Miss World Canada Anastasia Lin speaks at The National Press Club.
61 Video Views·Sep 20, 2022
Denied a visa to compete in the Miss World finals in China this Saturday, Miss Canada – outspoken human rights activist Anastasia Lin – spoke at a National Press Club luncheon a day earlier, Dec. 18, 2015.
China denied Lin’s visa application, telling the New York Times in a statement: “China welcomes all lawful activities organized in China by international organizations or agencies, including the Miss World pageant. But China does not allow any persona non grata to come to China.”
Lin, who emigrated to China as an adolescent, has testified before Congress on human rights in China and written an op-ed on the topic in The Washington Post.
Source: National Press Club Live
When I began acting, I looked for roles that shed light on what is happening in China today,
from the corruption that led to shoddy school buildings that crushed thousands of students
during the Sichuan earthquake, to official censorship, to the organ harvesting of
prisoners of conscience in China. The stories of the victims shocked me, and learning about them
fundamentally changed my outlook on the world. In my most recent film, The Bleeding Edge,
directed by Mr. Liang Li, I played a woman who is imprisoned for her belief in Falun Gong.
Like many other Falun Gong practitioners in China, she was shocked with electronic batons,
had bamboos shoved under her fingernails, and is sexually assaulted. To prepare for these roles,
I spent time with the men and women who suffered these experiences. Of course, they described
the extreme physical pain during the torture, but what stuck with me was their description of the
profound isolation they experienced. In the labor camp, they are all alone. They want to scream,
they want to call for help, but the only people that can hear them are the prison guards. And yet,
despite the fear and doubts, they stayed true to their conscience. They knew that there was
something out there that was greater than fear. After I heard about their story, I was like,
I can't do this. This character requires someone with incredible courage to portray. I'm just a
North American kid. This is not some experience that I run into in my everyday life in Toronto.
So before I went on set the first day, our dear director piled up all the heaviest scenes in the
first day of filming. The sexual assault, the bamboo stick under fingernails, and also force
feeding and electronic baton feeding. I was so scared. I thought I couldn't do it. So I called
a friend and I said, this is beyond me. I don't want to go on set. And he told me, it is okay.
To be afraid in the middle of all this. Fear is a natural part of being human. 2000 years ago,
there was a good man before he was crucified on the cross. He was also afraid, but he did not
let fear conquer him. Courage does not mean the absence of fear, but knowing that something else
out there is way more important than fear. And that is the reason I had the courage to
went on set that day, exposed my fear, but also discover something in me that was extremely true
and genuine. An overriding feeling that I want to stay true to my conscience
and portray these people's stories.