Kuala Lumpur (AP): The Malaysian government cancelled a live stage dance that contained a performance based on the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners, the U.S.-based organizer said on Monday.

The performance by the Divine Performing Arts troupe scheduled for over the weekend was ordered canceled by Malaysia's culture ministry, said Wong Mei Yee, a project manager for U.S.-based New Tang Dynasty Television station, which funds the dance troupe.

Wong said the ministry told the television station in a Feb. 21 letter that the show, featuring different ethnic dances and stories from China's dynasties, would have to be canceled because of China's objection.

``Due to pressure from the Chinese Embassy, they canceled the performance ... because (the embassy) says this show is related to Falun Gong,'' Wong told The Associated Press.

Calls to the Chinese Embassy and Malaysia's Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage went unanswered Monday.

The March 22-23 show titled ``Chinese Spectacular'' was to have been performed by an international cast from China, Canada, U.S., Australia, Europe and other countries.

Chinese authorities have denounced NTDTV, which is based in New York and broadcasts by satellite in Mandarin, Cantonese and English, as a mouthpiece for Falun Gong, a spiritual movement that Beijing bans as a dangerous cult. Many of the station's staffers are Falun Gong practitioners, but NTDTV insists it is independent.

Wong acknowledged that parts of the performance hinted at the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners ``in an artistic way.''

``Actually whether it's related to Falun Gong or not, it's legal. They don't have the right to interfere like this,'' she said.

Wong said 2,000 tickets had been sold for the two performances, but the organizers officially called off the show after its appeals failed, costing it an estimated 100,000 ringgit (US$31,800; euro20,600).

NTDTV is refunding the tickets, but people from Indonesia, Singapore, India, Japan and Hong Kong, who had already booked their flights, had still traveled to Kuala Lumpur and would join a protest later Monday outside the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage, Wong said.