An open-air exhibition will be held in Belfast's Corn Market today and tomorrow to highlight persecution and torture in China.

Called "Persecution Meets Principle", the show has been organised by followers of Falun Gong, a traditional Chinese spiritual discipline.

The practice combines exercises, meditation to give greater wellbeing.

Advocates say former Chinese leader Jiang Zemin saw the popularity of the practice as a threat to his power and banned it in 1999, ordering systematic and brutal persecution.

They claim there have been more than 1,250 known deaths to date.

The exhibition of photos, props and actors are used to explain how torture is used to attempt to "transform" practitioners.

Techniques used by the torturers include force feeding, burning with cigarettes, electric shocks and confining people in small cages for months.

The exhibition has already been shown in more than 15 cities and will tour the UK.

One of the organisers Christina Jing Ha said: "We believe that the persecution of Falun Gong is a persecution of conscience, and of fundamental principles essential to our humanity."

Local people will be asked to sign a petition appealing to the United Nations Human Rights Commission to urge the Chinese government to stop.

Source http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=616782