Sender of Bomb Threat Against Toronto Shen Yun Boasts About CCP Link, New Emails Reveal

TORONTO—The sender of emailed bomb threats to the venue hosting Shen Yun Performing Arts in Toronto has boasted about having links to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), contents of two newly released emails received by the show’s presenter reveal.Shen Yun, which started the Toronto leg of its global journey on March 28, was set to begin its third show at the Four Seasons Center for the Performing Arts in the afternoon of March 29, but was cancelled by the theatre after receiving an emailed bomb threat from an account with a Chinese name. The theatre later decided to also cancel the remaining five shows that were scheduled up to April 5.The cancellation came despite the Toronto Police confirming that the threat was unfounded after investigations, and to the objection of the show’s local presenter saying that such hoax threats against Shen Yun by the CCP have been a common occurrence in an effort to suppress the show. The presenter adds that in all past cases of fake threats, the shows were allowed to proceed after police confirmed there was no credible threat.“These two new emails show the sender admitting the threats to the Four Seasons were hoaxes—as police determined at the scene—and that they were connected to the Chinese Communist Party,” said Joel Chipkar, a spokesperson for the Falun Dafa Association of Canada.New York-based Shen Yun, a classical Chinese dance and music company, was formed in 2006 by a group of leading classical Chinese artists with a mission to revive China’s traditional culture. According to the company, its artists follow the spiritual practice of Falun Dafa. The practice is persecuted by the CCP.The local presenter of Shen Yun in the Toronto area is the Falun Dafa Association of Toronto.Audience members outside the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts in Toronto after Shen Yun was cancelled due to a hoax bomb threat on April 1, 2026. Teng Dongyu/The Epoch TimesEmailed ThreatsThe first emailed threat against Shen Yun was received by multiple Four Seasons Centre staff at 12:55 p.m. local time on March 29, sent from a Gmail account with a Chinese name, written in Chinese characters. This was shortly before the show start time of 2 p.m., leading to the evacuation of the audience and cancellation of the show by the theatre, despite police confirming shortly after arriving on scene that there was no credible threat.The contents of the emailed threat read in Swedish, “Many explosive devices have been placed at the Four Seasons Theatre and Parliament Hill in Canada. If the Shen Yun performance is not cancelled and continues to be shown, explosions are planned at Parliament Hill and the Four Seasons Theatre.”The use of European languages has been seen in many of the previous cases of emailed threats targeting Shen Yun.  In one such case last year, the Living Arts Centre in Mississauga, Ont., received an emailed threat in Czech. The shows at that venue proceeded after police confirmed the threat wasn’t credible.Last year, Taiwan’s Criminal Investigation Bureau said that emailed threats received by venues hosting Shen Yun in the island nation were traced to an area in Xi’an, China.The show’s Toronto presenter says Shen Yun’s performances around the world have been targeted by such threats more than 150 times over the past two years, and each time the shows were allowed to proceed after police confirmed the threats were unfounded.However, in the case of the Fours Seasons Centre, the sender of the threats, who used the same email in several previous threats against Shen Yun at other venues, declared victory for causing the cancellation of the Toronto shows.“The Toronto Four Seasons incident was my most successful one…Haha!” said the email sent to the show presenter on April 3, written in Chinese.The email went on to cite the CCP as the sender’s “motherland,” and denounced Canadian politicians as “insignificant.”“I think that Canada’s petty politicians are utterly insignificant. …Canada is hardly worth taking seriously… Even my motherland’s Communist Party couldn’t make the Shen Yun emcee cry, yet I actually did it,” the email said.A subsequent email sent a few minutes later by the same sender again boasted about the disruptions.“Hahaha! What can you do to me!? Hahaha! Police around the world have become like dogs…running around everywhere at my command! Hahaha!”The show presenter provided evidence that the same email account has been used to send threats to multiple venues around the world, including to theatres in Birmingham England, Rouen, France, Busan, South Korea, and others. The account was also used to send a threat to the presenter in January, warning of bombing Parliament Hill in Ottawa if Shen Yun performed in Canada.The Toronto Police told The Epoch Times that the issue is under investigation.There are many other documented cases of the CCP targeting Shen Yun, whose performances feature the tagline “China Before Communism,” over the year.In 2024, two Chinese agents received prison sentences in the United States after attempting to bring an Internal Revenue Service agent to open an investigation on Shen Yun.As well, Chinese Consulates often exert pressure on venues around the world to cancel Shen Yun bookings. Grzegorz Grabowski, president of the Jordanki Cultural and Congress Centre in Toruń, Poland, told The Epoch Times in 2024 that he rejected one such request that year, telling the Chinese consul who had visited him over the issue that he won’t terminate the contract for Shen Yun to perform at his venue.Shen Yun dancers perform on stage during a show in a file photo. Courtesy of Shen YunRequest to Resume ShowsShen Yun’s local presenter is requesting that the Four Seasons Centre reschedule Shen Yun shows so that Canadians who had bought tickets to the show can have a chance to see Shen Yun’s performances.“When police decide there is no public safety risk, Canadians’ right to attend performances must be upheld, even if the Chinese Communist Party disapproves,” said Chipkar.“We urge the Four Seasons Centre to follow industry-standard threat responses and regain public trust by inviting Shen Yun back.”The Epoch Times contacted the Four Seasons Centre, as well as the Canadian Opera Company (COC), which owns and operates the venue, for comment, but didn’t hear backIn a media statement issued last week, the COC said it made the decision to cancel the shows “out of an abundance of caution.”The Epoch Times contacted the prime minister’s office, Public Safety Canada, Canadian Heritage, and Global Affairs Canada for comment but didn’t hear back.The RCMP referred the issue to the local police of jurisdiction when reached for comment.Conservative MP Garnett Genuis told NTD, The Epoch Times’ sister media, that he has committed to the show organizers that he will be “vocal about this issue,” adding that he’s concerned that an artistic performance was cancelled in Canada due to the threats.“It’s really outrageous that these anonymous threats were able to shut down arts and culture performance in this country, and I think we should be hearing more of an outcry,” Genuis said.“We know that Shen Yen has faced challenges not because it’s controversial among Canadians, but because a foreign government doesn’t like it.”Liberal MP Judy Sgro said in a statement that she condemns the “escalating pattern of foreign-directed intimidation occurring here on Canadian soil.”“This organization has been targeted by a coordinated campaign of threats, including false bomb threats–some of which have been traced to actors linked to the Chinese Communist Party,” Sgro said on April 3.“They represent a deliberate effort to intimidate, to silence, and to interfere with lawful cultural expression in Canada.”Conservative MP Marc Dalton said the fake bomb threats are a “tactic worldwide to derail” Shen Yun’s performances, and called on the Four Seasons Centre to allow the shows to resume at the theatre.“Given that the Toronto police have stated that bomb threats against the Shen Yun Chinese cultural extravaganza are unfounded and appear to be mischief, I hope that the Four Seasons Center will allow the remaining productions to proceed,” he said on April 2.