Shen Yun Performing Arts, the traveling dance troupe behind elaborate performances that show “China before Communism,” has been sued by a former dancer and also is being investigated over its allegedly abusive child labor practices, which were previously reported by The New York Times in August.
Shen Yun is affiliated with Falun Gong, the non-Christian spiritual movement behind The Epoch Times and Epoch Films. The National Religious Broadcasters and a Christian publicity firm have promoted the Epoch brands to Christian pastors and influencers while concealing their links to the controversial Chinese religious group some scholars consider a cult.
Chang Chun-Ko, who was a Shen Yun dancer from the age of 13 to 24, has sued the troupe in New York federal district court, The Times reported. She claims Shen Yun is a “forced labor enterprise” that engages in trafficking, abuses its under-age performers, engages in cultic tactics to separate performers from the outside world, and exploits their labor to generate millions of dollars in revenue.
Shen Yun’s latest season fielded eight separate troupes that performed 800 shows around the world. Shen Yun claims assets of more than $265 million.
Falun Gong founder Li Hongzhi in a photo from a group supporting the religion.
Chang’s lawsuit says Shen Yun separates youngsters from their families and subjects them to “a system of coercion and control that extends to nearly every aspect of the dancers’ lives.” The suit seeks to be certified as a class action, meaning other performers could join the suit.
The lawsuit names Falun Gong founder Master Li Hongzhi; his wife, Li Rui; and International Bank of Chicago, which arranges finances for Shen Yun performers. Performers who tried to leave Shen Yun were warned “they would go to hell or face danger if they left, because they would lose Mr. Li’s protection,” the suit alleges.
But the lawsuit is only the latest significant challenge to Falun Gong-affiliated groups in the U.S. this year.
The Times also reported the New York State Department of Labor has opened an inquiry into Shen Yun’s labor practices, which appear to have violated state child labor laws for the past 20 years. Performers toiled morning to night, sometimes doing two shows a day, and also set up and tore down elaborate sets.
In June, federal prosecutors charged Weidong “Bill” Guan, The Epoch Times’ chief financial officer, with artificially inflating the media outlet’s revenue by $67 million through money laundering and other crimes, reported the Los Angeles Times.
An entertainment news outlet reported at least $14 million of that allegedly ill-gotten gain flowed through Shen Yun accounts.
Also in June: The watchdog group Accountable.US filed an IRS complaint against two other Falun Gong-affiliated nonprofits: the Epoch Public Foundation and the Epoch Times Association according to the Los Angeles Times. The complaint seeks to expose potentially fraudulent information in tax filings.
Following a model pioneered by the Unification Church, Falun Gong has sought to grow its influence and income in the U.S. Shen Yun performances seek to evangelize and save audience members from an approaching apocalypse.
Scene from The Firing Squad film.
Evangelical Christians have helped Falun Gong achieve its influence and income goals by promoting Epoch brands to believers in the U.S., as BNG has reported.
The publicity company owned by A. Larry Ross, who worked with Billy Graham for decades, publicized The Firing Squad, the first offering from Falun Gong’s new Epoch Films. The company introduced the film to Christian pastors and leaders at private screenings.
Ross’s company says its vision is “To further the kingdom of God through professional involvement in ministry and media,” but its promotional work concealed Epoch’s connections to Falun Gong. A publicist for Ross’ company at first offered then declined an interview about its work promoting the non-Christian faith group.
Christian media outlets that relied on the film’s publicity materials likewise skirted the Falun Gong connection, including:
Likewise, National Religious Broadcasters, which calls itself “the world’s largest association of Christian communicators,” has promoted both The Epoch Times and Epoch films but never informed its members about Falun Gong financing both efforts. NRB has declined to answer questions about its partnership with Falun Gong or explain its support for a non-Christian faith group that seemingly would be ineligible for membership.
The Christian outlet Movieguide informs its readers now about Falun Gong financing in some reviews, but not others.
Movieguide gave a positive review to Epoch TV’s film Hollywood Takeover: China’s Control In The Film Industry, but warned: “Readers should note that Epoch TV, which made and distributes Hollywood Takeover, was founded by the Falun Gong, an anti-communist, neo-conservative Daoist/Buddhist religious cult from China created in the 1990s by a man who apparently considers himself a god or demi-god.”
But Movieguide provided no such warning in its review of The Firing Squad.
Critics say The Epoch Times is a source of misinformation and climate disinformation.
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Evangelicals promote Falun Gong-backed movie The Firing Squad
Shen Yun dancers abused by Falun Gong leaders, report finds
A newspaper, a religion and a dance troupe producing misinformation