The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has thrown everything it can at Shen Yun—propaganda, cyberattacks, diplomatic pressure—yet despite all its efforts, it has failed to stop us. If anything, its relentless attempts at suppression have only strengthened Shen Yun’s mission and solidified its role as a symbol of cultural resilience in the face of tyranny.
Shen Yun is not just a performance; it is a cultural renaissance, breathing life into a heritage that the CCP has worked tirelessly to erase. For thousands of years, China was a land of profound spiritual traditions. Emperors reigned with the belief that they had to earn their divine mandate by being benevolent rulers. It was a land where music, dance, and literature reflected the virtues of compassion, loyalty, and justice. This was a China where the human and the divine coexisted, a civilization that was guided by Confucian, Buddhist, and Taoist ideals.
But that version of China is not the one the CCP wants the world to see. The Party has spent decades rewriting history, distorting narratives, and suppressing any connection to China’s pre-communist past. The Cultural Revolution of the 1960s and 1970s saw the destruction of temples, the persecution of scholars, and the systematic dismantling of traditional values. Today, the CCP continues this effort, controlling media, censoring art, and ensuring that only its version of China is recognized globally.
This is why Shen Yun, which is based in New York, is being attacked. The CCP recognizes that Shen Yun presents a vision of China entirely different from the one it has fabricated—a China rooted in faith, morality, and artistic expression rather than in strict ideological control. It thus made Shen Yun a target, using every tool at its disposal to try and silence it.
The Party has tried pressuring theaters around the world not to host Shen Yun performances by threatening both venues and local governments with economic retaliation. It has used state-run media, including China Watch inserts in American papers, to spread disinformation, labeling Shen Yun as controversial or politically motivated. It has launched cyberattacks against ticketing systems, seeking to disrupt performances and limit audiences. Their tactics are not just about stopping Shen Yun, but part of a broader global influence campaign aimed at controlling discourse beyond China’s borders.
Recently, this hostility escalated to a new and dangerous level. Last month, a bomb threat was made against Shen Yun’s performance at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., forcing an evacuation of one of America’s most prestigious theaters. While no device was found and it was just another scare tactic prank, the very act of making such a threat reveals the lengths to which those who oppose Shen Yun’s message are willing to go. This was not just an attack on a performance—it was an act of intimidation meant to instill fear and discourage people from witnessing the truth.
Yet, despite all obstacles, Shen Yun continues to grow. Every year, we tour across five continents with a brand-new production, selling out performances in major cities and receiving standing ovations from diverse audiences. Millions have seen Shen Yun and walked away with a deeper understanding of China’s cultural history—not the version that the CCP propagates, but the one that truly existed for thousands of years.
This moment calls for a critical question: Will the world allow a foreign dictatorship to tell us what can and cannot be performed on our stages? The CCP has long relied on economic leverage, diplomatic pressure, and outright intimidation to silence its critics, but America must take a firm stand against this kind of transnational repression. For an authoritarian regime to influence artistic expression in free nations is unacceptable, and the U.S. has a responsibility to ensure that such interference is met with strong resistance.
This is where leadership is needed. With President Donald Trump at the helm, the United States has a unique opportunity to push back against the CCP’s global censorship efforts and defend the fundamental right of artistic and cultural expression. By holding the CCP accountable, exposing its propaganda, espionage, and sabotage tactics, and ensuring that groups like Shen Yun can continue to perform without fear, President Trump can reaffirm America’s commitment to freedom. The entire world needs this kind of leadership.
Shen Yun’s success is proof that truth cannot be silenced. No matter how many threats, lies, or attacks the CCP launches, Shen Yun will continue to perform. Through dance, music, and storytelling, it is reviving a China that the CCP tried to erase—but could never truly destroy.
The Party may try to rewrite history, but Shen Yun is defending both Chinese civilization and American freedoms—one performance at a time.
This column is presented by TCRC.
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