The global threat campaign follows years of pressure from the CCP to interfere with the performing arts group’s world tour. Europe was also affected.
Taiwanese authorities suspect that the recent bomb threats against Shen Yun Performing Arts, a classical Chinese dance company based in New York, may be linked to a research branch of the Chinese tech giant Huawei. Shen Yun, founded by Chinese artists in exile, seeks to revive traditional Chinese culture from before the communist regime and often portrays human rights abuses by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), including the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners.
Since March 2024, during Shen Yun’s world tour, the company has faced dozens of threats, including at least 17 bomb or shooting threats in Taiwan. Several European cities have also received similar threats.
The threats were sent by email using international hosts to hide their origin, but Taiwanese investigators traced them to Xi’an, China, specifically to an area near the Huawei Xi’an Institute. This institute, a research center crucial to Huawei’s international ambitions, is now the main suspect in the case. Authorities have not ruled out the involvement of China’s “50 Cent Army,” a term for state-sponsored online trolls.
Taiwanese officials shared their findings with mainland Chinese authorities but received no response. Huawei also declined to comment. The threatening emails often included graphic images and prompted security sweeps and evacuations at venues such as the Kennedy Center in Washington. Although no attack has taken place, the threats have disrupted shows around the world.
Taiwanese officials see the intimidation as part of a broader CCP effort to undermine Taiwan’s democratic institutions and interfere with anti-communist expression abroad. Security around Shen Yun performances has been stepped up as a precaution. In the United States, both the White House and the State Department have condemned the threats.
Shen Yun’s shows include depictions of the CCP’s persecution of Falun Gong, a spiritual group whose members have faced arrests, abuse and forced organ harvesting in China since 1999. The CCP has long sought to shut down Shen Yun’s performances worldwide, using diplomatic pressure and alleged sabotage. For example, Shen Yun previously reported slashed tires on tour buses and has since hired 24-hour security.
U.S. Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz linked the threats to the broader repression carried out by communist regimes and stressed the importance of supporting groups like Shen Yun through initiatives such as the newly formed Victims of Communism Caucus in Congress. She described the CCP as fundamentally deceptive and oppressive.
Sarah Cook, a human rights researcher, said the Taiwanese investigation shows that law enforcement can trace cyber threats back to China even through VPNs. She urged the United States and other governments to use those tools against the ongoing transnational repression.
Levi Browde, of the Falun Dafa Information Center, called the threats dangerous and illegal, stressing that they are part of a deliberate effort to silence dissent and cultural expression critical of the CCP. He urged U.S. and Taiwanese officials to hold those responsible to account.
These developments highlight how cultural diplomacy, cybercrime and political repression intersect in the CCP’s global campaign to stifle dissent and control narratives about China abroad.
Source: The Epoch Times.
Article published in China Scope on April 11, 2025.
