Conservative MP Ned Kuruc says the cancellation of Shen Yun’s shows in Toronto following fake bomb threats that organizers say are linked to Beijing doesn’t send a good message.
“It is very concerning that … the Chinese Communist Party can reach all the way into Canada and disrupt,” Kuruc said in an interview. While he said the link to Beijing is an allegation, he noted that there’s a clear pattern of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) targeting the performing arts company.
Shen Yun, which was formed in New York in 2006, aims to revive China’s traditional culture, featuring the tagline, “China Before Communism.”
Kuruc said he and his family saw Shen Yun in Hamilton on March 12 and thoroughly enjoyed it, and said it’s “disheartening” that the performance has been cancelled in Toronto over false threats.
“Everyone there [in Hamilton] enjoyed it,” said Kuruc, who represents Hamilton East-Stoney Creek.
On March 29, the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts in Toronto received an emailed bomb threat about an hour before the start of the show. After police were called and conducted security checks, concluding that the threat was unfounded, the show’s local presenters asked the theatre to allow the audience back in, but the theatre decided against proceeding with the show.
The Four Seasons Centre subsequently decided to cancel the remaining five Shen Yun shows scheduled April 1-5. Shen Yun’s local presenter, the Falun Dafa Association of Toronto, said that decision is unprecedented.
Joel Chipkar, a spokesperson for the association, said at an April 2 press conference that while Shen Yun has been targeted by similar fake threats over 150 times in the past two years during its global tours, in each case, the show was allowed to carry on after authorities performed security checks and confirmed there was no real threat.
The Epoch Times contacted the Four Seasons Centre and its operator the Canadian Opera Company but didn’t hear back.
Chipkar condemned the CCP for the acts of interference.
“These threats are a cowardly attack on artistic expression and our freedoms,” he said.
Last year, Taiwan’s Criminal Investigation Bureau said that a multiagency investigation traced threatening emails that venues hosting Shen Yun in the country had received to Xi’an, China.
Beijing’s interference with Shen Yun also takes other forms, including Chinese consulates contacting venues hosting the show to pressure them to cancel. One such case happened in Toruń, Poland, in 2024, where Grzegorz Grabowski, president of the Jordanki Cultural and Congress Centre, told The Epoch Times the Chinese consul personally visited him before Shen Yun’s run and urged him to cancel his contract with the local presenter. Grabaowski refused and the shows went ahead.
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.
The Toronto Police Service told The Epoch Times that it’s currently investigating the bomb threat against Shen Yun made to the Four Seasons Centre.
‘CCP Arm’
Kuruc said the fact that Shen Yun’s Toronto performances were cancelled after the fake threats sends a bad message.
“If the CCP arm can reach into a simple entertainment show, that’s very, very concerning. It’s not a good message, not at all,” he said.
Kuruc noted that the CCP’s interference in Canada’s affairs is a well-known topic. Following widespread media reports of Beijing’s interference in Canadian elections and other aspects of society, the federal government held a public inquiry in 2023 to examine the issue. The inquiry said in its concluding report in 2024 that China is the most active foreign power meddling in Canada’s affairs.
Kuruc said acts of interference such as that against Shen Yun have a “trickle-down effect,” as they set precedents and could lead to other bad actors to follow suit.
“It sets precedents for people to just call and make false claims and start causing chaos in the entertainment world and cancel shows,” he said. “It’s very destructive.”
Kuruc noted that his parents left the former communist state of Yugoslavia to settle in Canada, and that people who have escaped communism understand the nature of such regimes, while some who live in a free country like Canada may not.
“This is just a small glimpse of what a dictatorship, or a totalitarian government, or communist government can do to disturb things outside of their country. It’s very concerning,” he said.
Kuruc also said that Ottawa should take the right stance regarding Beijing, adding he’s concerned about the fact that Prime Minister Mark Carney is seeking closer relations with China.
“I don’t want to say he’s turning a blind eye, but he’s looking to promote business and kind of forgetting what’s happening there,” he said.
The Epoch Times contacted the Prime Minister’s Office and Public Safety Canada for comment but didn’t hear back.
This week, as Carney was asked if he believes there’s forced labour happening in China, he said it’s a problem that’s taking place around the world, while adding that some parts of China are at a “higher risk” for the practice.
During a visit to Beijing in January, he said that his government is seeking a new “strategic partnership” with China.
Kuruc said that having the right stance on the global stage is important to Canadians.
“This is a country that set the stage for peace and love around the world for generations, and those things are very important to Canadians,” he said.
