New Threats Made Against Theaters Ahead of Shen Yun Performances

Shen Yun's tour buses have long been targeted with sabotage. Threats have recently escalated against the performing arts company that portrays "China before communism." The Epoch Times

Two U.S. theaters have received threats of a mass shooting if they proceed with hosting performances by Shen Yun Performing Arts, a New York-based company that has long been targeted by the Chinese communist regime.

The threatening messages, viewed by The Epoch Times, followed a series of similar threats directed at Shen Yun and venues hosting its performance earlier this year—all of which ended up being unfounded.

The local presenters of the performances reported the threats to the police and the FBI in both cities.

The first message, targeting Atlanta Symphony Hall, was received by the local presenter on Dec. 11.

The messages, written in Chinese, threatened that attackers would break into the venue and conduct a mass shooting if the Shen Yun performances continued as scheduled. The email contains an image of a pistol and dozens of bullets, with the subject line stating, “Atlanta Symphony Hall hosts Shen Yun will be attacked!!!”

The local presenter in Atlanta suspected that the latest threat was part of the longtime campaign by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) against Shen Yun, which presents traditional Chinese culture through classical dance and live music.

On the same day, a similar threat targeting the San Jose Center for the Performing Arts was received by the ticketing service for the San Francisco Bay Area.

The Atlanta and San Jose police departments did not respond to requests for comment by press time.

During Shen Yun’s 2024 global tour earlier this year, the group experienced several incidents of sabotage targeting its tour buses, including tire slashing, as well as a series of threats against the company and theaters.

All of these threats have turned out to be empty.

In one incident, while the arts group was setting up at a California venue for its performances in March, a bomb threat was received. The venue was evacuated, and police, assisted by a K-9 team, found no explosives. The shows proceeded as scheduled and with heightened security.

Shen Yun is scheduled to kick off this year’s global tour in Atlanta on Dec. 23, followed by several performances in San Jose, beginning on Dec. 26.

Recently, the company’s training campus in upstate New York was also targeted with multiple false bomb and mass shooting threats. According to Falun Dafa Information Center (FDIC), an email the company received on Oct. 29 claimed that remote-controlled bombs, time bombs, and various firearms had been secretly acquired, threatening to detonate explosives and “shoot all survivors” on Nov. 5. No explosives were found on the day.

The CCP’s persistent efforts to censor the New York performing arts group have raised concerns in Congress.

Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC), has condemned the CCP’s threats of violence as “totally illegal” and called for stronger actions against the CCP’s attempts to go after its targets on American soil.

The congressman told The Epoch Times earlier this month that he would reintroduce his legislative proposal aimed at combating transnational repression in the upcoming year.

Piero Tozzi, a staff director at the CECC, has recently told The Epoch Times that the CCP’s continuous threats against Shen Yun are an “example of transnational repression, but it’s very serious.”

Escalating Campaign

Concerns are growing about the CCP’s campaign to silence dissenting voices beyond its borders, especially after revelations of a secret directive from Xi Jinping, the Party’s top leader.

On Dec. 6, The Epoch Times reported that at a high-level meeting in October 2022, Xi personally ordered a new strategy aimed at targeting Falun Gong, deeming past attempts to suppress the faith group as largely ineffective. The new campaign is multifaceted, including leveraging legal battles in the United States and orchestrating a disinformation campaign through social media influencers and some Western media outlets, which outwardly appear independent of the regime.

Among the top targets is Shen Yun. Many of Shen Yun’s artists practice Falun Gong, an ancient meditative discipline that consists of moral teachings based on truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance. It has been brutally targeted by the communist regime since 1999, after an estimated 70 million to 100 million people took up the practice, outpacing the CCP’s membership.

Over the past 25 years, people who refused to give up their faith have faced lengthy imprisonment, mental and physical torture, and forced organ harvesting. Some of Shen Yun’s performances depict scenes from the ongoing persecution campaign against Falun Gong.

“In addition to threats and attacks, the CCP has sought to pressure venues and government officials to cancel Shen Yun’s performances, with more than 100 cases spanning 38 countries being documented by the FDIC.”

In certain regions, such as South Korea, where the CCP’s influence looms large, such attempts have appeared to be somewhat effective.

Jared Madsen, a Shen Yun master of ceremonies, said the CCP feels “threatened by our whole program.”

“We’re showing 5,000 years of traditional Chinese culture, and you see divine beings on stage. We have a digital backdrop where they seem to come out of the heavens and then come to life on stage,” Madsen previously told The Epoch Times.

“That runs exactly counter to communist principles and their atheist ideas. That is what threatens them the most.”

Sherry Dong contributed to this report.