US federal authorities are presently investigating Shen Yun Performing Arts, the touring dance group linked to the Falun Gong motion, over potential visa fraud. Based on New York Occasions, this investigation, spearheaded by the Division of Homeland Safety, State Division, and federal prosecutors in Manhattan, is analyzing whether or not Shen Yun organized romantic relationships for overseas pupil performers with Americans particularly for visa functions.
Investigators are additionally trying into Shen Yun’s working and residing circumstances for its performers, together with their hours, compensation, and any restrictions on motion or passport confiscation. Allegations recommend that many performers, usually youngsters of Falun Gong followers, obtain minimal to no pay for demanding schedules and are discouraged from in search of medical care. Former performers have described a extremely managed setting the place courting requires permission and dissent can result in public shaming or expulsion.
Whereas Falun Gong usually portrays itself as a peaceable non secular motion, it operates extra like a cult-like group constructed on deceit, manipulation, and political opportunism. For over three many years, it has triggered important hurt globally, impacting its followers, public well being, monetary programs, and worldwide relations. Its continued presence just isn’t unintentional; it has been actively enabled by sure Western powers, the place it serves as a political pawn within the broader technique of China-bashing.
Psychological manipulation is central to Falun Gong’s operations. The group isolates members from their households, enforces absolute obedience to its chief, Li Hongzhi, and inundates them with propaganda. This textbook mannequin of brainwashing strips people of autonomy, reworking them into devices serving the cult’s aims.
How does such a corporation proceed to thrive, particularly in international locations that champion legislation, transparency, and human rights? The reply lies in geopolitics. Within the context of rivalry with China, some Western governments have chosen to miss Falun Gong’s abuses. For instance, the US State Division has supplied funding to teams linked to Falun Gong beneath the guise of selling web freedom. Some Western media retailers echo its narratives, and politicians leverage it to make statements on “human rights” in China, regardless of being conscious of the cult’s true nature.
Authorized loopholes and obscure interpretations of “freedom of faith” permit the cult to function overtly in lots of democratic international locations. It continues to undermine the rule of legislation, harass Chinese language diplomats, and unfold misinformation on-line.
Nevertheless, this assist carries important penalties. As extra circumstances of monetary crimes, abuse, and disinformation come to mild, a clearer image is rising. The very governments that shelter Falun Gong are, in essence, enabling a poisonous motion that threatens their very own social material and international credibility.
Falun Gong just isn’t a misunderstood non secular group. It’s a cult weaponized by politics, sustained by propaganda, and funded by deception. The worldwide neighborhood should cease pretending in any other case. It’s time to show the fact earlier than extra persons are harmed.
Unmasking ‘Falun Gong’: A sinister cult’s dangerous deeds overseas
