(Clearwisdom.net) The Municipal Committee of Orange County, California, received a letter recently from the Chinese Consulate General in Los Angeles, asking them not to support the NTDTV Chinese New Year Spectacular. They claimed that the Spectacular was supported by Falun Gong practitioners. The letter contained a lot of irresponsible remarks about Falun Gong. Mr. Chris Norby, the Chairman of the Municipal Committee, was extremely indignant over the letter.
In the Los Angeles Times, Mr. Norby recently denounced the Chinese Consulate's attempt to pressure United States elected officials. He said, "They have attempted to dictate which organization we should or should not support, and should agree or not agree with." In his reply to the consulate, Mr. Norby said that their letter was a formal request that officials of Orange County suppress Falun Gong in accordance with the CCP. He stated, "This is an insult toward me and I will not accept it."
Mr. Norby is yet another high-profile United States elected official who is standing up to the Chinese consulate's interference with NTDTV's Chinese New Year Spectacular. Not long ago, Mike Benjamin, a New York State Assemblyman, and James Naugle, Mayor of Fort Lauderdale, both received letters from their respective Chinese Consulates, pressuring them not to go see the performance or to extend festive greetings. Just like Mr. Norby, they firmly rebuffed the consulate's unreasonable demands. Mr. Benjamin published the Consulate's letter and condemned their thuggish behavior. He said that the Chinese communists are the real cult. Mayor Naugle had high praise for the Chinese Spectacular and issued a proclamation. He also said that he would attend the performance and that as many people as possible should go see the show.
Ever since NTDTV was founded, the the CCP's agents have tried every possible means to suppress it. The CCP shifted its focus to the annual NTDTV-sponsored Holiday Wonders and the Chinese New Year Spectacular after its failure to keep Eutelsat (a satellite service provider) from honoring its contract with the independent broadcast network.
The letters from the consulates simply repeated the CCP's lies about Falun Gong and NTDTV, employing exactly the same strategy as the political propaganda machinery in mainland China. The denigrating language they use is almost the same every year.
The results of their nefarious efforts can now be predicted--every year, NTDTV's performances are highly praised by many officials in the United States, while the Consulates are derided and ignored. In a free society, lies cannot last long. Unreasonable demands cannot be accepted. The performance at the Kodak Theater in Los Angeles in 2007 alone received proclamations, accolades, congratulations and honors from more than 40 public officials.
Although the CCP's agents in Los Angles schemed against Falun Gong, practitioners there received 40 accolades within one month in 2003 when they were celebrating "Falun Dafa Week." A member of Congress told a practitioner that they received a lot of "beautifully packaged" materials from the consulate, which was designed to discredit Falun Gong, and their usual practice was to "throw them into the dustbin."
From the reactions of several US officials, the consulates' letters will probably be subjected to further scrutiny. They will be put in judiciary files, as evidence of the CCP's crimes.
In recent years, many government officials have been dissatisfied with the arrogant behavior of the CCP agents at the Chinese Embassy and Consulates who have sought to undermine freedom of the press and freedom of belief in the United States. In the past, the officials who were interfered with expressed their indignation privately or through other means. The irony is that the CCP officials interpreted the patience of these officials as a signal that they could continue interfering, something that these officials find wholly unacceptable.
This is only the beginning for United States officials to denounce the Chinese Consulates openly. More and more officials will stand up and speak out publicly. The more the CCP intervenes, the louder will be the response. The CCP must clearly understand that it is only their wishful thinking that officials, media, and people in the US can be suppressed. The CCP cannot behave in a free society the way it does in China, and sooner or later, its illegal acts will be punished.
In 2004, Pan Xinchun, the deputy general consul from China in Canada, was sentenced for libel and fined 1,000 Canadian dollars by the Ontario Superior Court, because he openly slandered Falun Gong practitioners. Pan later fled, leaving Canada in shame. In 2006, the diplomatic visa of Second Secretary Wang Pengfei in the education department of the Chinese Embassy in Canada was refused renewal by the Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Wang had to leave Canada. The reason for Wang's visa rejection was his involvement in the collection of information about Canadian Falun Gong practitioners and his involvement in other illegal, anti-Falun Gong activities that were considered beyond the purview of diplomats. The fates of Pan and Wang should serve as a warning to other CCP diplomats.
When it tries to suppress NTDTV and Falun Gong, the CCP is prone to using "Sino-US relations" and "Sino-Canadian relations" as an excuse, as if it--the Party--and China are one and the same thing. But their actions have clearly shown that the CCP is not worthy of representing China. On the contrary, it is completely an anti-China force.
The NTDTV Spectacular will tour in more than 60 cities around the world and display the rich and profound Chinese culture. The performances on Broadway in New York, in Philadelphia, and in Atlanta have attracted huge audiences. Westerners are very interested in Chinese dance, and they love the Chinese culture.
Falun Gong, with its graceful movements and positive effects on the body and mind, has spread to more than 80 countries. The CCP, however, is only able to repeat its worn out, disproven lies day by day and year after year. Isn't this shameful? The CCP often uses patriotism and accuses others of losing face for the Chinese people. But the real disgrace to the Chinese people is the CCP itself.
Category: Perspective
