‘Blood will flow like river’: Chinese dance troupe’s tour triggers bomb threat at Australian PM’s residence; Anthony Albanese evacuated
NEW DELHI: Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was evacuated from his home on Tuesday after authorities received a bomb threat linked to the Chinese dance and music group Shen Yun.Albanese was evacuated at 18.00 local time (07:00 GMT) and taken to another location for several hours, police said. Authorities confirmed they attended an “alleged security incident” at the Lodge, the prime minister’s official residence in Canberra, but “nothing suspicious was located.”The threats originated from emails sent to Shen Yun performers, telling them to cancel upcoming Australian shows or risk explosives being detonated at the Lodge. One of the emails, written in Chinese, said large quantities of nitro-glycerine explosives had been placed around the residence and warned, “If you insist on proceeding with the performance, then the Prime Minister’s Lodge will be blown into ruins and blood will flow like a river.“The threat was reported to police by Shen Yun, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. In a statement to the BBC, Shen Yun said they would proceed with their performances in Australia and called for a “comprehensive investigation.”On Wednesday, Albanese thanked police and members of the public for their support in a social media post, sharing a photo of his cavoodle: “Toto on alert but all good.” Later that day, interrupted by protesters at an event, he reiterated calls to lower the temperature of political debate: “I think it’s just a reminder to take every opportunity to tell people turn the heat down, for goodness sake, we can’t take these things for granted.“Shen Yun, founded by the banned religious movement Falun Gong in 2006, has faced numerous threats to its performances worldwide over the past two years. Falun Gong has been banned in China since 1999, when the government branded the group an illegal cult and launched a crackdown. Shen Yun performances often include thinly veiled critiques of the Chinese Communist Party.A similar bomb threat last week in the United States forced an evacuation at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, where the threat was also directed at Shen Yun.Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said on Wednesday she was “not aware of the actual situation” and added that “China consistently opposes all forms of violent attacks.” An unnamed Australian government source told the ABC that people should not “jump to any conclusions” about the bomb threat, which could have come from a member of the community hostile to Falun Gong.
