Traditional Chinese dance company Shen Yun is facing an uptick in bomb threats as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) voices its opposition to the group.
Shen Yun, which performs in cities around the world, was at the center of an evacuation Thursday at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., after an anonymous bomb threat targeted the troupe. The dance company says it has since received additional threats in the Netherlands and France.
“These bomb threats, death threats, shooting threats that we’ve been receiving, not only in theaters, but also at our headquarters — sometimes on a daily basis — are part of an 18-year campaign that the Chinese Communist Party has launched against Shen Yun, and more broadly, against Falun Gong, trying to completely shut us down,” said Leeshai Lemish, Shen Yun’s master of ceremonies.
Lemish spoke out Thursday after the evacuation.
“This is something that’s very much in line with what the Chinese Communist Party has been doing trying to stop us from performing for 18 years,” he said. He also mentioned theaters being pressured to cancel contracts, incidents of tires being slashed and family members in China being threatened and sometimes jailed.
Emcee Leeshai Lemish speaks from the Kennedy Center after evacuation due to a fake bomb threat at our performance in Washington, D.C. pic.twitter.com/JwpQUG9km9
— Shen Yun (@ShenYun) February 20, 2025
He said that the origin of the threats is unknown and they’re not going to stop Shen Yun from carrying out its scheduled performances.
“They align with CCP’s objectives and the overall pattern of harassment, interference and sabotage that we’ve experienced over the years,” he said in a statement to the Daily Caller. He particularly cites language and terminology in the threatening letters that seem to mirror those of mainland China.
He suggested a correlation between The New York Times publishing articles criticizing Shen Yun and the rise in threats against the group in a press conference Friday regarding the Kennedy Center incident.
One threat, according to Lemish, demanded that Shen Yun stop criticizing The New York Times and issue a public apology to the outlet. Failure to comply, it warned, could lead to attacks on family members or Shen Yun facilities by New York gang members.
Shen Yun is an international nonprofit started in 2006 that has established itself as the world’s premier classical Chinese dance and music company. Its mission is to revive traditional Chinese culture — with a motto of “China Before Communism” — which the CCP has been allegedly seeking to destroy since gaining power. (RELATED: China-Linked Groups Violently Repressed Protesters In US During Xi Jinping Visit: Report)
LONG BEACH, CA –FRIDAY, MARCH 18, 2016 — Shen Yun, a Chinese dance and music company, is returning to Southern California for a string of sold-out performances. The group was founded by practitioners of the Falun Gong spiritual discipline, which is banned in China. The group rehearsed at the Long Beach Performing Arts Center. (Photo by Rick Loomis/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images)
Many of Shen Yun’s performers belong to the religious movement Falun Gong (also known as Falun Dafa), which originated in China in the early 1990s. The practice involves meditation and self-improvement and it centers around three core principles — truth, compassion and forbearance. Shen Yun’s founders and artists say they have experienced persecution from the CCP, involving imprisonment, torture and losing family members.
“I think these bomb threats, mass shooting threats, and sexually violent threats — they’re really trying to scare audience members away. They’re trying to scare theaters away from working with us, cooperating with us. And they’re trying to scare people in America, performing artists. They’re trying to scare them away from working for our company,” Alice Liu, drummer for Shen Yun, present at the evacuation, said at the press conference.
She expressed disbelief that such an incident could occur at the Kennedy Center, the nation’s cultural hub.
“The mission is to revive a culture that they sell to destroy. And we’re exposing this human rights atrocity they spent more than two decades trying to pretend does not exist, pressing anybody who will dare speak out about it, including American journalists in China,” Lemish proclaimed during the press conference.
The CCP has targeted the movement for undermining its influence, according to Lemish, who also adds that Falun Gong practitioners overseas face efforts from the CCP to cancel art shows, library exhibits, and parades that expose the party’s persecution of the religious movement.
Lemish says he himself has been a target of the CCP. He told the Caller his LinkedIn profile and emails have been hacked several times. He also says that he is blacklisted from China’s mainland.
His main worry is for the family members of the Shen Yun performers, many of whom reside in China. Lemish told the Caller that houses of the relatives of performers have mysteriously burned down. He also cited suspicious car accidents.
Lemish notes that all documented cases of threats towards Shen Yun have been reported to the FBI.
According to Lemish, Shen Yun’s purpose is one of hope and optimism for the future. A movement like Shen Yun is one that threatens the CCP’s legitimacy as a governing power.
“When people see the show that celebrates China before communism, they very much can envision a China without communism. And this is a big legitimacy threat to the CCP from that perspective,” Lemish told the Caller.
Shen Yun garners support from some rank-and-file members of the CCP. Lemish recalled CCP officials sent to spy on the performance offering their own support. He also cites emails from people in China encouraging Shen Yun to come to the mainland to perform.
Lemish confirmed Shen Yun plans to continue their mission of restoring traditional values despite the adversity they face regarding these real threats. Both Lemish and Liu dream of one day bringing the show to China.
