A bomb scare at the Australian prime minister’s home originated from written threats directed at a Chinese dance and music group banned by Beijing.
In emails seen by local media and the BBC, performers of the Shen Yun group were told to cancel their upcoming Australian shows or risk explosives being detonated at Anthony Albanese’s official residence in the nation’s capital.
Authorities refused to comment on the emails, only confirming they had attended an “alleged security incident” at the leader’s home on Tuesday and “nothing suspicious was located”.
Shen Yun was founded by the religious movement Falun Gong, which is banned in China.
Albanese was evacuated from his home at 18:00 local time (07:00 GMT) and taken to another location for several hours, police said.
One of the emails, which was written in Chinese, said large quantities of nitro-glycerine explosives have been placed around the Lodge, the name of the prime minister’s official residence in Canberra.
“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 on Tuesday, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
A statement from Shen Yun sent to the BBC said they would proceed with their performances in Australia and called on the Australian government to conduct a comprehensive investigation.
Asked about the email threats, a spokesperson for the Australian Federal Police declined to comment.
In a social media post on Wednesday morning, Albanese thanked police and people who had sent in “kind messages”, accompanied by a photo of his cavoodle guarding the door.
“Toto on alert but all good,” he said.
Interrupted by protesters at an event on Wednesday, Albanese also repeated previous calls to lower the temperature of political debate in the country.
“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.”
Religious group banned in China
The incident follows a similar bomb threat made last week in the US, which forced an evacuation of the Kennedy Center of Performing Arts in Washington DC. US media reports said the threat was directed at Shen Yun who perform at the centre.
Wednesday’s statement from Shen Yun claims the dance troupe has faced scores of threats to its performances held across the world in the last two years.
Falun Gong has been banned in China since 1999 when the Chinese government branded the group an illegal cult and launched a crackdown.
Based in upstate New York, the group started Shen Yun in 2006, which puts on elaborate dance performances containing thinly veiled attacks on the Chinese Communist Party. In recent years the dance troupe has faced allegations that it mistreats its employees, which it has denied.
Falun Gong has claimed for years that it is the target of attacks and repression from the Chinese government.
Asked about the incident on Wednesday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said 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 Australian Broadcasting Corporation that people should not “jump to any conclusions” about the bomb threat, and that it could have come from a member of the community hostile to Falun Gong.
By BBC News
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