Shen Yun Highlighted as CCP Attempts to Coerce Former Soviet-Occupied Country Amid Show Performance
Latvia is the latest country to face the CCP’s diplomatic pressure as it hosts the New York-based classical Chinese dance company in January.
RIGA, Latvia—When Latvia decided to stage a performance by a New York-based arts company this January, the small European nation found itself under unexpected diplomatic pressure from a far-off giant: China.
Zagars went on to reveal that he had reached out to Latvia’s foreign ministry for guidance and learned that such diplomatic pressure on Shen Yun is not unusual.
Zagars told TV3 that he also received an invitation from the local Chinese Embassy to discuss what it called cooperation opportunities. When he sought clarification on the nature of the cooperation, there was no response from the embassy, according to Zagars.
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Nonetheless, as Latvian media reported, this incident marks the first time in recent years that a foreign embassy has tried to influence the artistic direction of a Latvian theater.
Prior to opening night, Shen Yun’s presenter in Latvia told The Epoch Times that it communicated with local police, who advised it to report any attempts to disrupt the performance.
Latvia’s Ministry of Culture has previously told Shen Yun’s local presenter that “freedom of speech and expression are highly valued fundamental values” in Latvia, according to a letter viewed by The Epoch Times.
After the performance, some audience members expressed their dismay at Beijing’s attempts to censor Shen Yun.
Escalating Pressure
Concerns are growing over Beijing’s ongoing efforts to stifle free artistic expression. In the United States, a State Department report, released in June 2024, highlighted Beijing’s persistent efforts to censor Shen Yun, stating that many of its artists practice Falun Gong.
Falun Gong is an ancient meditative discipline that consists of moral teachings based on truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance. It has been brutally targeted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999, after an estimated 70 million to 100 million people took up the practice, according to official estimates at the time, outpacing CCP membership.
False Bomb Threats and Diplomatic Pressure
During Shen Yun’s 2024 global tour alone, the company was targeted by false bombing threats and diplomatic pressure in multiple European cities.
Last March, while Shen Yun was performing at Poland’s CKK Jordanki Concert Hall, the theater’s cultural and conference director, Grzegorz Grabowski, told The Epoch Times that Chinese consular officials had attempted to interfere with the show on two separate occasions.
In January 2024, two consular representatives pressured the venue to cancel the show. After being rejected, the Chinese consul personally requested the following month that the contract be canceled, only to be turned down again.
Grabowski said at the time that the theater had already signed a contract with Shen Yun, and more importantly, all tickets had been sold out.
“I cannot cancel or terminate the contract,” he said.
“No amount of pressure can absolve us of our responsibility” to let Shen Yun perform as scheduled, he said. “That’s just the way it is.”
Petr Svab and Dorothy Li contributed to this report.
