What’s Behind the Lawsuit Targeting Shen Yun Performing Arts? 

Commentary

On Nov. 25, Chang Chun-ko, a former student of Fei Tian Academy of the Arts (FTAA), filed a complaint against Shen Yun Performing Arts, Fei Tian College (FTC), Fei Tian Academy of the Arts, and five other organizations and individuals.

Shen Yun is the world’s premier classical Chinese dance company, and the Fei Tian schools are religious schools affiliated with Shen Yun.

Chang, 28, first saw a performance of Shen Yun in Taiwan in 2007 and auditioned for a spot at Fei Tian Academy of the Arts, according to her complaint. Chang was not accepted but tried again in 2009 and was accepted on her second try. As a student, she toured with Shen Yun on practicum, which continued when she later attended Fei Tian College. Chang graduated in 2019, and returned to Taiwan in 2020.

Since June, Chang has been interviewed by various podcasters, and The New York Times has also quoted Chang more than once in pieces making various allegations against Shen Yun. Chang herself has taken to social media to make claims against her former place of education.

There is a stark contrast between Chang’s claims and those of Dr. Zhang Tianliang, a defendant named in the suit and a colleague of mine as a teacher at Fei Tian. Zhang and another teacher of Chang’s have publicly countered Chang’s claims with contradicting facts since the allegations first arose.

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Meanwhile, in just the past six months, The New York Times has run six articles on Shen Yun, Fei Tian College, and Fei Tian Academy of the Arts. It has also targeted Falun Gong, a religious discipline practiced by the artists of Shen Yun.

The articles are full of misrepresentations, as if they were designed to mislead readers. In one article, the paper limited its interviews to disgruntled former students, including one who faced serious disciplinary action and three who were expelled.

Former students who told the New York Times reporters about their positive experiences at Fei Tian or Shen Yun said their responses weren’t used in the articles. The paper’s selective reporting also runs counter to the feedback the schools have received from thousands of student surveys over the years.

Chang claims that she faced coercion and abuse during her time at Fei Tian Academy of the Arts. Yet she willingly sought admission to the graduate program at Fei Tian College, hoping to continue her association with Fei Tian and Shen Yun.

In her lawsuit, Chang admitted that she “did poorly in her academic work.” Yet, with Fei Tian’s education, many of its graduates have successfully entered Ivy League schools, and alumni have gone on to law schools and passed the bar exam.

Even within three years of her departure from these organizations, she frequently expressed gratitude for the education she received at Fei Tian College and for her instructors.

However, in early 2024, her viewpoint took a dramatic turn, shortly after she visited the CCP-connected Beijing Dance Academy in mainland China.

This raises legitimate concerns that she may have been influenced or even controlled, as she later questioned in an online interview whether it is true that Falun Gong practitioners are subjected to live organ harvesting. This heinous crime against humanity is well-documented by independent investigators, the U.S. State Department’s human rights reports, congressional testimonies, and related legislative bills.

The fact that she has now filed a lawsuit from Taiwan against Shen Yun and Fei Tian, enlisting lawyers from law firms in Washington and Philadelphia, raises questions about who might be backing her efforts.

The New York Times’ Role in the CCP’s Persecution of Falun Gong

The New York Times’ articles are riddled with problems, particularly in their biased selection of interviewees—most being disgruntled former students of Fei Tian.

Among the ex-students interviewed by the paper, some had faced serious disciplinary action, were expelled, or had ties to the CCP-backed Beijing Dance Academy.

Consequently, these individuals, not unexpectedly, harbored biases against Fei Tian and Shen Yun during their interviews with The New York Times.

In fact, the expulsion and disciplinary rates at Fei Tian are remarkably low, as the school, being religious in nature, has always treated its students with goodwill.

Thus, The New York Times has misled its audience by deliberately selecting biased interview subjects.

The New York Times’ negative depiction of Shen Yun and Fei Tian based on disgruntled former students makes it hard for the readers to understand why Fei Tian continues to grow as an institution for learning.

Fei Tian over the past five years has reviewed thousands of student feedback survey forms, finding that 98 percent of students agree or strongly agree with the statement that “teachers respect and treat every student fairly.”

The reality is that The New York Times’ attack pieces continue a long-standing bias against Shen Yun and Falun Gong.

For instance, in its Aug. 16 article titled “How a Persecuted Religious Group Grew Into a Global Movement,” The New York Times quoted Nicholas Bequelin, a senior fellow at Yale Law School’s Paul Tsai China Center, who claimed that “there is no evidence of a systematic program to execute Falun Gong practitioners for their organs.”

Yet the article neglects to mention crucial facts.

On June 25, 2024, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Falun Gong Protection Act, which mandates an end to organ harvesting from Falun Gong practitioners and other prisoners of conscience and calls for sanctions against those involved in or facilitating this practice in China.

This organization operates directly under the CCP’s United Front Work Department, which is responsible for overseas infiltration and intelligence gathering. It has received endorsements from past and current CCP leaders, such as Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin, Hu Jintao, and Xi Jinping, along with financial support from the CCP’s intelligence agencies.

Notably, in 2023, Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory letter to the WRSA on its 100th anniversary.

After the relationship between Nicole Hong and Hong Zhaohui was highlighted by overseas independent media, the online profile published by the Zhejiang Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese was removed.

Meanwhile, a key piece in The New York Times’ coverage of Falun Gong can be traced back to 2001, when then-publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr., along with several editors and reporters, met CCP leader Jiang Zemin, forging a unique connection with the dictator.

Days after the meeting, the CCP lifted the ban on The New York Times’ Chinese website in China.

Since then, The New York Times has largely echoed the CCP’s line of attack against Falun Gong in its reporting.

The CCP’s Campaign to Eradicate Falun Gong Overseas

In 2021, the World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong obtained a joint letter from the Chinese Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of State Security announcing the appointment of Wu Xiuhua as the director of the North America Work Office of Combating Falun Gong, uncovering a cross-departmental initiative known as the Joint Office for Combating Falun Gong established by both ministries.

Additionally, the Chinese Supreme Court and the Supreme Procuratorate have their own dedicated offices for this purpose, known as the Office of Combating Falun Gong.

These offices supervise specialized agencies that were set up globally to suppress Falun Gong. Notably, the “North America Office of Combating Falun Gong” is responsible for operations in the North American region and functions at the deputy bureau level.

In 2017, a leaked document from the Henan Provincial Party Committee explicitly directed officials to target Dragon Springs, which is home to the headquarters of Shen Yun in upstate New York. The document instructed, “Focus intently on the overseas core members, headquarters base, and foreign political figures, and carefully devise strategies to attack and divide them.”

It appears that one tactic the CCP employs outside of China is lawfare, repeatedly suing Falun Gong-affiliated institutions or individuals with baseless claims as a means of attack and harassment, in an attempt to exhaust Falun Gong’s time and resources.

“The Court is not aware of any case holding that Plaintiffs can keep throwing NOIs at the wall until one sticks,” the judge’s opinion read.

CCP’s agents have also made fake bomb threats to theaters, aiming to force the cancellation of Shen Yun performances. They have also slashed the tires of Shen Yun buses, intending to cause an accident on the highway.

Intimidating, harassing, and detaining family members of Shen Yun performers in China is another tactic used to disrupt their performances.

Meanwhile, last May, the FBI arrested two Chinese spies, John Chen and Lin Feng, for attempting to bribe a federal agent posing as an IRS official with tens of thousands of dollars to revoke Shen Yun’s nonprofit status. They have since pleaded guilty and have been sentenced up to twenty months in prison.

Increase in Attacks

This year has seen a marked escalation in the attacks on Falun Gong and Shen Yun.

Besides the articles attacking Shen Yun by The New York Times, several European outlets have also begun to target Shen Yun.

Around June, a wave of social media accounts emerged, forming various communities that disseminated negative narratives about Falun Gong and Shen Yun, suggesting a coordinated effort behind the scenes.

Falun Gong practitioners continue to peacefully resist the CCP’s persecution and are committed to reviving traditional values and culture, illuminating the world with hope through their dedicated efforts.

I also urge those who persecute and harass Falun Gong and relevant organizations to recognize the distinction between right and wrong, to find their way back, and to stop being complicit with the CCP in its scheme and this unjust persecution.

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.