Deeply Concerning: Shen Yun Artists, Presenter Condemn CCP Interference After Toronto Shows Cancelled

TORONTO—With tears streaming down her cheeks, Shen Yun Performing Arts emcee Nancy Zhang recalled the harrowing story of how her mother was illegally detained by Chinese police, and her father was sent to a forced re-education centre in China, merely because of their spiritual beliefs.“These events left scars on my childhood,” Zhang said at a press conference in downtown Toronto on April 2, after the classical Chinese dance company’s performances at the nearby Four Seasons Centre were cancelled due to a hoax bomb threat that the show’s organizers say Beijing is behind.Shen Yun emcee Nancy Zhang sheds tears as she recounts the CCP’s persecution of her family for practicing Falun Dafa, at a press conference in Toronto on April 2, 2026. Evan Ning/The Epoch Times“I will never forget the day my mother was taken away after school, as I watched as my classmates were picked up by their parents one by one,” Zhang said. “I waited for a long time, but no one came for me.”Zhang said her aunt eventually came to get her, but both her parents were taken away by the authorities because they practiced Falun Dafa. Her mother was illegally held behind bars for three years, she said, while her father was sent to a forced re-education centre.Falun Dafa, a spiritual discipline based on the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance, was introduced in China in 1992 and grew rapidly in a short period of time; official government statistics showed that between 70–100 million people had taken up the practice by the late 1990s. But the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) began a persecution campaign against Falun Dafa in 1999 because, being a totalitarian regime, it wants no “institutions to exist outside of its control,” according to the Washington-based Falun Dafa Infocenter.“The persecution devastated my family,” Zhang said.She said that after her parents were taken by the authorities, her grandmother spent her days going from one government office to another to find where her daughter was being held, while her grandfather’s health deteriorated rapidly due to stress. They both soon passed away without ever seeing their daughter again, she said.“This is something our family will never forget,” she said, her voice cracking.She said that although her parents were eventually released, the CCP’s harassment never relented. She found herself being followed by police as she walked home from school on one occasion, and on another their home was ransacked by the police and her mother was taken away again.“For a child, this kind of fear becomes normal, but it should never be normal,” she said.Audience members wait outside the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts in Toronto on April 1, 2026. The theatre decided to cancel Shen Yun’s performances over a bomb threat that the police said was unfounded. Teng Dongyu/The Epoch TimesEventually, Zhang says her family decided to flee China.“For the first time in my life, I experienced freedom. I was finally able to speak openly about what was happening, and to be a voice for those who still cannot speak today,” said Zhang, who now works for Shen Yun.New York-based Shen Yun was formed in 2006 by leading classical Chinese artists with a mission to revive China’s traditional culture and portray it as it was before decades of communist rule. According to the company, the “source of inspiration” for the performers is Falun Dafa.“I am proud to perform with Shen Yun and share the beauty of traditional Chinese culture with the audience and the world, but I also feel a responsibility to tell people the truth about the persecution that is still happening in China today,” Zhang said.Zhang said Canada is a free society, unlike communist China, that’s why she finds it so concerning that an attempt by the CCP has led to the cancellation of the shows that Beijing doesn’t want people to see.“Today, we are here in Toronto, in a free and democratic society. That is why it is deeply concerning to see attempts by the Chinese Communist Party to pressure theatres and interfere with Shen Yun performances here,” she said.“This is not just about Shen Yun. This is about whether a foreign mafia regime can influence what Canadians are allowed to see, what stories can be told, and which voices can be heard.”Shen Yun dancers perform onstage during a show. Courtesy of Shen Yun150 Fake ThreatsThe first cancellation of Shen Yun’s performance in Toronto occurred on March 29, as audience members were arriving at the Four Seasons Centre to see the 2 p.m. show.The theatre received a bomb threat via email just before 1 p.m., and audience members were told to vacate the premises while police performed security checks.The Toronto Police Service told The Epoch Times that after their investigation, they found the threat to be unfounded.However, the Four Seasons Centre still decided to cancel the show, to the great disappointment of the local presenter, the Falun Dafa Association of Toronto (FDAT).According to the association, Shen Yun has been targeted with such hoax threats during its international tours more than 150 times over the past two years, but each time after police conducted a search and found the threat to be non-credible, the show was allowed to go on.That was the case at Mississauga’s Living Arts Centre, where the Peel Regional Police were called after a bomb threat was received just as the show was about to start on March 15. After police confirmed there was no bomb, audience members were allowed back in the theatre and the show went ahead.Joel Chipkar (R), a spokesperson for the Falun Dafa Association of Toronto, the local Shen Yun presenter, speaks at a press conference in Toronto on April 2, 2026. Evan Ning/The Epoch TimesFollowing the March 29 cancellation in Toronto, the Four Seasons Centre eventually decided to cancel the remaining five Shen Yun shows scheduled April 1–5, saying they had received “escalating threats.” FDAT said they tried to work with the theatre to increase security and pay for extra police measures such as K-9 unit sweeps and additional security personnel, but the theatre still didn’t allow the shows to go on.The presenters say the theatre’s decision to cancel the shows entirely over the fake threat—which they say was merely a disruption ploy and posed no tangible risk—is a global first.“This is unprecedented. We’ve never experienced this before,” FDAT spokesperson Joel Chipkar said at the April 2 press conference.Chipkar said the March 29 cancellation meant that the over 2,000 patrons who had come to see Shen Yun were robbed of the chance, while the subsequent cancellations mean that the over 10,000 people who had bought tickets to see the show this weekend now won’t have that opportunity.“This is a complete assault to our safety, our sovereignty, and also to the artistic community,” he said.‘Exact Same Pattern’Jared Ren, a principal dancer with Shen Yun, said all the performers are “deeply saddened” by the cancellation of the Toronto shows.“Shen Yun has faced an unprecedented wave of coordinated attacks, ranging from media misinformation, legal warfare, to repeated bomb threats—all of which have proven to be hoaxes,” he said at the press conference.“This bomb threat received by the Four Seasons Centre, which directly led to the cancellation of our shows, follows the exact same pattern.”Taiwan’s security agencies last year traced similar threats made to the country’s venues hosting Shen Yun to a facility in Xi’an, China. As well, in 2024, two Chinese agents received prison sentences in the United States for attempting to bribe an Internal Revenue Service agent to open an investigation into Shen Yun.Shen Yun played to a packed house for its second Toronto performance of the 2026 season at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts on the evening of March 28, 2026. May Huang/The Epoch TimesSheng Xue, a prominent Chinese Canadian author and democracy activist based in the Toronto area, said at the press conference that she has personally been affected by the CCP’s efforts to disrupt Shen Yun. In some cases, her name was used to send fake bomb threats targeting Shen Yun and others, including world leaders.“I just [had] two police officers visit me at my home two days ago because of bomb threats sent to the U.S. Congress, and so the U.S. [authorities] asked the Canadian police to come to my home to investigate,” she said. She added that she also received communication warning her against attending Shen Yun performances.Ren said that for him, this issue is “deeply personal,” as his family was also persecuted in China for practicing Falun Dafa.He said the CCP’s persecution followed them even after they fled to the United States: his grandparents in China received visits by the police and were heavily pressured to persuade his father to return to the country. As well, when his father was a graduate student at the University of Missouri, he was told by the head of the local Chinese Students and Scholars Association that the organization was instructed by the Chinese Consulate in Chicago to collect information on overseas Falun Dafa practitioners.“We do not compel anyone to attend our performances. Choosing to watch Shen Yun is a matter of individual choice and free will,” Ren said.Shen Yun Dancer Jared Ren speaks at a press conference in Toronto about the cancellation of shows at the Four Seasons Centre over fake bomb threats, which the local presenters of the say originated from the Chinese regime, on April 2, 2026. Evan Ning/The Epoch Times“On the other hand, the Chinese Communist Party uses threats and coercion to prevent people from seeing our performances. If such pressure is allowed to succeed, it will only embolden further interference.”The Epoch Times reached out to the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, as well as its operator the Canadian Opera Company, but didn’t hear back.Ren said Canada shouldn’t allow such empty threats to derail freedoms in the country.“We hope that the Canadian government, the Canadian people, and all those who value freedom and liberal democracy will recognize what is happening. What we are witnessing is absolutely unacceptable,” he said.“Yielding to such pressure only encourages more of it. We must not allow threats and intimidation to dictate how we live our lives, whether in Canada or anywhere else in the world.”