Shen Yun colors itself as a dance company working to keep traditional Chinese culture alive while assailed by the Chinese government. But a recent lawsuit filed by two former dancers paints a different picture, according to The New York Times and AOL News. Accused of building an “army of forced laborers,” it’s a picture colored by child labor with all the earmarks of modern slavery.  

Mastermind of a “forced labor scheme” 

A Shen Yun dance performance features elaborately costumed dancers leaping and twirling before digital backdrops of traditional, bucolic Chinese scenes. But it quickly becomes clear this is a performance with an agenda. Banned in China, Shen Yun has deep ties to Falun Gong, a spiritual movement that’s sharply critical of the Chinese Communist Party and whose practitioners are targeted by the Chinese government for wrongful imprisonment and organ harvesting.  

Two former dancers, Sun Zan and Cheng Qingling, say Shen Yun is guilty of using forced child labor. Shen Yun recruits children globally to attend their youth academies in the US, called Fei Tian. Cheng and Sun were two of those children, recruited at 13 and 15 respectively.  

Cheng stated in the lawsuit against Shen Yun, 

“These sham schools operate as a cover for the forced labor scheme. Under the cover of their purported educational purpose, the Fei Tian schools ensure an ongoing supply of forced child labor to Shen Yun without attracting scrutiny.” 

Pointing to the $266 million the suit says Shen Yun accumulated, Cheng alleges the scheme generates massive profits. Profits made possible by the use of forced child labor. Performers are forced to train up to 15 hours a day. They adhere to a rigorous tour schedule. And all for meager compensation. 

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