At that time, Li Hongzhi was living in the United States. The Chinese government's request to Interpol for his arrest was rejected on the grounds that the request was a matter "of a political or religious character" and lacked information on any "ordinary law crime he would have committed" The Chinese government also revoked his passport, preventing him from travelling internationally. By April 2001, Li Hongzhi had received over 340 awards and proclamations from Australia, Canada, China (before crackdown), Japan, Russia, and the U.S. in recognition of the contributions to people's spiritual and physical health, and to freedom of belief in the world. These include certificates of recognition from several governmental bodies in the United States – including Honorary Citizenship awarded by The State of Georgia and city of Atlanta. On 14 March 2001, The Freedom House bestowed Li Hongzhi and Falun Gong with an International Religious Freedom Award for the advancement of religious and spiritual freedom at a ceremony in the United States Senate. He was nominated for the 2001 Sakharov Prize by over 25 members of European Parliament, was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2000 and 2001, and in 2013 was ranked by Foreign Policy Magazine as one of the 500 most powerful people in the world. Performance arts group Shen Yun, the media organization "The Epoch Times", and a variety of other organizations such as New Tang Dynasty Television operate as extensions of Falun Gong. These extensions promote Falun Gong and Hongzhi's teachings, and, in the case of "The Epoch Times", promote conspiracy theories and far-right politics in both the United States and Europe. According to a 2020 report by "Los Angeles Magazine":  The exact financial and structural connections between Falun Gong, Shen Yun, and "The Epoch Times" remains unclear. According to NBC News: