Shen Yun Faces Bomb Threats — Unacceptable in the U.S.: Remarks by Nina Shea, Director of the Center for Religious Freedom, a

On July 17, 2025, marking the 26th anniversary of the persecution of Falun Gong, 1,500 Falun Gong practitioners and supporters from the eastern United States gathered on the National Mall near Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., calling to “Stop the Persecution of Falun Gong.” More than a dozen U.S. officials, human rights leaders, and advocates delivered speeches in support of Falun Gong.

Prior to the rally, officials from the U.S. State Department and over ten bipartisan members of Congress issued statements condemning the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) persecution and demanded its immediate end.

Nina Shea, Director of the Center for Religious Freedom at the Hudson Institute, has long attended Falun Gong rallies in Washington to speak out against the persecution.

She said that 26 years ago, the CCP launched this genocidal campaign against Falun Gong, which was later exposed for its forced organ harvesting. “Around 2006, we received reports in Washington indicating that missing individuals may have been killed for their organs. This is an unbelievable atrocity that cannot be tolerated.”

She also highlighted the recent escalation of the CCP’s transnational repression. “Threats against Falun Gong and other banned groups are spreading here. Decades later, the CCP still sends agents, issues bomb threats, attempts to strip Shen Yun of its IRS tax-exempt status, and carries out personal attacks. I am shocked by this.”

In February of this year, Shen Yun’s first performance at the Kennedy Center Opera House in Washington, D.C., faced a bomb threat, forcing evacuation. Shea, who was present at the time, said: “This is completely unacceptable. It is unacceptable in the United States. It is a denial of religious freedom and freedom of speech.”

She concluded: “You have my commitment. I will continue writing and speaking out to expose the persecution you have suffered, purely caused by the malice and evil actions of the Chinese Communist dictatorship.”