Argentina: the Chinese Communist Party censors the artistic expression of Shen Yun at the Teatro Colón
This year marks a decade without the Teatro Colón accepting to present the prestigious Shen Yun due to pressure from the Embassy of the Communist Party of China.
For about 10 years, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), through its Embassy in Buenos Aires, has pressured Argentine officials to deny the rental of the Teatro Colón for the presentation of the prestigious performing arts company, Shen Yun Performing Arts, which revives the 5,000 years of traditional Chinese culture before the arrival of communism.
The local authorities have accepted this shameful demand from a foreign totalitarian power and time and time again deny the New York-based, world-renowned classical Chinese music and dance company the chance to have a performance at the Colón.
Communist totalitarianism does not want this play to be staged in Argentina, where there is a huge Chinese community, since it shows the glorious Chinese history that the Communist Party has dedicated itself to covering up and rewriting. But also because all their artists are Falun Dafa practitioners.
Falun Dafa is an ancient spiritual discipline of the Buddha School, which is in check with the atheistic nature of the Communist Party. In 1999, the dictator Jiang Zemin ordered a ban on this religion in China due to its enormous acceptance in the 1990s. Falun Dafa was banned that year and since then a brutal persecution began that continues to this day.
International human rights organizations, the Argentine justice system, the United Nations and parliaments around the world have classified this religious persecution as genocide. But what is most worrying is that this persecution has spread abroad; where the Communist Party spreads slander against Falun Dafa, and even uses violence and intimidation.
In Argentina, Argentine Falun Dafa practitioners have been subjected to violence in peaceful demonstrations, due to the deliberate inaction of the security forces. Currently, there are six legal cases open against citizens of Chinese origin and also Argentine officials for publicly attacking Argentine practitioners.
But also, the reprehensible interference of the Chinese Communist Party in Argentina has extended to the artistic environment: the Chinese Embassy in Buenos Aires would be pressuring the authorities of the Government of the City of Buenos Aires so that Shen Yun cannot be presented at the Theater Colon.
Since the CCP is an officially atheist regime, it fears the spiritual awakening that Shen Yun could generate in the audience, and wants to avoid, by all possible means, the tragic reality of the religious persecution suffered by the Chinese community in Argentina being revealed to the Chinese community in Argentina. Falun Dafa practitioners in mainland China.
Furthermore, the Communist Party views traditional Chinese culture as a threat to communist ideology. That is why, to counter this communist interference, a national citizen petition has been started to raise awareness about this foreign interference in artistic expression in Argentina and to support the cause, affirming both freedom of expression and national sovereignty.
CITIZEN PETITION
Having exhausted the administrative channels to resolve this conflict, a large dissemination campaign has been launched at the national level to inform all Argentine citizens about what is happening in Argentina with foreign censorship of artistic expression.
All those who want to reaffirm sovereignty are invited to sign the citizen petition addressed to the authorities of the City of Buenos Aires and the Teatro Colón.
Giving in to the CCP means not only supporting China’s 23-year-old persecution of peaceful Falun Dafa practitioners, but also allowing a genocidal foreign regime to undermine national sovereignty.
Officials from other countries have responded with dignity, and have remained firm in the face of the irrational demands of the Communist Party even while keeping their commercial relations intact, so it is not understood why Argentina has decided in recent years to cede so much sovereignty.
A DECADE OF ARTISTIC CENSORSHIP
For 10 years, dates have been requested to be able to rent the Teatro Colón for Shen Yun performances in Buenos Aires. Surprisingly the multiple requests were ignored and dodged behind some very unprofessional behaviour.
Only for the first time in 2019, Shen Yun obtained the first formal response from the then General Director, María Alcaraz, saying that there was no date available ace for the next 3 years.
On another, more informal occasion, he has also excused himself by saying that Shen Yun is not a “classical” play, which is false, since the nature of the show is purely classical Chinese music and dance. It is also known that today the Teatro Colón opens its doors to all kinds of shows of different musical and artistic genres, including rock concerts.
Without giving up, requests for Shen Yun performances continue to be submitted via document letters. But not even the last change of authorities, with the assumption of Jorge Telerman as director, who has spoken wonders of the show when he saw it in 2014, has been able to change this evasive way of operating by the Teatro Colón.
Despite how excited director Jorge Telerman was in 2014 with the work, today he refuses to present them.
Behind closed doors, there are testimonies from Argentine theater directors and public officials about how the Chinese Embassy, through phone calls and “threats”, has pressured them to cancel performances and warned them not to see the show.
In October 2016, the Falun Dafa Association requested information from the Foreign Ministry about “interference by the Chinese Embassy in Buenos Aires in order to prevent the presentation of the Shen Yun show at the Teatro Colón in 2017.”
The Foreign Ministry did not deny the interference, and responded that this information is classified. “This requested foreign policy information is expressly classified as reserved. By virtue of this, it suggests denying the information required under Article 16 subparagraph ‘a’ of the General Regulation of Access to Public Information for the National Executive Power”.
These kinds of defamatory and disrespectful actions through its diplomats are systematic acts carried out by the Communist Party in every country where Shen Yun is performed. However, the vast majority of cities and theaters in the free world have not accepted this form of interference in their country’s cultural decisions.
Local officials in a sovereign country are under no obligation to accept these pressures. Instead, repudiate and reject this type of unscrupulous proposals and protect your people is your duty and responsibility.
WHAT IS SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS?
Shen Yun Performing Arts was founded by Falun Dafa practitioners in New York in 2006. Shen Yun’s mission is to use the performing arts to revive the essence of Chinese culture, traditionally considered a divinely inspired civilization, an idea that goes against the conception of the Chinese nation that the Communist Party preaches.
Shen Yun embodies this ancient culture by enacting ancient stories and traditions on stage through the ancient art of classical Chinese dance, a live symphony orchestra majestically blending Western and Eastern instruments, elegant costumes, and digital projections that create an inspiring performance that will It has earned him great international prestige.
The show unfolds in the best international theaters, such as the Lincoln Center in New York, the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. and the Deutsche Oper in Berlin, among others.
It delivers an inspiring message, too, and the audience leaves not only moved, but deeply grateful for the opportunity to witness such a soul-cleansing play.
In Argentina, Shen Yun has been presented since 2012 at the Opera Theater in Buenos Aires. But due to the continuous deterioration of its infrastructure, the Opera Theater is no longer in a condition to once again host such a great show.
It should be noted that currently there is no other stage with the necessary characteristics for Shen Yun to be presented in Buenos Aires besides the Teatro Colón.
With information from La Derecha Diario
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