CHICAGO—U.S. lawmakers are calling for an investigation into a U.S. customs officer who allegedly used Chinese communist hate propaganda in his official capacity against artists belonging to the New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts.
“Espousing Chinese Communist Party propaganda, and coercion and intimidation as an official U.S. government action—that’s exceptional,” Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) told The Epoch Times’ sister outlet NTD.
“They’re Falun Gong. They’re political. They’re illegal,” the customs officer told his nearby co-workers in English, Teresa Du, a tour manager with Shen Yun Performing Arts, told The Epoch Times. Shen Yun showcases “China before communism” in performances around the world.
Ms. Du is a natural-born U.S. citizen, and all artists are either U.S. citizens or hold valid visas.
“This is an American citizen, espousing their First Amendment rights, coming back home to America, and essentially being intimidated by the federal government. That’s a whole different level,” Mr. Perry said.
“If substantiated, this is a breathtaking and reprehensible violation of their constitutional rights,” he wrote. The phrase “they are illegal,” he said, raises “further severe concerns.”
“Is this officer working to assert Chinese policy through his official U.S. government position?”
The CBP didn’t respond to several requests for comment about Mr. Perry’s letter.
Founded in New York in 2006 by Chinese artists who fled communist persecution, Shen Yun has been targeted by the Chinese Communist Party for nearly two decades.
Ms. Du, as well as many Shen Yun performers, practice Falun Gong, an ancient Chinese spiritual discipline that focuses on self-improvement through meditation and teachings based on the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance.
The customs officer spoke to Ms. Du in Chinese until she switched to English. She says he asked her: “Are you being sponsored by Falun Gong?” Ms. Du declined to answer.
Mr. Perry wondered why that line of questioning would be considered appropriate.
“I want to know this individual’s background,” he said, referring to the Chinese-speaking customs officer. “We absolutely need to be on the lookout for these kinds of things. And I think we need to be proactive.”
Multiple other lawmakers also found the treatment of Ms. Du disturbing. Rep. Brian Babin (R-Texas), who represents Ms. Du’s home state, said it was “totally inexcusable for this to happen in the United States at the hands of an American official.”
“There should be a thorough investigation, and if it proves to be accurate, the customs official should be terminated immediately,” he told The Epoch Times. “We should never allow the PRC [People’s Republic of China]—one of the most repressive countries on the planet—to have influence over our federal government.”
Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) similarly said he hopes the incident “gets investigated.”
“A law enforcement-type official at the airport harassing an American citizen—we have freedom of religion here, and we should protect that,” Mr. Bacon told NTD, adding that “there should be some disciplinary action taken” for such behavior.
Having seen Shen Yun perform just days earlier in Boise, Rep. Russ Fulcher (R-Idaho) described the performance as “fabulous,” exemplifying “an artistry combining history with art” that “doesn’t necessarily align with the current Chinese government and the current Chinese direction.”
“To see that they have been interrupted, you have to ask the question as to why, what’s the motivation behind that?” he told NTD.
“There’s so many concerns about this,” he said of the incident, “because why were they targeted?”
“You’ve got to wonder, who’s watching the watchmen?” he said, referring to the customs officer. “How was this person vetted? How did [he] get to this position?”
He said immediate investigation is critical, at the very least, to protect all U.S. citizens’ First Amendment rights.
He said immediate investigation is critical to ensure the protection of all U.S. citizens’ First Amendment rights. “[And] perhaps as urgent is the need to ascertain and prevent officers with foreign sympathies from gaining and using an official position to assert their personal beliefs on others,” he said, adding that he expects findings of the investigation to be shared with Congress.
