCP has gone from the realm of
real-life evil to John Lithgow in Footloose evil. That’s one step away from becoming Disney evil.
The CCP has also paid for inserts in mainstream media that bash Shen Yun,
calling it a “blasphemy that masquerades as art.”
Which is pretty ironic considering the Chinese Communist Party is
officially atheist. If you don’t believe in God, what do you consider blasphemy?
Criticizing the god of Communism? Also, “blasphemy that masquerades
as art” sounds awesome. If you described a band that way, I’d say,
“Heck yeah! Metal! See you in the mosh pit!” Don’t do that at Shen Yun. The
Lincoln Center doesn’t like it. Don’t ask me how I know.
The CCP has used a variety of tactics to target Shen Yun. From slashing bus tired,
to spreading rumors they all had Covid.
Organizers now believe China is trying to smear their image and spread false information about
the coronavirus, saying the performers and crew have it, or have traveled to infected countries.
I can see why people might have believed that. I mean, if anyone was an expert on
irresponsibly spreading Covid around the world, it’s definitely China.
The other big reason the CCP doesn’t like Shen Yun is because, according to their website,
“SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS was established by Falun Dafa practitioners in 2006.”
That’s another name for Falun Gong,
the spiritual practice that became widely popular in China in the 90’s
Before a large-scale crackdown gave them a taste of China After Communism.
And now the Falun Dafa Information Center has put
out a new report about the war the CCP has been waging on Shen Yun.
And some of what the CCP has done to Shen Yun—mind you to Americans
in an American performing art troupe—is absolutely insane.
I’ll tell you what they did, right after this quick break.
Welcome back. Wouldn’t be surprised if you just saw an ad for Shen Yun. Actually
we’ve been getting a lot of ads from Temu lately. That is when we’re monetized at all.
So according to this new report
There have been “130 documented incidents of harassment, sabotage, disinformation,
and physical attacks by Chinese officials or their proxies targeting Shen Yun”
Probably the craziest was a plot to get Shen Yun’s tax exempt status removed.
According to the DOJ, Chinese agents tried to bribe the IRS to do that.
They allegedly paid what they thought was an IRS
agent $5,000 and promised as much as $50,000 if certain goals were met.
And you know the plan went off without a hitch by the
way I keep saying it was “what they thought was an IRS agent.”
Turned out it was an undercover law enforcement officer…
…and the two were arrested in California last May.
The FBI recorded the agents saying the bribes were paid for and directed
by the Chinese government, so this wasn’t just their own stupid idea.
Now the criminal complaint against them doesn’t specifically name Shen Yun,
it only describes it as “an entity run and maintained by Falun Gong practitioners.”
But according to the Falun Dafa Info Center, Shen Yun *was* the entity they were targeting.
So why is the CCP so desperate to silence Shen Yun? I mean I know, “China before Communism.”
But seriously, China has one of the largest militaries in the world.
Why are they afraid of a dance troupe? I mean,
if you’re friends don’t dance, they’re no friends of mine.
The problem is Shen Yun strikes at the core of Chinese Communist Propaganda.
Shen Yun says its mission is to revive *traditional* Chinese culture.
The Chinese Communist Party has spent the last 70-plus years
trying to *destroy* traditional Chinese culture.
During the Cultural Revolution, it tried to get rid of what it called the 4 olds:
old Ideas, old culture, old customs, and old habits.
And thanks to its Covid response, it also got rid of countless of its fifth old: old people.
And it especially tried to get rid of anything spiritual or religious.
The Communist Party portrays itself as the inheritors of all Chinese history,
and that there is no China without the Communist Party.
It’s pretty similar to how the Nazis subverted all of German culture to suit their own propaganda.
Shen Yun poses a threat to the CCP precisely because it
exposes what the CCP has done to Chinese culture.
And it’s doing it through the arts—which the CCP knows will reach way more people
than just taking out an ad in the newspaper.
Wait. The CCP tried to destroy the old ways
and change the culture after forcibly taking over? My God…
they *are* Disney evil!
That’s public domain now, you can’t sue me Disney.
Now the funny thing is, basically all of the CCP’s attempts to destroy Shen Yun,
well it’s basically the Streisand Effect, Your attempts to censor something is so
loud and over the top, you actually get more people interested than if you just kept quiet.
Here is one of Shen Yun’s MCs in an interview we did four years ago.
For example, in Australia, we were performing in Canberra our very first year on tour,
and after the show we walk outside the theater and we see two Parliament members standing
there. And they say, "Actually, you know we got a letter from the Chinese embassy saying,
'Do not come see the show.' And they were like,
"We hadn't heard of Shen Yun. What is this? This is interesting. Let's go check it out."
And all parliament members got the letter and a bunch of them were there.
Just could have had their meetings there and everything.
That wasn’t the only time.
Czech Republic, one time a TV station got a letter saying, "Do not interview Shen Yun,
do not promote them." Like, Shen Yun, what's that? It's coming to town. Okay,
we weren't planning on interviewing them. So it's like, okay, well now we're going to
interview them.So then they got our dancer and our concert master wanting to do this
interview in the Czech Republic, and they said, "This is Czech Republic. Maybe this is
how you do things in China. Here we decide who will and who will not be in our show,
who and who will not be on stage, and we're very glad to have you, and good luck with your
performance." And this is really the phenomenon worldwide. It's kind of like free advertising.
Man, I wish the CCP would start telling everyone to not watch this channel.
Cause right now the only evil China-loyal entity trying to suppress us… is YouTube.
And now it’s time to show love to the people who make this show possible,
the China Uncensored 50 Cent Army—
Fans who support the show on patreon.com/chinauncensored.
As my way of thanks, I’ll answer their questions at the end of these episodes.
Today’s question comes from B. Hijmering, “thanks for your illuminating shows. Do you actually speak
and read Chinese and how come you know so much about how this country? Thanks again”.
Well thanks B, and thanks for supporting the show so it’s possible. I do speak and
read a little bit of Chinese, but since I’ve been locked out of the
largest Chinese speaking country in the world, it’s getting pretty rusty.
But I was always interested in Chinese culture growing up. I mean, I grew up
with those old Shaw Brothers kung fu films. But learning about the culture and history
obviously brought me face to face with the Chinese Communist Party,
and what it’s done to Chinese culture and history. That’s one of the reasons I really
appreciate what Shen Yun is doing. It’s trying to bring back the culture I feel in love with.
Thanks for your question and your support B.
And thanks for watching. Check out this video from my new channel Gamers Unbeaten.
And hit that orange Patreon button. You can help keep the lights on and the show going
for as little as a dollar an episode, and you can even set a monthly limit.
Once again, I’m Chris Chappell, see you next time.