Chinese Coordinated Death Threats Target Taiwan Screenings and Government Officials
The threat messages use the same email address, [email protected], and target the Tainan City Council in Taiwan, which screens State Organs, and the San Jose Performing Arts Center in America, which hosts Shen Yun performances.
Between October 2024 and January 2025, Taiwanese media and documentary producer documented over 80 death threats directed at entities in Taiwan associated with screenings of the documentary State Organs. This award-winning film, released in 2024, investigates the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) state-sanctioned forced organ harvesting, a practice that has been extensively documented by independent investigations, including the 2019 China Tribunal chaired by Sir Geoffrey Nice QC. The tribunal concluded that forced organ harvesting from prisoners of conscience—primarily Falun Gong practitioners—has been committed “beyond reasonable doubt.”
The Falun Dafa Information Center (FDIC) reviewed records of these threat letters, noting a chilling similarity to transnational repression tactics used in the United States against Shen Yun, the American classical Chinese dance company founded by Falun Gong practitioners. According to the FDIC’s Transnational Repression Incident Tracker, the CCP has engaged in a sustained campaign of threats, harassment, and intimidation targeting Falun Gong practitioners and affiliated organizations worldwide.
Identical emails used in threats
Evidence suggests a coordinated campaign of threats spanning multiple countries, with perpetrators using the same email addresses and nearly identical language. Threats targeting State Organs screenings in Taiwan mirror those directed at Shen Yun performances in the United States, following a pattern of transnational repression linked to the CCP’s broader tactics of intimidation.
In Taiwan, theaters hosting State Organs screenings, government agencies, and local lawmakers received menacing emails written in Chinese, some explicitly threatening mass shootings, bombings, and cyberattacks aimed at halting the film’s distribution. One particularly chilling message read:
“Order all future screenings of State Organs in Tainan to be canceled by 3pm tomorrow, cancel all cooperation with Lion Film and Television Culture Co. [State Organs’ distribution company]! And have all the legislators post a public statement on Facebook, if I don’t see the statement tomorrow afternoon, I will sneak into the Tainan legislature at No. 2, Sec. 2, Yonghua Road, Anping District, Tainan, and suddenly pull out a gun and shoot everyone who can be seen!!!”
Accompanied by images of bullets and a pistol, this email—sent from [email protected]—was directed at the Tainan City Council ahead of scheduled screenings in December 2024. Similar threats were also sent to the Criminal Police Bureau, Taipei City Council, and other public institutions.
A parallel incident occurred in the United States on the morning of December 11, 2024, when a death threat email was sent to the Atlanta Falun Dafa Association, the local presenter of Shen Yun performances at the Atlanta Symphony Hall during the upcoming Christmas week. Using the same email address, the sender threatened to carry out a mass shooting if Shen Yun performances were held at the venue. Within 30 minutes, a nearly identical threat was sent to the ticketing service for the San Francisco Bay Area, which manages Shen Yun ticketing for the San Jose Performing Arts Center.
Beyond direct threats, the perpetrators falsely impersonated prominent individuals to increase fear and confusion. A bomb threat email sent to Changhua Christian Hospital in Taiwan and another to the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts in San Antonio, Texas were both falsely attributed to Guan Jianzhong, the head of Lion Film and Television Culture Co., which distributes State Organs in Taiwan.
Coordinated threats targeting global leaders
An alarming pattern has emerged, with coordinated threats targeting top elected officials in both Taiwan and the United States. Among the more than 80 documented threats in Taiwan, at least four explicitly mentioned attacks on the Presidential Office, and two directly threatened to assassinate Taiwan President Lai Ching-Te. One email warned:
“If State Organs continues to be screened in Taiwan, Lai Ching-Te will be sniped from a distance, and members of the presidential administration will continue to grow in danger!”
Similarly, in the United States, following President Trump’s second term beginning in January 2025, recorded threats included messages that vowed to kill the President and burn down Dragon Springs, the headquarters of Shen Yun Performing Arts. These threats, sharing common language and originating from similar email addresses, suggest a concerted global campaign to intimidate and destabilize American institutions through fear.
The broader CCP campaign
Taiwan’s Criminal Investigation Bureau has launched an investigation and heightened security measures at all related events. While authorities have not detected physical explosives or immediate safety threats, they recognize clear patterns consistent with harassment campaigns linked to CCP-style repression tactics.
The CCP has a long-standing record of transnational repression, using threats, cyberattacks, and coercion to silence critics—including the only known survivor of forced organ harvesting—beyond China’s borders. A recent investigation by the Falun Dafa Information Center exposed a global campaign to sabotage Shen Yun performances through bomb threats, venue intimidation, and cyber interference—tactics that closely mirror the threats now targeting State Organs screenings in Taiwan.
The coordinated death threats targeting State Organs screenings in Taiwan—and their striking similarity to the intimidation tactics directed at Shen Yun in the United States—suggest a pattern of transnational repression consistent with past CCP operations. By leveraging cyber threats, impersonation tactics, and direct violence, threat actors aligned with CCP objectives seek to silence dissent and control the global narrative on forced organ harvesting.
As international scrutiny intensifies, it is critical for governments, law enforcement agencies, and civil society to stand together in defense of free expression and human rights, ensuring that truth prevails over fear and censorship.
For additional context on these escalating tactics, see detailed analyses of CCP-linked repression efforts in the following reports:
