OCCuPied Minds: CCP Exploiting Iran Action to Escalate its War with U.S. on American Soil
It’s not just Iran that has motive to strike the United States from within—China does too, and in many ways, it already is. But instead of missiles, Beijing’s battlefield is the American mind. Through media, technology, and coordinated influence campaigns, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is waging a form of cognitive war—one aimed at shaping perception, sowing division, and influencing behavior from within America’s borders.
Steve Lance, investigative journalist, Vice President of NTD Television, and executive producer of the new documentary UNBroken, is available to discuss alarming accounts of harassment, surveillance, and favorable CCP Propaganda disguised as journalism from America’s most historically trusted outlets. Alternate speakers who also appear in the film include Levi Browde, Executive Director of Falun Dafa, with two sons who are Shen Yun dancers; Leeshai Lemish, a Shen Yun Emcee, and Ying Chen, a Shen Yun Orchestra Conductor.
- Not bombs—behavior: The CCP’s fight isn’t kinetic (yet), it’s psychological—shaping how Americans think, not just what they see.
- Propaganda in plain sight: Favorable CCP narratives aren’t just overseas—they’re appearing inside U.S. media ecosystems.
- Intimidation on U.S. soil: Performers tied to Shen Yun Performing Arts report threats, disruption, and pressure campaigns here in America.
- Soft targets, real consequences: Cultural institutions—not just governments—are becoming battlegrounds in this influence war.
- Blind spot in plain view: While focus stays on TikTok and trade, a quieter campaign is unfolding with far less scrutiny.
This is all happening in real time, as the U.S. continues welcoming Chinese CCP students through a visa program that steers many of them into journalism careers. The problem is determining their allegiance.
The film centers on performers and organizers affiliated with Shen Yun Performing Arts, who allege they have faced a pattern of intimidation efforts that extend far beyond China’s borders. These include reported interference with venues, threats aimed at discouraging attendance and coordinated attempts to silence or discredit the group in the United States.
At a time when policymakers and media alike are focused on CCP influence through platforms like TikTok and economic leverage, UNBroken presents a different—and largely overlooked—front: the targeting of cultural institutions on American soil.
Lance brings firsthand investigative insight into how these operations allegedly function, what evidence exists to support them, and why they may not be receiving the level of scrutiny seen in other China-related stories. His reporting also explores the broader implications for free expression, national sovereignty, and the safety of individuals who find themselves at odds with authoritarian regimes—even while living in the U.S.
This is not just a story about one company. It raises larger questions: How far can foreign governments go to suppress dissent beyond their borders? Are existing safeguards sufficient to protect those targeted? And why are some of these incidents flying under the radar?
With China dominating headlines, this conversation offers a fresh, deeply human angle—one that intersects national security, civil liberties, and cultural freedom in a way that is both immediate and compelling.
Steve Lance is available for live or taped interviews to break down the findings of UNBroken and discuss what they reveal about intimidation tactics that may be happening closer to home than many Americans realize.
Relevant Article(s):
FILMMAKERS – UNBROKEN: A Shen Yun Story
UNBROKEN: The Untold Story of Shen Yun | Documentary Trailer
OPTIONAL Q&A:
- How are intimidation tactics tied to the CCP allegedly playing out on U.S. soil against groups like Shen Yun Performing Arts?
- What evidence did you uncover that suggests coordinated pressure campaigns rather than isolated incidents?
- Why do you believe these alleged threats and harassment efforts haven’t received the same scrutiny as issues involving TikTok?
- How is “cognitive warfare” actually carried out through media and information channels inside the United States?
- What role, if any, do American media outlets play in amplifying narratives favorable to Beijing?
- Are U.S. institutions equipped to recognize and respond to this kind of non-traditional warfare?
- What risks do performers, journalists, or dissidents face when they become targets of these alleged operations?
- What broader implications does this have for free speech and national sovereignty inside the United States?
ABOUT STEVE LANCE…
Steve Lance is Executive Producer of the film. He focuses on investigative documentaries and cinematic storytelling rooted in real-world events. In UNBROKEN: The Untold Story of Shen Yun, Lance leads the film’s investigative narrative, examining threats, sabotage attempts, and the broader campaign targeting the performing arts company. Lance is also an investigative journalist and Vice President of NTD Television.
ABOUT LEVI BROWDE…
Browde serves as the Executive Director with the New York-based Falun Dafa Information Center – an organization dedicated to ending the human rights abuses against people who practice Falun Gong in China.
Over the past 20 years, Browde has been interviewed and quoted by the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Chicago Tribune, CNN, the Associated Press, TIME Magazine, BBC, AFP, and other media outlets. He has spoken about Falun Gong and human rights in China at briefings on Capitol Hill in Washington DC, at the United Nations human rights sessions in Geneva, Switzerland.
Browde studied East Asian Studies at Wesleyan University and is an avid supporter of traditional Chinese culture. He founded several software start-ups, and lives in New York with his wife and two sons.
ABOUT LEESHAI LEMISH…
Leeshai Lemish has been with Shen Yun since 2006. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Chinese history and language from Pomona College, California, and his master’s in international relations from the London School of Economics. He has spent extended periods studying, working, and conducting research throughout East Asia, and has authored articles on Chinese current affairs in both English and Chinese. He joined Shen Yun Performing Arts as an MC when the company was founded in 2006 and has since emceed close to two thousand performances with the company, taking the stage with Shen Yun at prestigious theaters such as Lincoln Center and the Kennedy Center, the London Coliseum, Tokyo Opera City, and many others worldwide. In addition to his performance role, he has tracked and documented on his website over 100 cases of the Chinese Communist Party and its agents trying to sabotage Shen Yun internationally. He has testified on transnational repression in front of Congress, has been a featured guest on television and radio shows around the world, and is the host of the podcast Shen Yun Voices.
ABOUT YING CHEN…
Ying Chen is an orchestra conductor who has been with Shen Yun from the very beginning. She can offer insights and personal stories about how Shen Yun started as an all-volunteer group of first- generation immigrants, and through hard work, faith, and a relentless dedication to a grand vision to revive a culture almost destroyed in communist China, created the fastest growing performing arts company in American history.
Ying can also tell the horrific story of her family’s detention and torture in China, an experience that helped drive her and the entire community at Shen Yun to create a production that would shed light on the tyranny of the Chinese communist regime, while also inspiring people around the world with hope and a renewed sense of our common humanity.
The story of Ying, her family, and community at Shen Yun is a quintessential tale of facing the evils of the world with resilience and faith, and never letting others, even the largest totalitarian regime on earth, take away one’s hope.
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