A Response from
the Shen Yun Community

When the Times started attacking us with hit pieces, we felt betrayed. Betrayed by the people who distorted the reality of life at Shen Yun, betrayed by the journalists who ignored the information we gave them, and betrayed by an established media institution that claims to stand for fairness and facts.

We were also outraged. Outraged by the Times’ perverted narrative. Outraged that the paper didn’t write about how millions of Falun Gong practitioners have been persecuted in China for 25 years or the courage of their nonviolent resistance, didn’t write about how the CCP has extended its oppression to the U.S., didn’t write about how Shen Yun has overcome all this to become the fastest-growing performing arts company in American history or the beauty and innovation of the show.

No. Instead of writing about how people like us are being murdered for their faith in China, the Times is nitpicking about how many hours we are working as we try to save people’s lives. The paper and the copycat articles and videos that followed clearly aren’t interested in these stories, but just want to dig up something salacious and controversial.

We at Shen Yun are not perfect; we are trying our best. We are trying to fulfill our mission of reviving traditional Chinese culture while also exposing ongoing atrocities in China, and at the same time trying to take care of all our performers and staff members, who we really view as family. We have had growing pains for sure, like many startups do, although our systems and processes are much more mature now than when we first began.

At the same time, we take exception to the Times’ deliberate attempt to paint Shen Yun, Falun Gong’s founder, and our broader faith community in a negative and false light. There are 5 disturbing aspects of the Times’ reporting…

1. The Times has ignored the persecution of Falun Gong for years. The Times never invested the kind of resources into documenting the brutal persecution of tens of millions of innocent people in China as it is doing now in multiple articles about a handful of disgruntled dancers.

2. The brutal persecution in China is a daily reality for us and precisely what drives us. Many Falun Gong practitioners now living in the U.S. were detained or tortured in China; many lost relatives or have family languishing in prisons still. It is the urgency to expose all this and pierce the shadow of the CCP with a message of hope that drives our hours, our work ethic, our focus.

3. The Times distorts our faith. The Times portrays Falun Gong practitioners as secretive, ignoring our lived reality. Falun Gong is free and open to all—anyone can read all the spiritual teachings or learn the exercises for free online.

4. Falun Gong believers are not duped. We don’t simply follow the teachings out of blind belief. Many practitioners are very well-educated, with advanced degrees in the hard sciences from top universities. Like disciples of other faiths, Falun Gong adherents have had deeply personal spiritual experiences that reaffirm their faith.

5. The Times is helping the CCP. Wittingly or not, the Times is echoing CCP talking points demonizing Falun Gong—the same propaganda that incites hatred and violence. Indeed, in correlation to the Times’ articles, we are experiencing an escalation in death threats, some specifically mentioning the New York Times!

It is simply horrifying to see a leading U.S. paper echo CCP framing, bringing anti-Falun Gong discrimination to the U.S. Sadly, the CCP could not have imagined a better ally than the Times in its campaign to eliminate Falun Gong globally.