Overseas Chinese Journalists Criticize New York Times Attack on Shen Yun

The New York Times building in New York City on Feb. 5, 2024. Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times

Following the recent New York Times articles attacking Shen Yun Performing Arts, several well-known Chinese expat journalists who reside in the United States publicly refuted the NY Times’s accusations.

They told The Epoch Times the report was full of logical fallacies and criticized its siding with the Chinese communist regime.

NY Times accused Shen Yun—a premiere dance and music company founded by followers of the spiritual practice Falun Gong in 2006—of abuse in the report. It cited negative comments from some of the 25 former Shen Yun performers they interviewed.

According to Shen Yun representatives, some of the disgruntled former performers were let go for breaking rules or failing to meet artist standards. The report does not include the experiences of performers currently with Shen Yun, and some former performers said the NY Times omitted their responses that pushed back against the claims.

Zhao Lanjian, a former Chinese investigative journalist in exile in the United States, responded to the articles on X on Aug. 19. He called the NY Times’s reports on Shen Yun a well-planned attack with ulterior motives, and the claims were nothing but exaggerated accounts.

“I carefully examined the three NY Times reports; they did not reveal any legal or moral violation by Shen Yun,” he told The Epoch Times.

Zhao is known for his investigative reports into the “chained woman“—a victim of human trafficking and abuse in China. The case shocked the nation and the international community. His reports made him the target of local police and Chinese Communist Party (CCP) security agents. The harassment and interrogations forced him to leave China.

“It is shameful for The New York Times to ignore the suffering and grief of the Chinese people and become an international thug of the Communist Party,” he later added as a comment to his X post.

Echoing CCP Propaganda

The New York Times article repeats old CCP propaganda tropes, which include that Falun Gong practitioners refuse medical treatment.

Hu Ping, a political commentator residing in New York City, responded to the NY Times report on X with an article he wrote 23 years ago about Falun Gong practitioners and medical treatment. He said his article from decades ago already answered the questions the NY Times raised about Falun Gong.

“The New York Times should have done its homework and read what people have already researched on the issues rather than just repeating the CCP,” he told The Epoch Times.

Falun Gong practitioners gather for a candlelight vigil commemorating Falun Gong practitionersí persecution to death in China by the Chinese Communist Party at the National Mall in Washington on July 11, 2024. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

Hu is also the honorary editor of Beijing Spring, a Chinese-language magazine dedicated to promoting human rights, democracy, and social justice in China.

Falun Gong, or Falun Dafa, is a meditative practice rooted in Buddhist traditions that involves exercises and moral teachings centered on truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance. Within a decade of its public introduction in 1992, official estimates indicated there were at least 70 million practitioners in China by the late 1990s.

Falun Gong practitioners who openly supported their faith in public are detained by Chinese police. Falun Dafa Information Center

Yu Jinshan, a senior journalist and former chairman of the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association in New York and the Donghua Association, told The Epoch Times that injuries are common in art performances and sports.

“Has no one in a ballet company ever been injured? How many American athletes were injured in artistic swimming? The New York Times said that Shen Yun performers were not treated for injuries. If so, wouldn’t Shen Yun be short of performers?” he pointed out. “The more we judge from common sense, the more we find that it [NY Times report] is wrong.”

“They interviewed some former performers. In such a large group, there are always some dissatisfied people. Is there a group in the world whose members are all satisfied?” he continued.

The performance, “Flowing Sleeves,” from the 2009 Shen Yun Performing Arts program. Shen Yun Performing Arts

Helen Chen, a senior journalist in New York’s Chinatown for more than 40 years, said that she had watched a Shen Yun show and was deeply impressed by the traditional values it represents.

“The NY Times does not condemn the CCP’s persecution of Falun Gong but instead attacks Shen Yun and Falun Gong, which leads people to return to truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance. [NY Times] is definitely on the side of the CCP,” she told The Epoch Times.

Lin Dan and Xia Song contributed to this report.