The Chinese embassy has attempted to influence events hosted at Dailes Theatre, as reported by TV3 programme “Nekā personīga”.
Falun Gong religious organisation’s dance group “Shen Yun” will be performing at Dailes Theatre as part of the “China Before Communism” guest show in January. This organisation is declared a cult in China. In November, Director of Dailes Theatre Juris Žagars received an official letter from the Chinese embassy. This letter mentioned a “polite reminder” that the Chinese government banned this organisation in 1999, recommending the theatre to reconsider the planned show.
Žagars told the programme that he did not respond to the letter, adding that he considers any embassy’s attempt to influence the theatre’s repertoire as absolutely unacceptable.
In addition to the invitation to reconsider the performance, the theatre also received an invitation to meet with the representative of the Chinese embassy to discuss cooperation opportunities. No clarification was given when asked about the type of cooperation the embassy had suggested in its letter.
This was the first time in the history of Dailes Theatre when a foreign embassy had attempted to influence its work. Such conduct violates the Vienna Convention governing diplomatic relations. But this is not the first such action on the part of China. For example, in 2019, the Chinese ambassador to Spain personally came to the Royal Opera House in Madrid to force the director to cancel the planned performances.