Inside the finances of Falun Gong

Dear Access member,

The U.S.-China trade war drags on, but there have been no significant developments today.

The best China read of the day is the story summarized below — on the political and religious organization Falun Gong, and its propaganda arm, the Shen Yun performance troupe.

As always, hit “reply” to send feedback.

—Jeremy Goldkorn, Editor-in-Chief

1. Inside the finances of Falun Gong

Jan van der Made at Radio France Internationale has done perhaps the most thorough investigation yet of the finances and structure of Shen Yun, the anti-CCP, Falun Gong–associated show that tours worldwide.

• The show’s ticket sales so far in 2019 “could amount to $168 million,” given the $80 average price tag, 601 performances in 156 cities, and typical audiences numbering 3,500.

• Between $10 million and $20 million per year is how much the organization takes in each year. Its net assets have grown from $3 million in 2008 to $95.7 million in 2017, according to tax documents.

• About 55 percent of ticket revenue is spent on promotion, according to 2016–2017 documents.

• It is not clear how much money from Shen Yun flows back to the organization’s headquarters in Cuddleback, New York. But its (non-taxed, nonprofit) facilities are rapidly expanding, to the chagrin of rural neighbors: A new complex will include “a 400,000+ liter/day waste water treatment plant, a 920-seat music hall, for the Shen Yun performing arts center, a residence hall with 30 rooms and a parking garage.”

• Finally, RFI traced a patent that Shen Yun claims for digital screens used during performances, credited by the organization to a mysterious “D.F.,” to none other than “Hongzhi Li, Cuddleback, NY.” Lǐ Hóngzhì 李洪志 is the founder of Falun Gong and lives in exile in the U.S.

More on the Shen Yun show and its surreal mix of song and dance and anti-Beijing propaganda can be found in this recent New Yorker article: Stepping into the uncanny, unsettling world of Shen Yun.

—Lucas Niewenhuis

2. Now we wait — U.S.-China trade war drags on

As we noted yesterday, China noticeably dialed up its rhetoric on trade tensions with the U.S., going so far as to call the coming struggle a “people’s war” (人民战争 rénmín zhànzhēng.)

But not much has happened since then. These are the latest media reports:

• China says US has agreed to keep talking over trade war / Reuters

• U.S. reveals tariffs on $300bn of Chinese goods, including phones / Nikkei

• Here is a list of US goods China is targeting with a 25% tariff / CNBC

• White House explores new farmer bailout plan as U.S.-China trade war heats up / Washington Post

• China exporters reel as U.S. tariffs imperil world’s supply hub / Bloomberg (porous paywall)

• Markets calm amid hopes for US-China talks / BBC

• Why the U.S.-China trade war could be long and painful: No off-ramps / NYT (porous paywall)

—Jeremy Goldkorn

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Our whole team really appreciates your support as Access members. Please chat with us on our Slack channel or contact me anytime at jeremy@thechinaproject.com.

—Jeremy Goldkorn, Editor-in-Chief

BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY:

• Bike-share graveyards to be swept up
  北京共享单车已减量44万辆 数量设上限：191万辆 / Xinhua
  Frankie Huang on Twitter: “Beijing Bureau of Transportation has mandated that the 9 remaining active bike share companies to clean up their mess. Out of the 1.91 million units estimated to still be littered throughout Beijing less than 50 percent remain active.”

• Online privacy rules
  Draft rules help China take step to online privacy though fuzzy provisions remain / TechNode

China’s internet watchdog last week took the first step toward developing online privacy protection norms when it released a new set of draft privacy guidelines for app operators…

…The draft rules, which currently are not legally binding, have been released for public comment. Once finalized, they will be used by China’s cyberspace watchdogs, including the CAC, the State Administration for Market Regulation, and the Ministry of Public Security, to enact privacy laws.

• Baidu discontinues online education tools
  Baidu‘s education business shifts from consumer-facing to enterprise / TechNode
  “According to reports from Chinese media, Baidu’s educational business unit…was dismantled earlier this year… Also, Baidu’s online education service Chuanke will reportedly be closing soon.”

POLITICS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS:

• Uyghur internment camps
  Where is the outrage over the plight of China’s Uyghurs? / Macleans
  “A million Muslims are being detained in China, and Canada has not protested in any meaningful way.”
  Trump fights China on trade, surrenders on human rights / CNN
  “Not long ago, human rights stood at the center of US-China relations…. Today, with China committing some of the most serious human rights violations anywhere on Earth, the topic has been relegated to the back burner.”

• Beijing to Washington: Moscow is our town  
  China-Russia relations are unrivaled, Beijing warns before Mike Pompeo meets Vladimir Putin / SCMP
  “Chinese Foreign Minister Wáng Yì 王毅 has issued a veiled warning to the United States not to undermine China’s relations with Russia and criticized ‘outside interference’ in the relationship between the two countries.”

• Surprise, surprise! Books cooked at college admissions scandal dad’s company
  Chinese dad in Stanford admission scandal faces scrutiny over company’s sales expenses / Bloomberg via Straits Times

The Chinese father who allegedly paid $6.5 million to get his daughter into Stanford University has another reason to worry: His pharmaceutical company is under scrutiny by the Shanghai stock exchange regulator over the level of its sales expenses.

Shandong Buchang Pharmaceuticals Co, whose chairman Zhao Tao has been caught up in the United States college admissions scandal, said in a statement on Monday (May 14) that it had received questions from the stock exchange over why its sales expenses amounted to a higher-than-average 59 per cent of the company’s 2018 revenue of 13.7 billion yuan ($1.99 billion).

SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

• Swedish-Chinese cuisine
  ‘Four’ and more / World of Chinese
  All about Chinese restaurants and cuisine in Sweden.

• New music
  The Chinese rap wrap: Edison Chen returns as Three Hu sparks rap battle brawl / Radii China
  A fortnightly summary of news from the Chinese hip-hop scene.

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