July 2026 Transnational Repression Update

Incidents of transnational repression targeting Falun Gong practitioners and Shen Yun Performing Arts continued in July 2026, with at least six documented cases affecting officials and public figures in multiple countries.

Unlike prior months, no physical assaults were documented in July. Instead, the month was defined by a marked shift in targeting government officials, national leaders, and public figures explicitly because of their support for Falun Gong. Impersonation of Falun Gong–related organizations continued throughout, including a bomb threat sent to an unrelated American institution under a spoofed email address.

Threaten officials supporting Falun Gong

Three separate messages submitted through the Falun Dafa Information Center’s public contact form threatened violence against government officials and national leaders on the stated basis of their support for Falun Gong.

On July 5, a submission from IP 154.23.238.116, sent under the name of Chinese revolutionary figure Sun Yat-sen, threatened sexual violence and murder against women in public life worldwide who support the practice. The message, submitted in Chinese under the subject line “Female Government Officials and Police Officers Who Support Falun Dafa Will Be Gang-Raped,” read:

“Female government officials, celebrities, and police officers around the world who support Falun Dafa will be kidnapped and gang-raped. After being gang-raped to death, their bodies will be dismembered and dumped in busy downtown areas of capitals around the world.”

On July 19, a submission from IP 61.111.248.173—written in English, unusually for this campaign—threatened the life of U.S. President Donald Trump, citing his support for Falun Gong as the motive:

“Hey buddy, within a month, that stupid Trump will be shot dead, because … support … Falun Gong!

On July 24, a further submission from the same IP address extended the threat to heads of state and their families worldwide:

“Within the next six months, all national leaders who support Falun Gong will be in danger. We cannot rule out the possibility of explosions at the Presidential Palaces or the Prime Minister’s Offices, unexplained fires, or car accidents caused by the Prime Minister’s or President’s official vehicles losing control. The entire families of the Prime Ministers and the Presidents will perish along with them.”

The July 24 message was submitted using a forged sender address, the Falun Dafa Information Center’s own official contact address, together with the name of a Falun Gong practitioner. The Center did not send this message; the address was spoofed in the submission form.

On July 10, a threat was submitted through the live chat function of the Shen Yun Arts Proficiency Assessment Center’s website (IP 61.111.248.173—the same address used in the July 19 and July 24 threats), naming both the cemetery and the kitchen staff at Dragon Springs as intended victims:

“Explosives made from porous prilled ammonium nitrate and 6% diesel fuel have now been placed in the Dragon Springs Temple’s cemetery and kitchen. Tomorrow at noon, we’ll blow those dead dogs in the cemetery and those cooks sky-high.”

On July 26, a bomb threat targeting the Falun Dafa Association of Taiwan was submitted through the public contact form of the Shinjuku Cultural Center in Tokyo—the same Japanese venue used as a relay point in threats documented in May and June. The message gave the Association’s street address in Taipei:

“Explosives have been placed at [the association address in Taipei]. They will detonate at exactly 12:00 noon!”

The submission used the Association’s own contact address, under the name of Taiwan’s president, Lai Ching-te. Because the venue’s contact form generates an automatic acknowledgment to the address entered by the sender, the threat was delivered to the Association itself.

Impersonation threats against unrelated institutions

On July 30, a bomb threat against the Cincinnati Zoo was submitted through the public comment form of the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado:

“They planted ammonium nitrate explosives at the Cincinnati Zoo. Give me ten million dollars, or I’ll detonate it.”

The submission used the spoofed email address— the address of the Dragon Springs campus in New York—under the name of Sheng Xue, a Chinese-Canadian writer and pro-democracy activist who is not a Falun Gong practitioner and has herself been a longstanding target of Chinese Communist Party pressure abroad.

The incident follows the pattern documented in May, when a bomb threat was sent to a Virginia-based charity under the spoofed name of the Falun Dafa Information Center’s executive director. In both cases, the apparent objective was not to intimidate a Falun Gong-related institution but to project a violent threat outward from Falun Gong toward an unrelated American organization. The possible purpose is to draw law-enforcement scrutiny onto the group and damage its standing with the public.

Taken together, these incidents bring the total number of anonymous death threats to intimidate Falun Gong practitioners and discourage support for Falun Gong and Shen Yun since March 2024 to 308, according to the Falun Dafa Information Center’s incident tracker updated on July 30.

No physical harm has resulted from the anonymous threats to date. All incidents have been reported to law enforcement authorities and remain under investigation.

Context and continuing pattern

July’s incidents display the same operational signatures documented in preceding months. A single IP address, 61.111.248.173, was used in three separate threats over a two-week span, while 154.23.238.116 falls within the same range as addresses used in threats documented in June. Senders again forged the contact addresses of Falun Gong–related organizations such as the Falun Dafa Information Center and Dragon Springs, and again adopted the names of well-known public figures including Lai Ching-te and Sheng Xue, none of whom have any connection to the messages sent in their names. Third-party contact forms in Japan and Colorado were again used as relay points, lending the threats a veneer of institutional legitimacy.

The most significant development in July is the shift in target. While earlier months focused on Shen Yun venues and Falun Gong practitioners, July’s threats were directed at the officials, national leaders, and public figures who support them. This pattern is to extend the campaign’s intended chilling effect beyond the Falun Gong community to anyone in public life who speaks in its defense.

All incidents have been reported to law enforcement authorities in the relevant jurisdictions and remain under investigation.

For more information or assistance, please contact us at [email protected].