Carney, Other Canadian Officials Targets of China-Linked Terrorist Threats Over Shen Yun Performances

Mar 6, 2026 - 11:01 Updated: Mar 6, 2026 - 10:53

Carney, Other Canadian Officials Targets of China-Linked Terrorist Threats Over Shen Yun Performances

The Falun Dafa Association of Canada says a series of China-linked threats against Shen Yun Performing Arts and the organizers of the show in Canada has now expanded to include Canadian politicians, including Prime Minister Mark Carney.

The association, which is the Canadian presenter of the shows in Canada, says a “sustained and escalating international campaign of state-sponsored terrorist threats” linked to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has now explicitly targeted Carney, former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, members of Parliament, and other senior Canadian officials. The threats warn that officials could face harm, including from explosive devices, if upcoming Shen Yun performances in several Canadian cities go ahead as planned.

The numerous threats, received primarily by Shen Yun organizers, include bomb threats, death threats, threats to rape Shen Yun performers and kill their families, arson, and staged car accidents, the association says, noting the threats all share the goal of cancelling Shen Yun and silencing the voices of Falun Gong practitioners.

Shen Yun is a world-renowned classical Chinese dance company based in New York that depicts traditional Chinese culture and performs under the slogan “China Before Communism.” The performing arts company was founded by practitioners of Falun Gong, a spiritual group severely persecuted in China by the CCP. Since its inception in 2006, Shen Yun has faced a sabotage campaign from the Chinese regime that deploys tactics such as diplomatic and economic coercion to stop its performances.

The Falun Dafa Association of Canada (FDAC) says Shen Yun’s Canadian ticketing office received an email threat on Feb. 10 that said, “If you don’t care about the life and safety of Mark Carney and all Canadian high-ranking officials, then go ahead with the performances.”

An almost identical message was sent the same day to at least five other countries, with only the officials’ name and country changed, targeting the leaders of Australia, Italy, Austria, Denmark, and South Korea, the Falun Dafa Info Centre said in its February 2026 Transnational Repression Update.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was evacuated from his residence in late February, after an email was sent to local Shen Yun presenters saying bombs would be detonated at his Canberra residence if scheduled Shen Yun performances in Australia were to proceed. Albanese was permitted to return after police determined there was no real threat.

The Canadian Shen Yun ticket office has received several other threats in addition to the one made against Carney. One email on Jan. 25 said a bomb was placed on Parliament Hill, and that if the Shen Yun performances were not cancelled “within one day,” Parliament Hill would be “destroyed.”

Another email on Dec. 21, 2025, warned that Shen Yun staff and their families would be in “danger,” including from kidnapping or car accidents, and that women would “certainly be raped and murdered.”

An email on Dec. 6, 2025, said “something will happen” to both Trudeau and Carney, and that there would also be “a massive explosion” on Parliament Hill if the performances proceed. In addition, on July 27, 2025, an email said there would be fires at the residences of “all Canadian politicians and dignitaries” who support Falun Gong, and the brakes of their cars would “fail while driving.”

All incidents have been reported to Canadian national security and law enforcement authorities, according to the association.

FDAC spokesperson Grace Wollensak says it is “outrageous and unacceptable” that heads of state and prominent leaders have been targets of bomb and violence threats.

“We strongly condemn the CCP’s threats of transnational terrorism against Shen Yun, Falun Gong practitioners, and now our national leaders,” Wollensak said in a March 4 statement.

There have been more than 170 bomb and death threats targeting Shen Yun and Falun Gong communities globally over the past two years, including four Canadian venues ahead of Shen Yun’s spring 2025 performances, according a November 2025 report published by the Falun Dafa Info Centre.

Taiwanese police have previously traced some of the threat emails to Xi’an, China, through a multiagency investigation. The emails appear to have originated from a location near the Huawei Research Institute, which plays a key role in aiding Beijing’s global tech ambitions, Taiwanese authorities previously confirmed to The Epoch Times.

Shen Yun dancers perform on stage. Courtesy of Shen Yun

‘Challenge to Canadian Sovereignty’

The association says all threats so far have been proven to be “hoaxes,” but are meant to instill fear, pressure venues to cancel Shen Yun, and undermine democratic freedoms.

“With threats now explicitly targeting national leaders and Parliament, this issue extends beyond religious freedom or artistic expression,” the association said. “It represents a direct challenge to Canadian sovereignty, democratic governance, public safety and national security.”

Shen Yun has been targeted by the CCP since it was founded in 2006, in an effort to stop the performances.

Besides showcasing the traditional Chinese culture that prevailed before communism took hold in China in 1949, Shen Yun’s performances include segments depicting the CCP’s persecution of Falun Gong, whose practitioners have been targeted for their faith since 1999. For more than a quarter century, practitioners of the meditation discipline, whose core principles are truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance, have been illegally arrested and detained by the CCP and have experienced abuses such as sexual assault and forced drug injection. They are a primary target for the regime’s forced organ harvesting program.

Wollensak said the threats reflect the Chinese regime’s “thuggery and desperation to conceal nearly 27 years of crimes against humanity by silencing victims on democratic soil,“ as well as its ”fear of voices that stand for justice and freedom.”

FDAC is calling on the Canadian government to publicly condemn the threats and launch a “comprehensive” national security investigation into the origin and coordination of the threats, Wollensak said.

“Canada must strengthen safeguards against transnational repression, hold responsible actors accountable, and affirm its commitment to the democratic freedoms these threats are designed to destroy,” Wollensak said. “Foreign authoritarian regimes must not be permitted to export coercion and intimidation onto Canadian soil.”

The Epoch Times reached out to Public Safety Canada for comment on the threats. The department said intimidation, harassment, or targeting of specific communities or individuals within Canada is “unacceptable,” and deferred further comment to the RCMP

The Epoch Times also contacted the RCMP, Global Affairs Canada, and the Prime Minister’s Office for comment but didn’t hear back by publication time.

On Feb. 20, 2026, Shen Yun Performing Arts held its first 2026 season performance in Avellino, Italy, at the Teatro Carlo Gesualdo. Leo Botnarenko/The Epoch Times

International Threats

In addition to Carney and Albanese, other world leaders have been targeted by the CCP-linked intimidation campaign.

Since January, bomb and death threats related to the hosting of Shen Yun performances have also targeted Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te, South Korean President Lee Jae-myung, Italian President Sergio Mattarella, and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen.

The emails are all similar in tone and have been written in Chinese with a similar message: Cancel scheduled Shen Yun shows or face consequences. None of the threats have materialized.

Previous threats have also targeted U.S. lawmakers, the White House, and theatres and institutions globally, often describing possible bombings or mass shootings as consequences should the show go on.

Various officials from the targeted regions have condemned the threats. Both the White House and the U.S. State Department have also condemned the intimidation campaign targeting Shen Yun.

Cindy Li, Daniel Y. Teng, and Eva Fu contributed to this report.