​​​​​​​Court Documents Reveal How the Chinese Communist Regime Fears Shen Yun

On the afternoon of March 30, 2025, Shen Yun Performing Arts New York Company’s sixth performance at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center in New York once again played to a full house. (Dai Bing/The Dajiyuan)

[People News] A laptop was open, and on its screen was a news article reporting on the enthusiastic reactions of the live audience during Shen Yun Performing Arts’ performances at the Kennedy Center Opera House in Washington. Simply viewing this article became the so-called “evidence” used by Chinese authorities to illegally sentence a Chinese citizen.

Shen Yun Performing Arts tours around 200 cities in about 20 countries each year. The five-thousand-year-old traditional Chinese culture it presents onstage is something the Chinese Communist regime fears extremely, and the regime has spared no effort to suppress Shen Yun worldwide. Multiple verdicts and indictments obtained by The Dajiyuan show that in China, Falun Gong practitioners have been illegally sentenced for distributing Shen Yun DVDs or reading reports about Shen Yun.

One such indictment issued by the Shushan District Procuratorate in Hefei, Anhui Province, in November 2022 shows that a Falun Gong practitioner surnamed Wang and her friend were arrested by police while reading the above-mentioned Shen Yun article.

The indictment shows that police already knew that Ms. Wang was a Falun Gong practitioner and had been following her. The indictment records the entire process, from her being tailed to her arrest.

According to the indictment, at around 7 p.m. on May 20, 2022, at an intersection in her local area, Ms. Wang told a passerby that Falun Dafa is good and persuaded him to withdraw from the Chinese Communist Party and its affiliated organizations.

On the afternoon of August 3, 2022, Ms. Wang went to a friend’s home. Together, they viewed the Minghui.org article “Shen Yun Touring Season Concludes Successfully; Audience in U.S. Capital Express Gratitude” on a laptop. At 8 p.m. that evening, police who had followed them broke into the house and arrested the two. At 10 p.m. that night, police also ransacked Ms. Wang’s home.

Ms. Wang was first illegally detained in 1999 for practicing Falun Gong, and since then she was repeatedly illegally detained for refusing to give up her belief. She was also illegally sentenced twice, with a total of six years of imprisonment. The Chinese Communist prosecutors claimed that she was a “repeat offender” and should receive a heavier sentence.

According to Minghui.org, on November 2, 2023, Ms. Wang was illegally sentenced to one year and six months in prison and fined 2,000 yuan. She finished her wrongful imprisonment and returned home in early May 2025.

This is a typical persecution case in which authorities treated reading a Shen Yun report as “criminal evidence” to justify illegal arrest and sentencing.

Shen Yun Performances Receive Widespread Praise Worldwide

Ms. Wang was wrongfully sentenced for reading the report “Shen Yun Touring Season Concludes Successfully; Audience in U.S. Capital Express Gratitude.” So what did this report say? The article described how elites from various sectors in Washington came to see Shen Yun, and how U.S. congressmen, government officials, diplomats, and professionals in the fields of arts, business, and technology expressed their amazement and gratitude after watching the performance.

Shen Yun Performing Arts was founded in 2006 in New York by Falun Gong practitioners. It has since become the world’s premier classical Chinese dance company. Today, eight equally large companies tour the world simultaneously, presenting magnificent performances to roughly one million people each year.

On April 6, 2025, Shen Yun New York Company’s 12th performance at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center in New York played to consecutive full houses. The photo shows the curtain call at the April 6 afternoon show. (Dai Bing/The Dajiyuan)

Through about 15 dance and music programs themed on “China Before Communism,” Shen Yun artistically presents “five thousand years of Chinese civilization” within two hours. These programs include dances portraying more than 50 ethnic groups in China, such as Mongolians and Tibetans. The Chinese Communist regime has attempted to suppress the cultural identities of these ethnic groups. Shen Yun programs also tell stories of heroes, emperors, and other notable figures from Chinese history—stories the CCP has spent decades trying to rewrite or erase. Additionally, Shen Yun performances include one or two pieces portraying Falun Gong practitioners in modern China who refuse to give up their faith in the face of persecution.

Over the past twenty years, Shen Yun has consistently received rave reviews worldwide. U.S. Army retired Lieutenant General and former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn said, “This (Shen Yun) is a great miracle. It is an incredibly wise way to present true Chinese culture. Shen Yun tells five thousand years of long history in just a few hours, in such a vivid and understandable way…”

He also explained why the CCP suppresses Shen Yun: “The Chinese Communist Party does not want the world to understand the greatness and influence of traditional Chinese culture.”

CCP’s Brutal Persecution of Falun Gong Has Lasted 26 Years, Spreading From China to Overseas

The CCP’s suppression of Shen Yun is an extension of its persecution campaign against Falun Gong abroad. According to previous reports by The Dajiyuan, in 2022, CCP leader Xi Jinping ordered Chinese agencies to intensify efforts to persecute Falun Gong overseas, with groups founded by Falun Gong practitioners—especially Shen Yun Performing Arts—being major targets.

On February 21, 2025, at the National Press Club in Washington, Shen Yun master of ceremonies Leeshai Lemish spoke at a press conference about a recent bomb threat against Shen Yun at the Kennedy Center. (Madalina Vasiliu/The Dajiyuan)

According to individuals who fled China and the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the CCP sees Falun Gong as a threat to its rule because Falun Gong offers the Chinese people an alternative vision of society outside of communism.

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, teaches people to follow the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance. It was introduced to the public in the early 1990s and spread rapidly across China. According to official CCP estimates, by the late 1990s the number of Falun Gong practitioners ranged from 70 million to 100 million.

Despite the CCP’s brutal persecution having lasted 26 years, Falun Gong has spread around the world. Today, people in roughly 100 countries can freely practice Falun Dafa.

Over a Decade Ago, Owning Shen Yun Materials Had Already Become a Pretext for Persecution

Ms. Wang’s case is only one among thousands of wrongful cases involving Falun Gong practitioners. Multiple verdicts recently obtained by The Dajiyuan show that as early as 2012, Shen Yun–related DVDs, pictures, and other materials (known in mainland China as “New Tang Dynasty TV Global Chinese New Year Gala”) had already been used as sentencing evidence in persecution cases.

A 2017 verdict from the Shunyi District Court in Beijing shows that a Falun Gong practitioner surnamed Duan was illegally sentenced to one and a half years in prison. Court documents show that the basis for the sentence was that between 2000 and 2015—a span of 15 years—the man made 17 Falun Gong DVDs, 55 pictures from the 2015 New Tang Dynasty New Year Gala (i.e., Shen Yun), 4 images from “Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party,” and 102 protective charms related to Falun Gong. All of these were used as evidence of “crime.”

A 2012 verdict from Botou City Court in Hebei Province shows that a Falun Gong practitioner surnamed Wang was illegally sentenced to three years. According to the court documents, the evidence included Falun Gong books, “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance” posters, as well as Shen Yun–related materials including 100 DVDs of the “2012 New Tang Dynasty Gala,” 9,800 covers for the same gala, and 200 Shen Yun performance posters.

Chinese police found a satellite television receiver in Ms. Wang’s home. This type of receiver enables viewers to watch satellite television programs blocked by the CCP’s internet firewall. Police also found a large number of DVDs.

According to the verdict, Ms. Wang was illegally detained in February 2012. One month later, she was formally arrested and remained illegally detained. When arrested, she was caring for her elderly mother and young son. Her lawyer requested leniency from the judge.

The document shows that Ms. Wang had previously been sentenced to one year of forced labor in 2002 for insisting on practicing Falun Gong and was detained in a labor camp.

A 2013 verdict from Longxi County Court in Gansu Province shows that a Falun Gong practitioner surnamed Chen was wrongfully sentenced to three years and six months. Court files show that among the items seized as evidence, in addition to Falun Gong books and “truth-clarification” banknotes, there were fourteen 5-inch DVDs of the “2012 New Tang Dynasty Global Chinese New Year Gala” and two 5-inch DVDs of “Shen Yun Performing Arts Chorus Concert.”

A 2014 verdict from the Chang’an District Court in Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province, shows that a practitioner surnamed Li was sentenced by the CCP to five years in prison. According to the court documents, among the items confiscated and used as evidence were only one Shen Yun DVD, three DVDs of the Chinese New Year Gala, and one New Tang Dynasty Gala DVD. Most of the materials were items used by his late mother.

He admitted having shared these truth-clarification materials with others, including 123 CDs containing Falun Gong content, songs, or Shen Yun content, as well as 1,200 stickers printed with the words “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance” and “Falun Dafa Is Good.”

Another verdict shows that in 2013, a female student was accused by the CCP authorities of possessing and distributing Falun Gong–related materials, including “Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party” and several Shen Yun DVDs. In the early 2000s, she had repeatedly been illegally detained for adhering to her belief and was twice sentenced to forced labor, totaling three years of forced labor. In 2012, she was once again formally arrested for her faith.

In the case statement she submitted, she detailed the beatings and torture she endured during her illegal detention by Chinese police, including both physical and psychological abuse. Her mother spent the last years of her life seeking her daughter’s release but never managed to see her one last time before passing away in regret.

These cases are only the tip of the iceberg. Since the persecution of Falun Gong began in 1999, the CCP has launched nationwide mass arrests. Many Falun Gong practitioners have been illegally detained or sentenced multiple times for refusing to abandon their beliefs. In various detention facilities, authorities used torture to force practitioners to give up their faith. The CCP’s brutal persecution of Falun Gong practitioners has changed little over the past 25 years.

(Reported by Catherine Yang and Zhang Zijun for The Dajiyuan)△