(Minghui.org) “Shen Yun’s tour buses in Canada and the U.S were damaged on several occasions, including having their tires slashed. The most recent incident took place last weekend on March 23, 2024. During Shen Yun performances in Vancouver, someone sent an email to theater staff threatening to set off a bomb,” said Ms. Dai.
On March 27, 2024, Ms. Dai, president of the Falun Dafa Association in Canada, testified during hearings in Ottawa on a public inquiry into foreign interference. She exposed the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) threats to stop Shen Yun performances. She said, “The same bomb threat email was sent to theaters in the U.S. This shows that it is an attempt (that) targets Shen Yun. Only the CCP would have such a motive and such behavior (which) are in line with its past actions.”
Video screenshot of a hearing during a public inquiry into foreign interference in Ottawa held on March 27, 2024. Ms. Dai (second on left), president of the Falun Dafa Association in Canada, and Mehmet Tohti (center), executive director of the Uyghur Rights Advocacy Project (URAP), testified to the CCP’s interference in Canada during the hearing.
CCP Sabotaged Shen Yun Performances
According to Ms. Dai, the CCP systematically works to sabotage Shen Yun performances by doing things such as sending warning letters to politicians to deter them from watching the show, and exerting pressure on elected officials who attended the shows through phone calls or emails that defame Falun Gong and Shen Yun.
She gave an example: The office of a councilor in Ottawa received offensive and rude emails from persons claiming to be Falun Gong practitioners after he attended a Shen Yun performance. These emails were blocked with the help of IT staff in the town hall. Practitioners had the opportunity to clarify that these emails did not come from Falun Gong practitioners, and were, in fact, attempts by the CCP to vilify the practice after the councilor made a complaint to local practitioners when he received the emails.
Ms. Dai said similar falsified emails were sent to a theater manager in Calgary to sabotage the relationship between the theater and local practitioners who host Shen Yun shows. Some emails even threatened local sponsors in an attempt to pressure them to withdraw their sponsorships for Shen Yun.
“Shen Yun’s mission is to revive Chinese traditional culture that is being destroyed by the CCP,” said Ms. Dai. “The regime is scared of Shen Yun. The shows challenge the legality of its rule. Traditional Chinese culture is at odds with communist culture.”
The CCP Extends Its Persecution Campaign of Falun Gong to Canada
Ms. Dai said that in July 1999, the former leader of the CCP launched a nationwide, illegal suppression of Falun Gong in China.
“The persecution is not restricted to only inside China, it has extended overseas, including Canada. Falun Gong practitioners in Canada have devoted themselves to protesting the CCP’s persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China, Canada, and the rest of the world. In Canada, practitioners’ efforts include exposing the regime’s lies about the practice and raising public awareness of the regime’s violations of human rights.”
The Falun Dafa Association in Canada published a 130-page report in October 2023 titled “Foreign Interference & Repression of Falun Gong in Canada” that exposed the CCP’s foreign interference and transnational repression targeting the Falun Gong community in Canada over the past two decades. Ms. Dai summarized parts of the report during the hearing.
The report detailed how the CCP has used an array of tactics to influence elected officials in Canada and people in all segments of society with the objective of marginalizing Falun Gong and suppressing public support for Falun Gong. The methods employed include political infiltration, manipulation, coercion, inciting hatred, spreading false information, attacks, harassment, Internet attacks, and surveillance. These tactics were not only implemented by Chinese embassies and consulates, they were also adopted by CCP agents and organizations (such as unification departments) in Canada.
The report also noted that the CCP has interfered in small and large community groups in Canada, business and celebratory events, as well as other arts and cultural activities, aimed at excluding Falun Gong practitioners from participating in community events. Such coercion and manipulation not only curtails the benefits for Canadians but also encroaches on Canada’s core values.
The report listed in detail a large quantity of hate speech and false information propagated by the CCP and Chinese news pages and online platforms controlled by the regime. Such content has misled some people and resulted in their discriminatory attitude towards Falun Gong practitioners.
Not only are Falun Gong practitioners regularly attacked physically and harassed in public, they also face surveillance and attacks on the Internet. In addition, in Canada, the CCP systematically controls the Chinese community, its media, and the Internet to promote its agenda and suppress the voices of Falun Gong practitioners.
Ms. Dai gave several examples: A Falun Gong practitioner protesting outside the Chinese consulate in Vancouver was threatened at gunpoint; a practitioner in Toronto was confronted outside her home and threatened with having her children taken away because she called for help to get her illegally detained sister and brother-in-law released. The same practitioner’s car windows were smashed and her balcony was smeared with human excrement.
Ms. Dai gave an example of political interference. Government officials from Canada withdrew their support for Falun Gong or stifled their protests against the Chinese regime after they visited China. In 2006, then Vancouver mayor Sam Sullivan pursued court action to remove a long standing Falun Gong vigil outside the Chinese consulate. He told the Vancouver Sun, “When I go to China, they treat me like an emperor.”
She said that Ottawa government officials once tried to stop practitioners from protesting outside the Chinese embassy. The problem was resolved after many efforts but none of these things should have happened. In 2010, then Ottawa mayor Larry O’Brien withdrew his support for a proclamation recognizing Falun Gong practitioners, because of a commitment he’d made. However, the city council bypassed the mayor and unanimously approved the declaration honoring Falun Gong, and continued to do so in subsequent years.
According to a Global News report, in 2007, a billionaire real estate developer and former People’s Liberation Army officer with connections to CCP officials invited seven Vancouver-area mayors on an all-expense-paid trip to Beijing. One of them was the Port Moody mayor. From 2002 to 2007, the mayor had given “Falun Dafa month” proclamations, but after his trip to Beijing, he stopped issuing them.
According to the People’s Daily, one of the reasons the billionaire came to Canada was to influence Canadian politicians’ views on China through real estate dealings.
CCP Interference Negatively Impacts Canadian Society
Ms. Dai said the CCP’s persecution of Falun Gong has extended to Canada, and not only are the safety, freedom, and rights of Falun Gong practitioners threatened, it also has a negative influence on Canadian society. People have become indifferent to the persecution in China, which has led to intolerance and discrimination, both contrary to Canada’s core values.
She emphasized that the illegal hate speech and false information spread by the CCP in Canada must be taken seriously and dealt with.
She said, “Today, I come here to expose the repression targeted at our group by the CCP, and the tactics and architecture used to infiltrate Canada. Although we don’t have direct figures on the CCP’s interference in federal elections, our personal experiences from living in Canada for 25 years are enough to give people an idea of the extent of the CCP’s interference. By mobilizing Chinese groups in Canada, the CCP tries to suppress Falun Gong. Not only has it established basic mechanisms [that] interfere with Canada’s political structure, including influencing elections, such basic facilities are becoming more mature, and the public in Canada have already noticed its influence in the last two federal elections.
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