House Lawmakers Question Kennedy Center for Hosting National Ballet of China

Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) chair Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) speaks during a press conference discussing the implications of the Safeguarding National Security Bill (Article 23 legislation) at the House Triangle near the U.S. Capitol building in Washington on March 22, 2024. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

WASHINGTON—Two House Republicans are questioning the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts regarding its decision to host the National Ballet of China, saying the dance company is part of communist China’s “political machinery,” according to a letter provided to The Epoch Times.

Reps. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) and John Moolenaar (R-Mich.) sent a letter to the Kennedy Center’s Chairman David Rubenstein and President Deborah Rutter on Jan. 24. The letter states that the performing arts center receives annual congressional appropriations, including $44 million for fiscal year 2024, to ensure its function as a public building.

The lawmakers pointed out that “there is a responsibility to be accountable to the U.S. taxpayers for what goes on in their building.”

The Kennedy Center is requesting Congress a budget of about $45.73 million for fiscal year 2025, according to its report.

The lawmakers noted that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) does not tolerate free artistic expression and sees art as a “political instrument” with the objective of “disseminating propaganda abroad and mobilizing the masses domestically.”

“Art is propaganda in [CCP leader] Xi Jinping’s China and can only serve the CCP,” the lawmakers wrote.

The National Ballet of China is scheduled to perform at the Kennedy Center from Jan. 29 to Feb. 2.

The Chinese ballet company has three leaders who are CCP members, and its director, Feng Ying, has held posts in two CCP organs, the National People’s Congress and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, according to the letter.

The company has an embedded Party committee office responsible for “ensuring compliance with Party directive,” the lawmakers wrote. “Hence, the National Ballet of China clearly is part of the CCP’s political machinery.”

“While presenting a friendly façade to the American public via the ballet, this regime is actively persecuting writers, artists and other creative talents who dissent from the Party line not only within the PRC, but also abroad, including in the United States,” the lawmakers wrote, using the acronym of communist China’s official name, the People’s Republic of China.

Smith is the chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China and Moolenaar is the chairman of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party.

Concerns

The letter mentioned Chinese artists targeted by the Chinese regime, such as songwriter Liu Sifang and lyricist Xu Lin, who were criminally detained in 2017 for “picking quarrels and provoking troubles” due to their songs promoting human rights and democracy.

Another artist cited in the letter was U.S.-based sculptor Chen Weiming, who created a bust statue called the “CCP virus” featuring a face resembling Xi. In 2022, the Department of Justice charged three alleged CCP agents, including a former correctional officer in Florida, in a conspiracy to shame and discredit Chen.

“Subsidizing CCP propaganda and implicitly endorsing Xi Jinping’s war on artists and intellectuals … is not responsible stewardship in our opinion,” the lawmakers wrote.

They emphasized the Kennedy Center’s heritage, pointing out that it should not be used to exhibit performances based on communist ideology.

“We note that the Kennedy Center is a public building and a memorial to President John F. Kennedy, who believed that dancers, poets, musicians, writers and painters are critical participants in a vibrant American democracy,” the letter reads.

The lawmakers request Rubenstein and Rutter to answer several questions before Jan. 28, including whether any federal money is being used to stage the Chinese ballet company’s performances.

Additionally, the lawmakers asked about the funders behind the Chinese ballet company’s performances, particularly whether they have included entities with ties to China’s United Front Work Department.

In November 2023, the House Select Committee on the CCP published a memo warning Americans about China’s united front, saying that part of this effort involves the “promotion of favorable narratives about the PRC through ostensibly independent voices.”

Another question from the lawmakers is whether the Kennedy Center will include any contributions from China or entities associated with the CCP in its budget justification to Congress for fiscal year 2026.

“Will the Kennedy Center’s leadership meet with Chinese dissidents living in the U.S., whose loved ones are arbitrarily detained and even tortured in PRC prisons for exercising rights we take for granted in America?” the letter reads.

The Chinese regime also uses agents to promote its overseas cultural influence.

In December, Mike Sun, a close associate of a local California politician, was arrested for allegedly helping Beijing with its political agenda in the Los Angeles area while running a U.S. media outlet. He directed a number of cultural performances in the region to celebrate the CCP’s leadership. Chinese consular officials often participated in these events, and Chinese media ran articles to promote them.

In a Jan. 29 letter responding to the lawmakers’ concerns, Rutter said that the Kennedy Center’s originating statute bans the use of appropriated funds in connection with any performance.

“No appropriated funds support this or any other performance on our stages and we rely on ticket sales, other earned revenue, and donations for all of the Center’s artistic curation,” Rutter said.

Rutter added that “cultural diplomacy remains a significant component” of the Kennedy Center’s work, and it has invited many Chinese, Chinese American, Taiwanese, and other Asian artists and companies over the years.

For example, Rutter named New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts, which is scheduled to hold performances at the Kennedy Center Opera House from Feb. 20 to March 2.

“The Kennedy Center’s main focus has always been and will always be to provide a venue for and present world-class art,” Rutter stated.

This article has been updated with a letter response from Kennedy Center President Deborah Rutter to the lawmakers.