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The Real Story of Shen Yun
The Show Beijing Doesn't Want You to See
Spies. Sabotage. Threats. Slander.
The Show Beijing Doesn't Want You
to See
Spies. Sabotage.
Threats. Slander.
Not only is Shen Yun barred from performing in China, the CCP has been constantly trying to sabotage it.
Absurdly, China is the one place you can’t see this performance celebrating traditional Chinese culture. But for the CCP, barring Shen Yun from China isn’t enough. The CCP has relentlessly sought to silence Shen Yun since 2006, with 140 documented incidents of interference around the world. Tactics range from diplomatic pressure to physical sabotage.
In Montreal, a Shen Yun bus tire was slashed with a blade in a way that would cause the tire to burst at high speed, risking 40 lives. In New York, choreographer Yungchia Chen found his home ransacked, with only laptops containing choreography stolen. In Shanghai, erhu soloist Mei Xuan’s husband was abducted by secret police before he could join her in the U.S., vanishing into a labor camp.
Why Is the CCP
Afraid of Shen Yun?
Why Is the CCP
Afraid of Shen Yun?
Shen Yun speaks truth to power. It shatters Beijing’s billion-dollar reputation-washing campaign with a single, breathtaking performance. It unveils China’s authentic, ancient culture—a culture before communism. Themes of compassion, propriety, loyalty, and faith in the divine course through the heart of the performance. At the same time, it exposes the regime’s religious persecutions, human rights abuses, and forced organ harvesting, called “genocide” by legal authorities. Shen Yun’s truth-telling artistry and unbreakable defiance are why Beijing tries so frantically to tear down the company.
Established in 2006, Shen Yun is a U.S.-based, independent nonprofit founded by dissidents, many of whom fled China for religious freedom. And like the tank man from Tiananmen Square, Shen Yun stands in the way of a communist dictatorship that tries to white-wash its image around the world—while inside China bulldozing churches, arresting artists, and banning the likes of CNN and YouTube.
In just 20 years, Shen Yun has become an artistic powerhouse celebrated around the world. Each show isn’t just a spectacle; it’s a bold vision of a world free from CCP tyranny. Audiences leave awakened to the fact that the Chinese regime is not the real China, and see that the ruling party does not represent China’s culture or its people.
In Moldova, after a three-day bus ride from Greece, Shen Yun performers were barred from Chisinau’s National Palace. “The show is canceled,” director Valeria Sircanu said, citing “daily visits from the Chinese embassy.” The CCP’s influence prevailed there, but such victories are rare.
“Almost every theater we have performed in around the world has received some kind of pressure, or sometimes even extortion, from a Chinese diplomat, agent, or proxy.”
“Almost every theater we have performed in around the world has received some kind of pressure, or sometimes even extortion, from a Chinese diplomat, agent, or proxy.”
Indeed, despite such attacks, Shen Yun thrives. This year, its eight troupes will perform in 194 cities across five continents. In Taiwan, where Chinese traditions endure, Shen Yun stages 40 sold-out shows annually. Some Mainland Chinese travel there to watch, with one emailing, “When are you coming to China? We can’t wait.”
Resistance to the regime’s attempted censorship extends beyond performers and audience members. Jim Rice, operations manager at Little Rock’s Robinson Center Music Hall in Arkansas, received a 13-page letter from the Chinese consulate demanding Shen Yun’s cancellation. “No matter the pressure,” Rice declared, “we’ll do what’s right. I’m proud to host Shen Yun.” His resolve mirrors a broader trend: despite Chinese embassies and consulates worldwide using calls, visits, and economic threats to cancel shows, most theaters and foreign officials stand firm.
In Australia, members of parliament received Chinese embassy letters urging them to skip a Shen Yun performance. “So we all came to see it!” one laughed. “We had enough members here to pass legislation.” This defiance underscores the CCP’s faltering grip abroad.
Beijing’s Global Drive to Stop
Shen Yun
Shen Yun has been the CCP’s #1 target and subjected to the most aggressive global campaign of artistic censorship documented to date. The Chinese regime—including Chinese spy agencies and embassies in dozens of countries—have expended massive resources to sabotage Shen Yun. The Falun Dafa Information Center has documented more than 250 incidents of interference by Chinese officials or their proxies targeting Shen Yun across 40 countries.
Diplomats Pressure Theaters and Governments
Every year, Chinese embassy and consulate officials write, call, and visit theater managers, mayors, and even heads of state trying to pressure them to cancel Shen Yun shows.
Families of Artists
Threatened in China
Performers’ family members back in China receive regular threatening visits from CCP security agents; some performers’ family members have even been imprisoned.
Slander Appears
in Mainstream Media
Chinese state media paid prominent papers—including the Washington Post and Wall Street Journal—to carry its articles attacking Shen Yun; though these were paid ads, they looked like regular articles to the undiscerning eye.
Ticketing Systems
Face Cyberattack
A large-scale cyberattack originating in China took aim at shutting down Shen Yun’s ticketing system; one of several attacks in recent years.
Lawfare Targets
Shen Yun
Documents leaked from
China last year warned that the CCP was shifting tactics to attack Shen Yun with frivolous lawsuits and attempts to incite U.S. government investigations; this has already started to play out.
Bus Tires Slashed
On multiple occasions, deep cuts were discovered on the front tires of Shen Yun’s buses; the cuts were made in such a way that the tires would not immediately deflate but would dangerously explode on the highway.
Death and Bomb Threats Sent to
Shen Yun and Government Officials
This 2025 tour, over 40 theaters where Shen Yun was performing received emails threatening to blow up the theater or enter and shoot everyone if Shen Yun is allowed to perform. Shen Yun’s headquarters in New York has received dozens more death threats targeting performers, their families, and even supportive members of Congress, whose “bodies will be dumped on the streets of Washington.” All threats were seriously investigated, but always turned out to be mere scare tactics.
Diplomats Pressure Theaters and Governments
Every year, Chinese embassy and consulate officials write, call, and visit theater managers, mayors, and even heads of state trying to pressure them to cancel Shen Yun shows.
Families of Artists
Threatened in China
Performers’ family members back in China receive regular threatening visits from CCP security agents; some performers’ family members have even been imprisoned.
Slander Appears
in Mainstream Media
Chinese state media paid prominent papers—including the Washington Post and Wall Street Journal—to carry its articles attacking Shen Yun; though these were paid ads, they looked like regular articles to the undiscerning eye.
Ticketing Systems
Face Cyberattack
A large-scale cyberattack originating in China took aim at shutting down Shen Yun’s ticketing system; one of several attacks in recent years.
Lawfare Targets
Shen Yun
Documents leaked from
China last year warned that the CCP was shifting tactics to attack Shen Yun with frivolous lawsuits and attempts to incite U.S. government investigations; this has already started to play out.
Bus Tires Slashed
On multiple occasions, deep cuts were discovered on the front tires of Shen Yun’s buses; the cuts were made in such a way that the tires would not immediately deflate but would dangerously explode on the highway.
Death and Bomb Threats Sent to Shen Yun and Government Officials
This 2025 tour, over 40 theaters where Shen Yun was performing received emails threatening to blow up the theater or enter and shoot everyone if Shen Yun is allowed to perform. Shen Yun’s headquarters in New York has received dozens more death threats targeting performers, their families, and even supportive members of Congress, whose “bodies will be dumped on the streets of Washington.” All threats were seriously investigated, but always turned out to be mere scare tactics.
The CCP fears Shen Yun’s power: its dances revive China’s grand cultural heritage before communism and expose the regime’s abuses. The CCP’s tactics reveal desperation to silence Shen Yun’s defiant cultural renaissance. Yet, Shen Yun’s artists remain undeterred, their performances growing bolder and more brilliant with each passing year.
For now, China remains off-limits. But around the world, the show goes on—proof that art can resist even the most determined oppression.
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