LONDON—Sir Iain Duncan Smith, Member of Parliament, grew up learning about the arts and going to the ballet often with his ballerina mother, and his family going back three generations lived and worked in China, so it was with great anticipation that he attended Shen Yun Performing Arts to experience 5,000 years of Chinese civilization.

“It’s fascinating to watch,” said Sir Iain.

“[It’s] relevant because it’s a good reminder to people of the kind of phenomenal ancient culture of China, and it is phenomenal,” said Sir Iain. “You talk of 5,000 years—I think that is something which is worth people learning a little bit about.”

“It’s difficult to get that message across, but it’s growing—lots of people realize just the difficulties people [under the CCP] face. I hope they'll take that home with them,” he said.

“I’m a believer in freedom of speech and freedom of association. And I hope that one day China will revisit those things in the way that we have them over here.”

“It must take years of dedication and training to achieve the level—of balance and of performance that they put in here. And they do it all with a smile on their face,” he said. “I hope [they] have many, many performances.”