Shen Yun Propaganda Still Going Strong, Despite No Shen Yun

You cannot escape Shen Yun, because Shen Yun just disguises itself as something else and keeps Shen Yunning away. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused the cancellation of the remainder of the 2020 Shen Yun tour, but the masterminds behind the day-glo propaganda musical dance revue have resorted to blanketing the Bay Area with cleverly disguised junk mail and a YouTube ad campaign, none of which mention the words “Shen Yun.”  

You may only know Shen Yun as an unavoidable billboard advertising campaign for some kind of folk dance show, but in fact, Shen Yun is the part of a sprawling propaganda campaign of a 30-year-old ultraconservative Chinese religious cult called the Falun Gong. (They’re huge Trumpers.) The group was kicked out of China back around 1999 and 2000, and since then have been locked in a relentless public relations war against the Chinese Communist Party. The Shen Yun production was a major tool in their arsenal, but with Shen Yun cancelled for 2020, they’re turning to other means. 

THE EPOCH TIMES NEWSPAPER

You may have gotten received this completely fucking unsolicited newspaper called the Epoch Times in your mailbox over these last two weeks. It’s not just the Bay Area getting these — they’re showing up in mailboxes all over America, and in Canada, and even Australia. And this bizarre fake news publication spent “more than any organization outside of the Trump campaign itself” on ads for Donald Trump in 2019, according to NBC News.

Like Trump, the paper is obsessed with giving COVID-19 funny little nicknames that blame the Chinese government. As seen above, they call it the “CCP Virus” (for Chinese Communist Party).

Sacramento’s ABC 10 fact checked this entire issue of this particular Epoch Times and found outrageous lies about cell phone conspiracy theories, the virus being engineered in a lab, and fake cures for coronavirus that could never possible work.

SHADY ADS THAT GOT BANNED BY YOUTUBE 

I also got served a really long YouTube ad for the Epoch Times last weekend when this paper arrived at my house. It depicts a cheery yuppie couple at their kitchen table, with the guy often remarking to his mildly Asian-looking wife “Take a look at this!” and pointing to these amazing articles in the Epoch Times. You can’t see the ad anymore, though, because YouTube has taken it down after a barrage of complaints.

The Daily Dot reports that “After the Daily Dot inquired about whether the ads violated YouTube’s policies, the company removed all Epoch Times’ ads related to the virus. A YouTube spokesperson also said that it had temporarily banned most advertisers from mentioning the virus in ads.”

All of this stuff is put out by the same right-wing fringe groups that put on the travelling Shen Yun show. And it seems like they do want to eventually put on that billboard-dominating show again. According to the Shen Yun website, apparently set to premiere again in Salt Lake City, UT on February 19, 2021.