The cross-border threat campaign will interfere with the global tour of performing arts groups following years of pressure from the CCP.
Taiwanese authorities suspect some of the latest bomb threats targeting New York-based Shen Yun performing arts are linked to research entities at Chinese tech giant Howei, the Epoch Times learned.
In Taiwan, government agencies and hosting venues in several cities have recently received at least 17 emails threatening threats in various forms of explosives and mass shooting, robbing their performances.
Senders use jump hosts to make them appear to be coming from countries like France, the US, and more.
However, Taiwan’s Criminal Investigation Bureau says it has tracked emails to Xi’an, the capital of Shaankhshi province in central China, through multiple agencies’ investigations. The email appears to have emerged from the location of the Huawei Xi’an Institute, the company’s research center currently on the forefront to support Beijing’s global technological ambitions, Taiwanese authorities confirmed.
The organization in the state-level high-tech development zone has become a major suspect in the Taiwan investigation. Taiwanese authorities pointed out the institute as the most consequential presence nearby. They also did not rule out the possibility that China’s state-funded internet trolls (also known as the 50 Cent Army) were behind the campaign.
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A spokesman for the department told the Epoch Times that he shared details with mainland authorities but did not respond.
Huawei did not reply to Epoch Times’ request for comment.
Taiwanese authorities said the threats fit the pattern of efforts by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to disrupt the normal functioning of the democratically controlled island, and local government agencies called for increased warnings. They said they have tightened security measures and are communicating closely with the organisations that have reported such incidents.
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-fla.), who co-hosted the victims of the Congress of the Communist Caucus on April 10 and co-hosted the victims of the Congress of the Communist Caucus to honor the lives killed under communism, said the threat to Shen Yun emphasized the importance of legislative groups.
“We want to make clear that the country’s communists are representatives of failed states, not the majority,” she told the Epoch Times.
“They suppress their people. They are lies.
“Everything about the Chinese communist regime is built on lies and is based on government control.”
Part of the Caucus’ goal, she said, is to make sure (Shen Yun) can truly continue to showcase the vibrancy of the Chinese people.
According to Sarah Cook, an independent researcher with decades of experience in human rights issues, findings from Taiwanese authorities take a step towards countering similar cross-border oppression operations.
“Even if the perpetrator uses a VPN, there are tools that allow law enforcement to trace these types of threats to China,” she told The Epoch Times, referring to an encrypted virtual private network that allows users to mask their actual IP addresses.
“Given the number of threats Shen Yun and Falun Gong face outside of Taiwan, I hope that the US and other governments will use them.”
Levi Browde, executive director of Falunn DAFA Information Centre, has been tracking these threats for the past year. He urged us and Taiwanese officials to continue investigating the issue and explaining the perpetrators.
Frank Huang and the Taiwan Bureau of the Epoch Times contributed to this report.
